NickB

Try Keven Watt, very local to Meopham Keven Watt - Quality Tree Care Ltd | Trees In Safe HandsKeven Watt - Quality Tree Care Ltd | Trees In Safe Hands

Possibly Cercidiphyllum japonicum aka Katsura

I would like to add my congratulations. Well done Steve. A couple of low resolution photographs attached of Steve with Paul Smith and Steve with Karen Martin the AA's CEO

I know that this is still some way from you but there is a rigging workshop at Exbury Gardens near Southampton on 28 September: Rigging Awareness Workshop Tickets, Exbury - Eventbrite

I think that the HSE might take a different view. Even if the bloke is an idiot and irrespective of whatever signs and barriers that you have in place, if some unauthorised person enters your work area you should stop work until they are clear. Controlling the work area is the contractors responsibility.

Wolfie I'm not involved with the East Anglian Branch but looking at the AA's website it would suggest that the additional cost may be down to the cost of the venue (parking charges and access for families etc) which may not have applied at other events East Anglia - EA Branch - - Arboricultural Association

For those who expressed an interest in attending one of the AA's Rigging Awareness Workshops, the South East Branch has organised another event that will be held on 28th September at Exbury Gardens near Southampton. More details in the flyer attached to this message You can book a place via this link: Rigging Awareness Workshop Tickets, Exbury - Eventbrite A short video of an earlier Rigging Workshop can be seen here: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg_hqCrtBrM]AA Rigging Awareness Workshop - YouTube[/ame] Many thanks to Stein who sponsor these events Rigging Awareness Workshop 130928 Online Booking Flyer.pdf

More details of this and other workshops can be found on the AA's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ArbAssociation and on the website: Rigging Workshop @Lancstree More rigging workshops can be arranged through your local AA branch providing the demand is there. I will mention it to those who organise the events.

I believe that Jeremy Barrell recorded Graeme's presentation on video but have no idea if it will be made available to all

He now lives and works in Gibraltar, I will try to locate his contact details and send you a PM

Went to see it last week - excellent, I can thoroughly recommend it

It's arrived: BS3998:2010. It's arrived! - - Arboricultural Association

If you want to know about the early days of arboriculture in the UK then you should not overlook this chap: William Dallimore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and see attached photograph, scanned from Tony Kirkham's rewrite of George Brown's 'The Pruning of Trees Shrubs and Conifers' a book that is well worth adding to your library if you do not already have it

Just a word of caution. As I understand it OPM is centered on west London and that by natural means it spreads quite slowly (the flying distance of the female is very limited). I would however advise that arborists keep their eyes open for it - you never know for sure that it hasn't been introduced somewhere else on imported nursery stock or transported by other means. I'm sure that I heard Tony Kirkham from Kew mention that there may be a small population in the north west somewhere, but I could be mistaken on that. It is such a nasty little bugger we need to keep track of it and treat it with great care. Those of you who climb are probably at more risk from it than most others, it would be worthwhile making sure that you are familiar with it.

You need to check earlier on in the show, there was quite a bit more than just the last 10 minutes

A mate of mine was 60 last October and still climbs regularly, runs his own AA approved company

Whilst I fail to understand why the spelling (or misspelling) of somebody's name on the AA's website is a matter of such exitement, THURMAN is the correct spelling, Peter T is a tree consultant / lecturer based in East Sussex

No it doesn't and personally I'd agree that perhaps it should

Hi Nailer I agree that perhaps the AA could do more to raise the profile of good tree work in the media and I am sure that they would given the opportunity, but it is not that easy to attract the attention of the right people. Just what are the interesting stories? I actually think that in many ways some of the subscribers to this forum have more opportunities to get media exposure, especially on a local level, than the AA. I'm a newcomer here (although I lurked for a while before subscribing) but by looking through some of the postings its quite clear that there are a lot of contractors out there doing some damn good work, some of it in prominent or high profile places which might be of interest to the local press or TV. Just yesterday Sanny posted some good stuff in the picture forum about a crane job. That sort of 'big' work is the perfect opportunity to let the local media know what is going on and (if they turn up) its an excellent chance to promote not only your own company but also professional tree care in general. Ok its not always convenient in the middle of a job to stop and talk to some journalist, especially if you've got a crane on hire or a road closure, but that sort of exposure is worth so much more than a thousand quid's worth of advertising in Yellow Pages and could do a great deal to educate the public about the work that we do. How the AA itself gets more media attention for the industry will always be a challenge, but it will never do it if the media doesn't know what it is, what it does and how to contact it. This press release and the the criticism of the BBC has certainly attracted some interest, which I think is good. If nothing else it might just mean that a few trees are planted better. In addition however, it may also mean that the AA gets more opportunities to promote good tree work. Possibly, the next time the BBC does something about tree care, whether it be Rogue Traders or something less negative, they might ask the AA to be involved. If this is the case then the criticisms the AA made of the BBC will have achieved something positive.

I think the BBC has a broad enough back to cope with a little criticism and I really can't see that the AA's comments will automatically prejudice any future relationship. Sometimes it takes criticism such as this to make the BBC aware that organisations like the AA exist and have something to say that might be of interest. I am not suggesting that criticising the BBC should just be done for the sake of it but if it means that it we (the industry, not necessarily the AA) can raise our profile by making our opinions known then it can't be a bad thing. In the case of the BBC’s tree planting video it was sloppy and just not good enough.. You only have to go to You Tube and do a search on ‘tree planting’ to see people / organisations without the resources of the BBC who have done a much better job. The skills involved in tree planting are often so overlooked in our industry as much of our focus is on the maintenance of established trees. We should encourage anybody who has the desire to plant a tree to do it properly and ensure that they understand the need for appropriate aftercare. This means that if organisations such as the BBC give out inadequate advice then we should say something, they may not always listen but if we shout loud enough then just maybe every now and again they will think about asking us for an opinion. At the end of the day the tree care industry has a huge task in educating the public, hopefully any future Rogue Traders programme on tree care, with the assistance of the AA, will do something to help the public identify and employ decent, trained contractors rather than the cowboys.

I can assure you that the Arboricultural Association would welcome any opportunity to promote good tree care on TV. It's unfortunate though that the media isn't necessarily interested. You only have to look at the TV schedules to see that there is a fixation on the negative side of things - negative stuff is usually more newsworthy. Furthermore, the AA has no control and up to now has had little, if any, input or influence over the anything tree related on the BBC or any other channel, but not for the want of trying. Nick Eden has worked very hard in just getting the BBC to talk to us over the rogue trader programme. All his effort may still come to nothing if the BBC decides that something else is more important or headline grabbing. The tree care industry, regrettably, is way down the agenda as far as the media is concerned. I have had some involvement in trying to change this but believe me it ain't easy. The fact that the AA / Nick Eden have managed to get into discussions with the BBC over Rogue Traders is a major step forward. If given the opportunity I am sure that Nick will do his best to promote good tree care. You should be aware though that, whatever Nick says, the programme makers may cut or edit his input so that he doesn't get chance to put across as much as either he or we would like. I understand that the 'tree' bit in the last RT programme was originally intended to be quite a lot longer but somebody decided that the item on dodgy BMWs was more newsworthy.