Andrew Gale

Highways work in West Sussex is pretty much sown up by two companies and again in my experience ALL works for LA's within West Sussex is either on a tender basis or contract basis. As Paul said, any accreditation will go along way, I'm AAAC and don't bother with any tenders nowadays as the big boys tend to go in soooo much cheaper than I ever could. Get all your tickets regarding traffic lights, first aid etc and ping an email to the procurement dept and see what happens.

We have 2 stump grinders, one small one big, and being able to offer the service to a client is essential in my book; a one stop shop so to speak. We've used stump busters before and although they did a good job there was little in the way of cleaning up etc; by doing it yourself it adds the personal touch to finish the job off. I would also recommend buying a CAT (Cable Avoidance Tool), essential if your grinding in front gardens where electric cables are buried. A little bit off topic but I put together a 'tick' list of what to look for when my guys go out grinding, check for cables, water, gas etc Cheers

I think there lies the problem; not only do you have to conceive and idea you also have to do it in 7'500 words, and as you've all correctly stated that's actually not many. Out of curiosity I've just added up my word count for my Management of Special Trees question 49'729 words....!

Yes, a reading list was given out with the course literature. You'll be expected to attend an introduction day at Syston (at lest they did when I started and I can't see that changing) when they give you you're course information etc. It's really important you attend as a lot of how the course is run is discussed at this meeting.

As it's all modular, and given out on a session by session basis, there isn't anything you can start; however, you will be expected to complete a 7'500 word independent research project, it may be worth putting your thinking cap on what to write about, again you can't really start anything as the subject needs to be ok'd by your course lecturer.

The Tiger focuses on how the Russian patrol tracked the animal and what lead to the tiger going after man; the author really knows how to add suspense. The film is called the Ghost and the Darkness starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas; not a bad film.

Hi Doobin, thank for the recommendation; I've seen the Hollywood adaptation of the book (with the additional character.....) and it did strike me as an interesting read; I'll take a look, cheers.

I paid in monthly installments, all completed now and concur with the comments made by Btggaz. In my first year we had half the group drop out and in my second year, the first year group lost 3 early on so the course is not for the faint hearted but well worth it if you can put the time and effort in

I'm currently studying the L6 and although amazingly hard work it's been well worth it. I believe Treelife are the only ones offering the course although Warwickshire College are/were offering it. The one thing I would say is accept you will have no social life for the 2 years. Not sure about funding, speak to Keely at Treelife. Hope it helps.

Evening all; in view of England’s early departure from the World Cup, I thought I’d recommend a few books that you may find interesting. I’m not a big reader and don’t do fiction and much prefer factual books that one can learn from; the following six books are all natural history based, half of which have a tree theme thrown in. They are, and in no particular order: 1. The Wild Trees – Richard Preston – about the first ascents into the redwood forest of the west coast of America 2. The Places In Between – Rory Stewart – a book about one mas walk across Afghanistan 3. The Tiger – John Vaillant – about the hunt for a man eating tiger in Russia’s Far East (if you come across this book in Waterstones or such like read the second paragraph on page 15; a truly awesome book) 4. The Golden Spruce – John Vaillant – a book about one man’s desperate act of destruction to inform the world of the devastation being acted out in the Pacific North West forests 5. Fire Season – Philip Connors – a book about the decade spent acting as a look out for wildfires in the America southwest 6. Winterdance – Gary Paulsen – ever wondered what the Iditarod dog race is like? This’ll tell you; I love this book and have lost count how many times I've read it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Andrew

Jealousy Stubby, is a terrible thing....

Damn you Stubby, you caught me out:001_tt2:

We've a client who built an underground swimming pool including a gym, wine cellar and a huge cinema screen on the wall overlooking the pool. To facilitate this they had to extend their house by a quarter again to make room for the stair case to said pool and all the gubbings involved with having an underground pool. This place is stunning, full time gardener with an Italian garden, arbor, wooded area and lake; oh and this is their country pad........

Gray git, it's definitely worth carrying with you; I've got a copy in the van and have used it on a number of occasions when clients want extra confirmation over specifications etc.

Don't you just love willow when it shatters into a 1000 little pieces........; elm too, a ruddy nightmare. Off topic but liked the look of your clinometer App and subsequently got myself one; no tree is safe now, everything gets a measure:thumbup:

Tree Life do a concise version for £30.00ish (not exactly sure of the price). Give Keely a call and she'll advise. It's on waterproof paper and is very useful.

I remember wearing shorts with a pair of zip-up chaps, you know the ones which didn't cover your back side; lovely concept until you got saw dust blow back up your shorts......

Ooops, forgot about the Arbtalk App:blushing:

Purchase the AA's Fungi on Trees - An Arborist Field Guide, a nice little booklet with good photos; very useful to carry in your truck or lunch bag

Ganoderma australe

Not gotten round to it at the moment; with whom should I report it too?

Some cracking shots there Tony; I found my first Phellinus pini bracket on a Pinus sp (forget which now) along the south coast earlier this year, in very similar weather conditions too......

Just plug away at them; don't let up the intensity one little bit. I'm fortunate in that I've a good bunch of guys that work for me and a very understanding wife who runs the office and books time off for me during the week; but I'm still in the office for 0730 hrs every weekend.

The L6 Dip Arb is the replacement for the original RFS Dip Arb and historically the RFS Prof Dip was THE arb qualification if consultancy, management etc was your end goal. This is not a practical qualification in terms of chainsaw tickets etc therefore it is difficult to compare it against what a tree surgeon or arborist would be expected to have. (No offence meant). I've personally found the course extremely worthwhile, albeit hard work, and has advanced my knowledge base vastly in terms of tree law, planning etc. If you're new to the industry then the L6 probably isn't the course for you and I would recommend one of the other courses available. Hope that helps

I agree with btggaz. Forget about a social life, forget about holidays, forget about reading anything other than tree related stuff, forget about weekends and welcome stupidly long hours of study, stupidly long hours spent looking at a monitor and welcome to the hardest 2 years of your life. It's very hard, but so worthwhile; I'm sniffing the finishing line:thumbup: