Tired of closing grass pathways after rainfall, the National Trust has come up with the idea of using sports turf expertise designed to cope with Premier League footballers, to develop surfaces that could handle high volume footfall on the grass.

The spokesperson for National Trust property Hidcot said:  “We want people to walk on the grass, play on the croquet lawn and get up close to the plants but our main grass paths get very muddy whenever it rains and we have to close them regularly. So we hit upon this scheme to try the footballer’s turf.

“We have installed new drainage, replaced the clay soil with specially modified soil and then laid turf on one area and used seed on another to see which reacts best.

“It is exactly the same system as laid in the goal mouths at Old Trafford and on many other sports pitches. Our visitors tend to shuffle along looking at the garden so it will be interesting to see how the grass holds up under that use, rather than the way footballers would use it.”

Head Gardener, Glyn explained that the first priority was to improve drainage.

“The original clay soil was removed and replaced with the new modified soil which has a high proportion of rounded sand grains to encourage drainage. But it also contains nylon fibres which bind with the grass roots to make it much stronger. The grass is a mixture of types, including fescues and bent grasses which are drought resistant and take hard wear. There is also a small amount of dwarf rye grass.”

The 150,000 visitors a year will be testing out the new turf.

Do you have a spare barn roof?  Have you considered the possibility of setting up your own PV panels for solar energy or why not rent your roof out to a company that does.

Either way, despite the initial investment of around £200,000 for a big PV installation you could see returns of £19,000 to £20,000 per annum with the new feed-in tariffs says a British solar power company.

In France and Germany, where feed-in tariffs arrived some years ago, these bigger installations are being set up.  Currently in the UK most PV panel arrays are much smaller.  These large installations have a typical payback time of 7 – 12 years.

Perhaps now is the time to step outside and start to check your barn roof to see if you have the optimum 30 – 40 degrees from horizontal.

A Croatian football star says his team are losing matches because he can no longer commit fouls since finding God.

Hajduk Split defender Goran Granic has come in for a storm of criticism for abandoning his trademark hard tackles on opponents.

But Granic has now revealed his Catholicism is behind his softer style of play.

He told daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, ‘I’m so devoted to God now that I have started to avoid committing fouls during matches. God has created football for fun and relaxation. He would not like players to commit harsh fouls.’

He added, ‘I could probably have saved some key goals during the season, including in the Champions League qualifying games, if I had committed fouls to stop players scoring.’

Hajduk Split are reigning Croatian champions but this season they failed to qualify for the Champions League and are currently fifth in the Croatian league.

When you sit down at an interview, it’s perfectly fine and acceptable to ask the interviewer your own set of questions. In fact, it’s expected and can be quite off-putting if you don’t. Not having any questions to hand might create the impression that you’re not really that keen on the position.

As well as the company trying to establish if you’re their ideal candidate, you need to ask questions in order to establish if it’s potentially the right company for you.  So ask, ask away. The following questions are ones you might want to ask. However, they are mere suggestions as you can, of course, make up your own.

Warning: do not ask questions that can be answered by visiting the company’s website; it’ll show you haven’t done your homework properly.

So, without further ado:

1) What is a typical working day for the role?

It’s important to get a full-bodied idea of what the role entails/the range of tasks you’d be expected to fulfil should you secure the role. Asking for a run-through of the tasks involved in a typical working day should hopefully paint an example of that.

The interviewer should be able to oblige you. However, if he/she is unable to answer your question or is sketchy about it, then this should raise an eyebrow.

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2) How many people are in the team for the role I’m applying for?

Some people prefer (and thrive in) an intimate working environment – nothing wrong with that; while others prefer the hustle and bustle of a swarming work environment. Dynamics can differ for both.

What’s your preference? If the interviewer replies with a team size that’s not ideal for you, perhaps it’s something you could get used to. Is it a challenge that could ultimately strengthen you? On the other hand, if you’re neither here nor there about it, it might still be a question to ask just to help you build a mental picture.

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3) Who will I be reporting to and what is his/her management style like?

Perhaps you have a clear idea of what management style suits your working method. Knowing who you’ll be reporting to and how he/she leads the team (or department) might help you decide if you can picture yourself in the role or not. Does the description of management spell out potential friction, stress or personality clashes for you? Or do you feel yourself drawn to it? Remember: it’s about what you feel will work for you, so listen to your gut.

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4) Are there any training opportunities within the company?

Will the company absorb the bill for (or subsidise) any training courses you might decide to go on in the future to advance your career, or is it down to you to train in your own time and with your own money? This covers further education as well.

If the company doesn’t cover training expenses, ask if it offers paid days off for training (as opposed to you having to book it as a holiday).

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5) Is there room for growth within the company?

If you’re aiming to reach a certain career level in the future, then this question’s a pretty important one to ask. Is the company in line with that plan of yours? What are the chances that, as long as you apply yourself and work your socks off, there’ll be room for your growth through the company?

You might also want to ask for examples of any of its staff who’ve achieved just that (and whether there’s a chance of possibly having a meeting with one or two of them). You could even ask the interviewer what position he/she initially started at within the company and where they are now.

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6) What do you like about working at the company? What would you choose to improve within it?

This is an opportunity to glean some information from someone who works on the inside. Why did the interviewer choose to work for the company? How long has he/she been there? What does he/she like about working there?

The second part of the question is a rather bold one to ask as, perhaps, not every company would admit to its own weaknesses. How forthright will they be? It doesn’t mean it’s a question that shouldn’t be posed; far from it. In any case, both questions can be very useful in helping you make up your mind about the job.

As well as listening to the interviewer’s response, listen with your eyes: watch their body language.

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7) Where does the company see itself in the future?

Showing that you have a genuine interest in the company and where it’s going packs quite a good punch. It’s also a chance for the company to blow its own trumpet.

Depending on the answer/s the interviewer replies with, it might make for a neat segueway into you suggesting how you feel you can contribute towards its future success.

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8) Will you only contact the successful applicant (or shortlisted applicants)? How long before I hear back from you? How will I be contacted?

Some companies do tend to say that if you hear nothing from them within a set period of time, then you should assume you didn’t get the job. So establish how the company operates in that regard: do they contact all applicants regardless of success, or do they only contact the person they’d like to offer the position to (or the ones who have been shortlisted)?

If the company does respond to everyone, how will it do so (email?, post?, pigeon?), and when can you roughly expect to hear from them.

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9) If I’m successful, when would you expect me to start?

This is obviously important to know if you’re in current employment. That way, you can gauge when to hand in your notice to your current employer should you get the job. It might also be useful from a financial point of view as you might need to be aware of a potential gap between receiving your last pay packet from your current employer and your first pay from your (hopefully) new employer.

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3 Irish Farmers have formed an alliance to try and establish a 3000 head dairy herd in Lincolnshire.  This new proposed SuperDairy comes hot on the heels of the previous application for an even larger unit which failed to get planning consent.  It would appear that whether we like it or not larger dairy units are coming to the UK.  In the US herds of 10,000 plus are common place so why is the UK so reluctant to follow suit.  Is it because the public dont like to think  one of their staple foods is produced on an industrial scale, or are animal welfare issues upper most in their minds.  Whatever your thoughts it would appear that it is only a matter of time before an application is accepted.  Do we need these larger units to produce our milk and cheese at a price that the consumer and supermarkets what to buy at?  Lets hear your point of view.

Its always great to get feedback from people using our site, but its especially rewarding when we get great success stories from very happy job seekers!

“I found the Land-Force.com web page by accident. I uploaded my CV without any expectations of a quick response. To my surprise I received my first contact within 12 hours and I had an offer of work from that first contact within 4 days.  Since then I have had to request Land-Force to remove my CV as I have been inundated by potential employers.

I can not believe how successful the website was for me – my only regret is that I did not upload my CV sooner!

Thank you for an efficient and highly effective service.”

Neil J.

Obviously this is an exceptional situation, especially since it occurred over a bank holiday weekend, but it goes to show that if you have a reasonable CV and are flexible with your requirements small miracles can and do happen!

We wish Neil all the best and hope to hear how he is gets on in his new job.