Start Planning for Car Boot Sale Season with Ground Protection

At the time of writing, we might still be in the depths of the winter months but it will only be a few weeks before people all around the country will start looking forward to spring and the summer beyond. Springtime not only delivers the promise of warmer weather to come but we also see the first sprinkling of the events that have become a British institution – the car boot sale.

Across the British Isles and perhaps even beyond, people in villages, towns and cities will be rifling through their belongings wondering what they can take to the next car boot sale. All of those unwanted Christmas presents will probably be first on the list (if they didn't already end up in the charity shops during the first week of January), as we hope to recover some of the cash that we really shouldn't have spent over the festive period. Perhaps there are things around the house we have been meaning to throw out for years but have since seen on one of those many antique, bargain TV programmes might actually be worth something, so we kept hold of them and plan on trying to get a few pennies for them at the boot sale.

With a bit of careful planning, a boot sale can provide some much needed extra income, especially during difficult economic times – every penny counts.

The sales themselves are usually held on fields or car parks, perhaps on a piece of land next to a pub or village hall. However, despite the improving weather, the potential for a torrential downpour is always a possibility in the UK and longer spells of wet weather is also a possibility. If you are the organiser of a car boot sale, then you may want to beat the weather and hopefully avoid a cancellation or postponement by planning some protection for the ground and venue of the event.

With cars (obviously) and people (also obviously) likely to be moving across the ground, it doesn't take long for the ground to become a quagmire in wet weather. Ground protection mats are the ideal solution as they can not only serve as a temporary car park but also as walkways for the buyers and sellers to move about on.

Over on the main Ground Access Hire website, you can find much more information about how to protect your ground by using these special mats to ensure your event is a complete success.

Planning 2014 Outdoor Summer Events

With 2013 rapidly drawing to a close, most big event organisers will already be rubbing their hands at the prospect of a bumper summer in 2014, when the music festival season once again comes around. The elite events are probably already organised to the minutest detail, with perhaps the exception of finalising the line-up. However, plenty of other events (apart from actual dates set in stone) will still be very much in the planning process.

That means there is still plenty of time to make sure you have your ground protection plan in place. Many of the modern outdoor events take place on hired pieces of land that owners expect to get back in the best condition possible. If you have witnessed some of the previous big summer festivals, a mud bath is not an entirely uncommon occurrence. However, where possible, the implementation of ground protection mats, these kinds of situations can be minimised.

The mats themselves can be used as walkways, they can also be used as temporary roads and even temporary car parks, which can make the transport situation a much smoother process in an area that is not used to lots of traffic and vehicles.

Check out the main website at Ground Access Hire for lots more details.

An Alphabet of Ground Protection Mats: F – G

We hope you are enjoying our series of blogs that we have dedicated to looking at our Ground Access Hire business from the perspective of the alphabet. We have reached the letters F and G, so let’s just have a brief look at a few things associated with this part of the alphabet.

F

Funfairs/Fetes – At the time of writing, we are in the middle of the summer holidays and it’s the time when many towns and villages host their local fetes or even invite a travelling funfair to town for a few days. Of course, unless there is already a dedicated site, these events will normally take place on a local field and if the correct precautions are not taken, the farmer (whose field he has kindly allowed for use) will be very unhappy indeed, after hundreds of people have trampled upon it. The solution - Ground protection mats!

G

Garden Protection – Perhaps you are building a new water feature in the middle of your lawn, but to do so, you need to get some heavy machinery to the relevant site. Unless you protect the existing turf, you could end up with a muddy mess in addition to your new pond, so consider hiring a ground protection company to ensure this doesn't happen.

An Alphabet of Ground Protection Mats: A-B

In this upcoming series of blogs we are going to be looking at all things to do with ground protection mats, where you might find them, what you might use them for and how they can make a difference in a variety of situations. We are going to use the alphabet because it just seems like a methodical way to work our way through all of the benefits and features that are available through Ground Access Hire.

A

Access – Ground protection mats are all about creating access to areas that might otherwise become impassable – usually for safety reasons. It might be a car park, it might be a roadway or a pathway. In fact, the mats could be used for almost anything that helps to provide better, safer, easier access to a whole host of events and venues.

Air Shows – During summer months, air shows are extremely popular and you can find them at various places up and down the country. While most of your time will be spent looking up towards the low flying aircraft and the fantastic formations and displays, you will often take for granted what is below you. What if the weather turns sour? What if the ground the show is taking place on, is normally precious farmland? Will the field become a mud bath? Can the ground cope with hundreds, even thousands of people walking across it? The solution – ground protection mats.

B

Building Sites – If you have ever worked on a building site, you will know just how dangerous and precarious they can be without all of the right equipment and safety gear on site. In fact, the last 20 or 30 years have seen many improvements in health and safety and most well run building sites simply won’t allow work to commence until everything is in place. Ground protection mats can be used for many different areas of a building site. They can be used to create temporary car parks and roadways for heavy machinery and equipment or they can be laid in areas where perhaps there are portable toilets to provide some stability. So, the mats are really important in this particular industry.

A Temporary Car Park Can Make a Permanent Difference

If you have ever hosted an event that required the use of your lawn for extra car parking, you are probably fully aware of the terrible damage that can be caused from just a few cars rolling across your pristine lawn. With summer finally under way, it’s quite possible that many of us are planning and preparing a whole host of events to be staged on our own land or property, from simple barbeques to glamorous wedding receptions.

Of course, here in the UK, the summer doesn't always (ever?) equate to good, dry weather. So, the chances are that even if the sun is shining, the ground will still be moist underfoot and you are having nightmares about those extra cars that need to park on your lawn or patch of land to avoid blocking the road.

There is a simple solution and its comes in the form of ground protection mats. They are made from HD Polyethylene which are light and hard wearing and are perfect for creating temporary car parks. The mats also have a non-slip surface, so even if there is some wet weather, it will help to prevent tyres from slipping.

Very easy to assemble and put down and just as simple to remove, they can be put into place shortly before the event and removed shortly after with the minimum of fuss.

For more information, please visit our main website at www.groundaccesshire.co.uk