a big noise in the garden

n They cost the princely sum of 75 – more than some mowers cost today.

n They were so heavy that salesmen touted them around to customers in specially modified motor bike and side car combinations.

n The restored machine dates from the 1950s – a boom period for lawnmower manufacturers as post-war Britons got back to gardening.

n Originally based in Birmingham, the company’s operations were dispersed around the country following a series of buyouts and a fire at their old works.

n In the 1990s a management buyout heralded a new beginning and the company was snapped up by Bosch.