1 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:06,640 LAWNMOWER BUZZES 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,760 Many years ago, I used to work in a factory 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,040 and one of the jobs was mowing the lawn outside. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:16,400 Love it! 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,160 Are you all right there? It's very noisy. 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:24,520 What do you reckon? 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,720 Well, you would expect the lawn to be lovely, 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,640 considering they make lawnmowers inside this factory. 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,160 If only we had a drone to look at all my lovely handiwork. 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,440 Oh, yes, that's the ticket. 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:41,640 Anyhow... 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,560 ..today we're at one of the UK's biggest lawnmower factories. 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,040 Oh, beautiful! 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,560 And I'm Mower Man... 15 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,520 Well, sort of. 16 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,520 I look like a cross between Buzz Aldrin and a Teletubby. 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,040 ..on a mission to learn how high-tech machinery... 18 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,200 It's like a knife through butter, that. It is. 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,520 ..makes mighty mowers that deliver stripes to be proud of. 20 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:12,720 Gorgeous. 21 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,880 It's a factory dedicated to engineering precision. 22 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,800 Would you say this is like the Bentley of the factory? 23 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,160 Rolls-Royce, mate. Rolls-Royce?! 24 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,200 And while I find out how to get the perfect lawn, 25 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,800 Cherry's been let loose on the most hallowed turf of all. 26 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,000 That's right, I'm at Wembley... 27 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:34,240 Wow. 28 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,920 ..getting it pitch perfect for the biggest game of the season. 29 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,320 I feel like I've died and I've gone to grass heaven. 30 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:44,600 And historian Ruth Goodman... 31 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:45,680 Oh! 32 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,120 ..is uplifted by hovercraft technology. 33 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,200 Ooh! I think we have lift-off! 34 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,560 They've been making lawnmowers at this factory since the 1940s. 35 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,320 So they certainly can CUT it when it comes to mower construction. 36 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,440 Apologies for that. Welcome to Inside The Factory. 37 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,640 # You've done it all 38 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,560 # You've broken every code... # 39 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,120 Chaps. 40 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,600 # And pulled the rebel to the floor... # 41 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:34,520 Anything good on? 42 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:34,520 INDISTINCT REPLY 43 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:35,800 Right, OK, I'll move on. 44 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,360 HE LAUGHS 45 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,760 You're supposed to say, "Inside The Factory." 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,720 # Come up and see me Make me smile... # 47 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,280 Never mind, I can clearly see they're a happy bunch here. 48 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,640 # Running wild... # 49 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:53,960 Very important. 50 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:59,920 This is the Toro factory in Hertfordshire, 51 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:04,400 where they make over 15,000 lawnmowers every year. 52 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,360 They make all sorts of mowers here... 53 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,320 Oh, look at these. 54 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,920 ..from big 'uns for the largest of country manors... 55 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:17,240 That's proper, that. 56 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,440 ..to high-tech machines for Wimbledon tennis 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,800 and Premier League football clubs. 58 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,960 # Running wild... # 59 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,400 But today I'm following production of this little beauty. 60 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,840 The Hayter Harrier 56 petrol-powered lawnmower. 61 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,520 What a gorgeous bit of kit this is. 62 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,120 Producing something like this is no mean feat. 63 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,320 It's a complex, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,400 made up of 87 individual parts. 65 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,360 At its heart is an engine 66 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,800 which powers a rotary cutting blade underneath, 67 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,080 as well as a roller at the back 68 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,440 which propels the machine forwards 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,960 whilst giving your lawn that classic striped finish. 70 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,160 Production begins with the main body of the mower, called the deck. 71 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,640 And how's that for TV timing? 72 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:30,920 As design engineer Richard Carter 73 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,960 just happens to be receiving a delivery of them. 74 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,080 Ey-up, Richard. You all right, pal? How are you? Good to see you, buddy. 75 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:42,560 Now, I've gotta be honest with you. 76 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,080 I've had every lawnmower under the sun over the years. 77 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,880 I've had petrol ones, electric ones, ride-on ones. 78 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,240 I love a good lawnmower, but these days 79 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,600 I've gone a little bit to the dark side. Artificial grass. 80 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,440 Oh, Paddy. I know. Well, hopefully by the end of today, 81 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,240 we'll have you back to where you should be. 82 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,360 Well, fingers crossed, you know, cos, uh, 83 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,760 every time I see Chris Packham, he looks at me in disgust. 84 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:09,120 So these are the decks? 85 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,280 These are the aluminium decks 86 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,640 that we use... Oh, yeah. ..to create the main part of the lawnmower. 87 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,360 And instantly recognisable for me, that. Yeah. 88 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:18,840 Now, why aluminium? 89 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:22,360 With aluminium, it doesn't rust. It'll last you a lifetime. 90 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:23,800 Are these done on site? 91 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:25,840 These are done off site in Asia. 92 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:27,440 So, just looking at the gubbins, 93 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,440 I suppose the main things in there 94 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,120 are obviously the blade and the roller. That's right. 95 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:33,640 So you can see on the underside 96 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,280 there's a lot of engineering. The rear roller goes here, 97 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,200 the engine gets mounted there, and then the blade 98 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,600 sits right in the middle and sweeps round the cutting chamber here. 99 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,680 Well, what we need to do now is get this ready for paint, 100 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,560 so we're going to take this over to the paint line over there 101 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,000 and get it hung up. 102 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:51,880 Even aluminium mowers need painting 103 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,000 to prevent corrosion in the British climate. 104 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,440 Here we go. Here we are. 105 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,880 Let's hop on here, Paddy. Yeah. 106 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,280 And clicking them in there? That's it. Just hooks into there. 107 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:06,120 And they make their way round to the first station to get cleaned up, 108 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,480 ready to get painted. Send them off, pal. Let's go. 109 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:12,680 Let's go! 110 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:21,280 You gotta have a bit of authority in your voice, Richard. 111 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,480 Time to start the stopwatch... 112 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,600 ..as the decks head off at quite a leisurely speed, 113 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:29,920 I have to say. 114 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,000 Can we have a look at where they paint it, then? 115 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,760 We'd like you to help out, Paddy, 116 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,680 but you might want to cover yourself up a bit. 117 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,800 Flippin' 'eck! Is it going to be that messy? Just a little bit. 118 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,480 I've done a bit of painting and cutting in at home. 119 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,640 What's going on here? This kind of paint, Paddy, 120 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,600 is quite different to what you're used to at home. 121 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,680 Do you know what? I was enjoying today, 122 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:55,320 cos I can see the whites of your eyes, 123 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,160 I've not got all the PPE on. 124 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,520 But just as I get out, they drag me back in again. 125 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,280 And I'll tell you something now, Ruth Goodman, our historian, 126 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:04,840 will not have to put up with this. 127 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:06,480 She'll be swanning about at the minute 128 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,960 in some manor house, living the dream. 129 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,240 There you go. Told you. 130 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:27,360 300 years ago, grand lawns were not really a thing. 131 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,400 Posh country houses had straight gravel paths, 132 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,520 box hedging in elaborate patterns. 133 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,560 And they don't come much posher 134 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:44,080 than the magnificent 18th-century Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. 135 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,400 To find out how these formal grounds were transformed 136 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,240 by a very special gardener, I'm meeting historian Kate Felus. 137 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,280 Hello. Hi, Ruth. Lovely to see you. 138 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,440 What a wonderful patterned sort of a garden this is. 139 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,240 Isn't it amazing? Very, very formal. 140 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,440 But this is just a fraction of what was here. 141 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,160 Here's a plan from 1717 142 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,440 which shows the scale of the Great Parterre. 143 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,720 So what we're in is just that little piece there? 144 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,000 It's tiny in comparison. This is vast! Yeah. 145 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,480 The Great Parterre 146 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,080 was 30 times larger than today's patterned garden. 147 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,680 And this was built to emulate French gardens. 148 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:30,880 So it was like Versailles of England. 149 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,000 But I want to show you what it looks like today. 150 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,840 OK. Follow me. 151 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,720 Oh, it's all gone. 152 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,320 It's all gone. All ripped out. 153 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,680 And what you get instead is this beautiful sweep of lawn. 154 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,840 The kind of embodiment of the English landscape style, 155 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,080 they called it. It was a reaction against the French gardens 156 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:06,960 of the earlier century. 157 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,000 Here you get simplicity. 158 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:14,000 The 4th Duke of Marlborough had grown tired of the fussy, 159 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,240 formal French style he'd inherited at Blenheim Palace. 160 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:23,080 And so in 1764 the Duke employed the celebrity gardener of the day, 161 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:27,240 Capability Brown, to transform his vast estate. 162 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,840 The lavish project cost the equivalent of over £2 million 163 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,520 and took ten years to complete. 164 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,600 He did an awful lot of tree planting. 165 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,000 He created the lake around the other side of the palace, 166 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,680 and here, particularly, he got rid of the Great Parterre. 167 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:48,240 So the scale of the job of removing it was absolutely vast. 168 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,400 The original Great Parterre was ten times the size of the palace. 169 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:58,760 But undaunted, 170 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,800 Capability Brown swept it away. 171 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,240 Hundreds of tonnes of stone, gravel and hedging were hauled off 172 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,760 by as many as 1,000 labourers. 173 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,200 It's all done by hand with men with shovels and wheelbarrows. 174 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,040 It's before steam, even, 175 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,920 let alone the sort of machinery that we have today. 176 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,400 They did have horse power 177 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,600 which was used to plough the soil before grass seed was sown. 178 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,120 When finished, the results were spectacular... 179 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:42,120 ..with both the front and back of the palace framed by vast lawns. 180 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:43,720 So this is about celebrating 181 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,120 those elements of the English countryside, the greenness of it? 182 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,840 Absolutely. With the fields, the grass, this openness. 183 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,640 The trees, the hills. 184 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,680 Real, quintessential Englishness. 185 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:56,160 And these long vistas. 186 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,720 I mean, they're busily saying, "I own all this." 187 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,760 But the 60 acres of newly created grass 188 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,280 did leave the Duke with a bit of a problem. 189 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,920 How on earth are they cutting a lawn on this sort of scale? 190 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,840 Before the invention of the mechanical lawnmower, 191 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,680 you had this very clever invention called sheep. 192 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:19,440 BLEATING 193 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,040 Right. 194 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,080 And they can graze it quite short, down to about five centimetres. 195 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,560 But you wouldn't want the sheep wandering into your house, 196 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:28,880 would you? No, you wouldn't. 197 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,040 But equally, you wouldn't want to see a fence. 198 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,560 So here he used this wonderful invention - 199 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:37,240 the ha-ha. The ha-ha. 200 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,640 A ditch but with a wall on one side, so it's a sheer face. Exactly. 201 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,440 But it's invisible in the landscape. 202 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,840 It looks as if this lawn just carries on for ever. 203 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,360 That's the whole trick of it. And you get to the edge 204 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,200 and you realise at the last minute that it's there. 205 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,280 "Aha!" you say. 206 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,800 Hence the word ha-ha. 207 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,120 But with sheep banished from the lawns near the house, 208 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,440 and the invention of the mechanical lawnmower some 60 years away, 209 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,720 the Duke had to employ a large team of gardeners, 210 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,080 whose sole job was to keep the lawns short, using scythes. 211 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,320 How many people would you need 212 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,960 to be able to keep a lawn scythed like that? 213 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,600 Well, the Duke had 80 outdoor servants, 214 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,120 and probably 35 of them 215 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,720 were employed just on the South Lawn here. 216 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,960 I mean, talk about a status symbol. Exactly. 217 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,120 And that is hard work. 218 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,240 But it's skilled as well. They could judge it just right. 219 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,040 So the grass would be about three centimetres. 220 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,200 Same as a modern mechanical lawnmower. 221 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:50,600 After the grass was cut, 222 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,720 there would be weeder women who would come out regularly 223 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,360 and they would pull out those last weeds. 224 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,480 And then it would be rolled. 225 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,520 And all of that for a lawn? Absolutely. 226 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,680 But it has its uses. You can play cricket out here. 227 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,640 You can have big parties. 228 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,200 And really, the lawn became the height of fashion. 229 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,200 King George III was so impressed by the view of the lawn 230 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:22,440 when he visited Blenheim in 1786 that he demanded one of his own. 231 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:26,800 And soon Buckingham Palace had a perfectly manicured lawn 232 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,800 for royal garden parties. 233 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,200 And then we all wanted one. 234 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,040 PADDY: We can but dream, Ruth. We can but dream. 235 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,600 Back at the factory, things are moving on. 236 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,960 The bodies of my lawnmowers have been cleaned with phosphoric acid 237 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,240 to remove dust, 238 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,800 and sprayed with a protective primer. 239 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,560 And I've got me own protective coating 240 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:09,640 to have a go at painting them. 241 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,120 # Spaceman 242 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,000 # I always wanted you to go into space, man... # 243 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,360 Look at the state of that. I look like I'm breaking out of an egg. 244 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:19,680 # Spaceman 245 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,840 # I always wanted you to go into space, man... # 246 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:27,280 I look like a cross between Buzz Aldrin and a Teletubby. 247 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,760 RICHARD CHUCKLES 248 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,760 Lead on. 249 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,480 You can never be too careful. Say no more. 250 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,760 That's all right for Richard - he doesn't have to wear it. 251 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,960 # Spaceman, spaceman Spaceman, spaceman... # 252 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,560 The decks are sprayed by both human hands and robot arms. 253 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:48,120 Not with traditional paint, but a plastic polymer powder 254 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,920 which provides a strong, weather-resistant coating. 255 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,240 Would you like to have a go? Well, Richard, 256 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,920 I've not spent a half hour getting all this on for nothing. 257 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:02,600 Is me oxygen on? Yeah. You're on and running. 258 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,240 Beautiful. Right. 259 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,280 It's Jordan Edwards's job to make sure every deck is covered 260 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:13,160 with a precise 0.1mm layer of polymer powder. 261 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,120 You all right, Jordan? So, what am I doing, pal? 262 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,800 Right, you can see the exposed areas of the aluminium cast. Oh, yeah. 263 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,280 All you want to do is fill in the nooks and the crannies 264 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,280 and then you're all done. Beautiful, beautiful. Right, here we go. 265 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,160 Hey, I tell you what, there's some bits in there. 266 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,640 It's quite good, this, actually. 267 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,480 Just finding bits... 268 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,120 As the green powder leaves the nozzle of the paint gun, 269 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,200 it's given a negative electrostatic charge... 270 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,440 Get that, under there, hidden away, right under t'rim. 271 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,240 Get stuck in. 272 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,520 ..which causes it to cling tightly to the aluminium surface, 273 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:01,960 perfectly coating the deck. 274 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,120 How's that looking? Have I missed any bits, pal? 275 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,600 Absolutely perfect, Paddy. You're all done. 276 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,000 I've got to say, I think you've got the best job here. 277 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,600 That's beltin', that. I love that. 278 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,520 It's quite therapeutic. Yeah. Relaxing. 279 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,080 I'm going to go again. I'm going to go again. 280 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,480 Relax. Get yourself a cup of tea, pal. 281 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,200 While I lose myself in powder-coating heaven... 282 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,040 ..our rather dull decks 283 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,120 travel through what looks like a giant doner kebab grill. 284 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,800 Inside, they're blasted with 300-degree Celsius heat, 285 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,240 melting the polymer powder coating 286 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,000 to give a smooth and toughened finish. 287 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,160 And 1.5 hours into lawnmower production... 288 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,640 We've got a glossy, deep-green weatherproof deck. 289 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:17,680 Oh, look at these. 290 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,440 This is a beautiful colour. 291 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,120 Looking good, aren't they, Paddy? Look at the finish on them. 292 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:26,160 They're looking absolute top drawer. 293 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,960 Yeah. Beautiful. 294 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,560 If you just give me a hand with that, Paddy. Of course, yeah. 295 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,040 And we'll just lower it into the box. Lower it in. 296 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:37,120 Shall I give you a push? Let's go. 297 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,400 From the painting area, 298 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,040 our decks travel to the start of the assembly line. 299 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,280 It's the beating heart of the factory... 300 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,440 ..where a team of highly skilled workers... 301 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,800 ..busily attach over 80 different components. 302 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,640 Along the line, there are six main stations 303 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,520 to construct different sections of the mower... 304 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,840 ..each one crewed by a specialist worker 305 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,360 who has six minutes to do their bit... 306 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,160 ..assembling their specific parts onto each deck... 307 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,640 ..before rolling it down the line to the next stage. 308 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,280 It all seems to run like clockwork. 309 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:41,640 Here we are. 310 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,720 I hope I don't put a spanner in the works. 311 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,120 This is the first stage where we put the decks and the engines together. 312 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,960 Our mower features a 159cc petrol engine. 313 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,080 It'll power the rotary cutting blade 314 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,440 and drive the roller at the back, 315 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,400 propelling the machine forward. 316 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:09,760 The man responsible for attaching this vital component is Yip. 317 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:12,600 Nice to meet you, Yip. 318 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,240 I realise I'm extending a handshake as you're mid-screw there. 319 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:17,760 Carry on screwing. 320 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,280 If we use car analogies here, would you say this particular mower 321 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,480 is like the Bentley of the factory? 322 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,720 Rolls-Royce, mate. Rolls-Royce?! Yeah. Beautiful. 323 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:32,360 It's not quite a Rolls-Royce, 324 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,800 but this engine has 4.5 horsepower, 325 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,080 roughly the same as a moped, 326 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,600 which is more than enough to propel the mower 327 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,400 and spin the cutting blade 46 times every second. 328 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,280 This is a bit of me, I love owt like this. 329 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,680 Would you like to do the next one, Patty? Do you know what? 330 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,360 I'd love to. I'll get out your way. 331 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:59,000 Oh, that's nice, he's gone! Right, show us how it's done, pal. 332 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,880 Well, first of all, we got two stickers. 333 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,640 This is a Rolls-Royce. I've gotta get it absolutely bang-on. 334 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,440 Not bad for your first attempt. If you'd like to lift this engine 335 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,040 and put it on the actual case over there. Right, OK. 336 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,640 What wight is that? About five, six kilos. 337 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,240 Five?! Maybe more. 338 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,440 It's about 12. You've worked here too long. 339 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,000 Your arms are too strong. That way? That's right, yes. 340 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,080 Got that in there, yeah. Smashing. 341 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,400 Feel a bit like the F1 team here when it comes in for a pit stop, 342 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,280 but we're doing a little bit more on it. 343 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,720 Should be absolutely perfect, them, cos I've painted 'em. 344 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,840 Three 30mm toughened steel bolts... 345 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,520 Tell you what, I'm enjoying this. 346 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,720 ..is all it takes to attach the engine. 347 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,520 That's it. Just finish off these now. Oh, these. 348 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,680 It's not quite as quick as a Formula 1 pit stop... 349 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:04,800 There you go. Got it, yeah. 350 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,600 ..but if I don't get this done within six minutes, 351 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,800 I'll be holding up the whole production line. 352 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:12,320 Great bit of kit, this. 353 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:14,960 You know what I love? That. 354 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,160 No putting it down. Up in the air. 355 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,160 Little bit of grease on the front axle. Yeah. 356 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,680 This axle is where the front wheels will attach later. 357 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,000 I can see why it's only six minutes, you work quick. 358 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,400 Done. Clear. Off it goes. Thanks very much for that, pal. 359 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,000 Thank you. I'll see you in a little bit. 360 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,280 This factory is so calm and well organised. 361 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,440 Everything's in its place, just ready to go. 362 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:51,560 Gorgeous! 363 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,640 All geared up to make mowers fit for our back gardens. 364 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,760 But when it comes to grass for top-level sport, 365 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:02,600 how do the pros do it? 366 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,600 Cherry, the lucky rascal, is finding out. 367 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,040 I've got some pretty amazing access 368 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,880 to a little football ground you may have heard of. 369 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,560 It is the home of English football. 370 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,680 It is the one and only Wembley Stadium. 371 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,280 Over the decades, this famous ground 372 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,200 has witnessed the highs and lows of our national sport... 373 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,120 ..with some of the greatest players in the history of the game... 374 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,840 ..taking centre stage on its hallowed turf. 375 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,360 I've been given a very special invitation 376 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:55,120 to come and see how they prepare the ground for the FA Cup final. 377 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:01,520 In just a few days, 90,000 fans will greet the players 378 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:05,040 as they emerge from the famous Wembley tunnel. 379 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,320 Oh, my goodness me. 380 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:19,280 Wow. 381 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,480 This is epic. 382 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,920 And the man in charge of making sure it's all pitch perfect 383 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,640 for the big match is grounds manager Karl Standley. 384 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,360 Well, this is kind of amazing. 385 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,000 Karl, so nice to meet you. Welcome. How are you? 386 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,040 I feel like I've died and I've gone to grass heaven. 387 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:46,440 Thank you very much. 388 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,600 We're getting it ready for the busiest time of the year. 389 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,560 There are millions of blades of grass out there. 390 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,680 Each one of them has to be perfect. It's so vibrant. 391 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,360 How do you grow this grass? 392 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:00,640 It's the Wembley pitch, actually grown in sand. Oh, wow. 393 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,080 Why do you grow it in sand? It's a winter sports pitch. 394 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:04,720 So in the wintertime it rains. 395 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,440 You want to be pushing water through it. 396 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,560 What would happen if this was grown just on a soil base? 397 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,280 It would be very much a mud bath. Yeah. 398 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:14,920 And is this the grass growing here? 399 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,400 No. So this is polyethylene plastic fibres. 400 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,840 Isn't that cheating? So the reason we have plastic in here, 401 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,160 a very small amount, is that when the grass actually germinates, 402 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,400 a root comes out of it. And the idea is that root actually wraps itself 403 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:32,000 around this plastic, which goes down 55mm. 404 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,120 And that's what gives you the stability 405 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,040 which allows us to do multiple games. 406 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,560 Oh, I see, it's almost like scaffolding for the grass. 407 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:41,880 Very much so, yeah. 408 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,040 Unlike this small sample, 409 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,800 the Wembley pitch is created on a massive scale... 410 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,160 ..at a turf nursery in a top-secret location. 411 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,520 Grown for three months, 412 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,640 it's 95% real grass with soil and sand 413 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:03,600 and 5% plastic. 414 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,480 Every year, after a summer of concerts, 415 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,800 the old pitch is ripped up, with the plastic recycled into benches, 416 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,760 and the brand-new pitch is laid out 417 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,240 using 720 1.2-metre-wide rolls. 418 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,520 It takes just five days to install. 419 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,640 Once you've laid it down, is it happy as Larry? 420 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,440 No, it's not. It's like growing grass in a giant shoe box. 421 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,880 So for six months of the year, the one thing we need is sunlight. 422 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:36,840 So we have artificial lighting systems 423 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,120 that actually roll out onto the playing surface. 424 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:42,160 We have an undersoil heating pipe so we can constantly keep the pitch 425 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,240 at around about 16 degrees throughout the winter. 426 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,440 That is so bougie. In the summer, 427 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,440 we have to have an irrigation system that we can water the pitch. 428 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,400 The surface is mown every day 429 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,240 and three times on the morning of the FA Cup final. 430 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,200 Karl, how does everyone know where to go? 431 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,040 You see some strings down the playing surface, 432 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,160 and that's how we keep the lines really straight. 433 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,680 Why don't you just have a great big ride-on mower? 434 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:12,560 Well, first of all, it's more weight on the playing surface, 435 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,120 which you're trying to keep away from. 436 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:16,440 And also you don't really get the feel of the playing surface. 437 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,520 They could be cutting, they could be looking at what they're doing, 438 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,120 and then suddenly you see an area of, "OK, there's an issue there, 439 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:22,800 "a problem there. We can sort that." 440 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,160 It takes a total of 12 miles of walking 441 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,640 to cut the Wembley pitch just once... 442 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:38,000 ..pushing 34-inch-wide specialist electric mowers 443 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,760 with razor-sharp teeth 444 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:44,440 that cut each blade of grass to precisely 23mm. 445 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,040 These mowers are also equipped with large rollers 446 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,920 to create those iconic Wembley stripes. 447 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,640 Imagine it's the day of the FA Cup final. 448 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,760 It's a huge day. High pressure. What's your routine? 449 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,280 First thing is we walk the pitch. 450 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,480 Look at any issues, concerns, and then we start to prep the pitch. 451 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,920 So we have to add a little bit of water to the playing surface 452 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,160 to put a little bit of slickness on the surface. 453 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,280 So when the ball slicks across the surface, 454 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,800 it gives it speed, and that's what the players want. 455 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:15,640 And then suddenly we're in game mode. 456 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,680 The noise erupts. You then realise, "My God, this job's pretty cool." 457 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,200 CROWD CHANTS 458 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,480 That must be the most incredible feeling. 459 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,960 I sit there with my cup of tea and I watch the game. 460 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,800 And then throughout the game, I'll just move around to each corner, 461 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,560 watching how the pitch is performing. 462 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,800 I mean, Karl, to me, it looks completely pristine. 463 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,480 But what about you? Do you think it's ten out of ten? 464 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,040 I think there's only one way you've gotta find out 465 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,280 and that's by you giving it a quick run. 466 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,120 # It's coming home It's coming home 467 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:51,280 # It's coming 468 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:52,760 # Football's coming... # 469 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,760 I think it's perfect. Thank you. I'll tell the grounds team. Thanks. 470 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,440 # Three lions on a shirt... # 471 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,560 PADDY: Oh, you jammy so-and-so. Wembley Stadium! 472 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,640 CROWD CHEERS 473 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,240 You know what, Cherry gets all the best gigs. 474 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,160 When I'm watching football at home, right, I'm watching the football, 475 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,200 but I should imagine you're sat looking at the pitch. 476 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,600 What would you say is your best pitch to look at where you go, 477 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,080 "That's a lovely cut"? 478 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,440 I'm a bit of a fan of what they do at the West Ham stadium. 479 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,400 Olympic Stadium, lovely ground, lovely pitch. 480 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,920 On our lawnmower assembly line, 481 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,840 Yip is busy bolting engines to the decks... 482 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,600 ..and at the next station, the lads are adding a plastic chute 483 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,000 that will carry the grass cuttings from the blade 484 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,760 to the collection bag. 485 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,920 But next comes the key to getting those stadium-quality lawn stripes 486 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,800 at home - 487 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:04,280 the roller, 488 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,280 which sits at the back 489 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,400 instead of rear wheels 490 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:09,960 and is held in place 491 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:11,080 by a roller frame 492 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,560 made from 11 separate steel components. 493 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,120 Production of the frame 494 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,000 begins away from the assembly line, at the laser cutter. 495 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,320 So if we want to put that big stripe on our lawn, 496 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,800 we need to hold a roller on the back of the mower. 497 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,800 Do you know, I think when you say about the stripes on the lawn, 498 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,520 there's certain things in life that are just heaven, 499 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,320 and a good stripe on a lawn, honestly, as boring as it sounds, 500 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,000 I could literally sit with a cup of tea just looking at it. 501 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,160 The framework for the roller starts life 502 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,760 as a 5mm-thick sheet of steel. 503 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,840 Inside the cutting machine, 504 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,400 a 5-kilowatt laser begins to carve out multiple end brackets. 505 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,040 Just like a knife through butter, that. It is. 506 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,480 It works with a near-infrared light wave 507 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,280 that comes from a laser generation unit in the corner. 508 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,480 It beams down through the unit, down to a lens, that then focuses 509 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,240 all of that laser energy... 510 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,240 VOICE FADES 511 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:16,320 Now, to translate Doctor Spock here, 512 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:23,320 the laser heats the molecules in the steel to 1,500 Celsius, 513 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,800 enough to melt and precisely cut the steel. 514 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,320 Here we go. Set your phasers to stun. 515 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,040 It's just mind-blowing. Quite hypnotic, actually. 516 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,040 Looks very effortless, doesn't it? Yeah. 517 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,720 In just over one hour, 518 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,120 the laser makes parts for 54 roller frames. 519 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:51,360 There they are. 520 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,120 When I look at the thickness of that, 521 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:59,600 it amazes me how it cuts through it so effortlessly. 522 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,280 Yeah. We've got a lovely, lovely clean cut around here. 523 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,400 Oh, look at that! Fantastic. 524 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,360 We'll get them all together and take them down to the welding shop. 525 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:10,840 Perfect. Let's do it. 526 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,120 Three steel bracket plates from the laser cutter, 527 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,360 along with eight other components, 528 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,640 are clamped onto a jig, 529 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,760 which holds the pieces in place... 530 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,120 ..ready to be welded together. 531 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,560 So, Paddy, here's our welder, our robot welder. 532 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:35,440 Who named her Betty? 533 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,280 Ah, always been known as Betty. Lost in the mists of time. 534 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,720 OK. 535 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,560 A pre-programmed robot goes around and puts everything together 536 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,000 and does the full weld. 537 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,440 On Betty's robot arm 538 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,280 is a hot torch which melts copper-coated steel wire 539 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,560 into the joints of the roller frame... 540 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,880 ..permanently welding the 11 pieces together 541 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,920 in just three minutes. 542 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,520 You can see that all of these welds have been put neatly into place 543 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,240 round all of the rods, with the magic hot torch. 544 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,840 Yeah. Here, here and here. 545 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,680 All nice and bonny. And ready for the next step. Correct. 546 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,280 Smashing. See you later, Betty. 547 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,000 Didn't reply to me. 548 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,360 Once Betty's done her thing, 549 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,600 the roller frames are sprayed black 550 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:42,000 with the same kind of polymer powder we used for the decks. 551 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,360 And after being fired in the kebab grill and then cooled, 552 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,040 they're ready for the all-important roller. 553 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,680 These are made from glass reinforced plastic. 554 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,760 And why are the little ridges in there? To give traction. 555 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:00,840 These rollers are driven by the engine 556 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,680 and that drives the machine along. 557 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:05,360 Love that. Who's this, by the way? This is Dave. 558 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,200 How are you, Dave? We've got a bit of a malfunction with this roller. 559 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:09,680 Oh, we've come at the wrong time. 560 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,160 Don't worry, Dave, it's not as though it's on the telly. 561 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,400 You're the man to fix it. 562 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,080 Dave connects the rollers together so they'll spin smoothly, 563 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,720 which sometimes takes careful adjustment. 564 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,720 Have you sorted that out, Dave? Sorted. Top man. 565 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:29,280 So now he's applying grease into those mechanisms. 566 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,840 Here at Dave's station, the roller is even fitted with a gearbox 567 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,200 which will be connected to the engine via a chain. 568 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,960 Once fired up, it'll send power to the roller, 569 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,040 propelling the mower forward at various speeds. 570 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,560 It reminds me a little bit like when you go to somewhere like McLaren. 571 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:53,560 Mm-hm. So they're working on an F1 car and everything's just calm. 572 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:57,320 Yeah. People are getting on with it. Clean work areas. Yeah. 573 00:33:57,320 --> 00:33:58,640 It's great to see. 574 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:05,280 I'm telling you now, the longer I spend here, 575 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:09,160 the more I want to get back to having a real lawn. 576 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,800 Is that you done, Dave? It is, mate. Fantastic. 577 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,080 Dave, F1's loss is lawnmowers' gain. Beautiful. 578 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,720 Back on the main assembly line, 579 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:28,880 Keith has the job of installing the roller and frame 580 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,920 onto the underside of the deck. 581 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:36,800 It's connected to the engine... 582 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,520 ..and then it's on to Paul... 583 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,160 ..who fixes two wheels onto the axle. 584 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,840 And with those front wheels on, 585 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,520 we're ready for the cutting-edge part of the assembly. 586 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:02,240 This is where Paul is putting on the blades. 587 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:06,680 The SHARP end of the factory! Indeed it is. Yes. Well done. 588 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,760 So this is your cutting blade, 589 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,480 and you can see that it's got the cut edge put on the tip there. 590 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,640 It's not very sharp, though. No, but it doesn't need to be. 591 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:15,600 Only that section of the blade 592 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,440 really does all of the work while it's spinning through the grass 593 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:19,760 as you're walking forwards. OK. 594 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:23,680 If you think this thing is turning at 2,800 rpm, 595 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,160 around sort of 180mph, that tip speed, 596 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,640 and it's the speed of that impact that really does a lot of the work. 597 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,840 Yeah. I don't think any blades of grass are standing up 598 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,160 if that's hitting it at 180 like that. 599 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:36,840 You were pretty quick there, Paul. 600 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:38,880 How long does it take you to do that? 601 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,160 30 seconds? Oh, my word. 602 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,400 He's throwing them out. 603 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:45,120 There's a new one for you, pal. Thank you very much. 604 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:46,360 Get that on there. 605 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,800 I mean, looking at the inside of that, 606 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,160 how do you develop it to cut so well? 607 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,720 We use the same kind of aeronautical software 608 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,160 they use to design Formula 1 wings on cars. 609 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,400 So we will model the shape of the deck, 610 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,560 the shape of the blade, the shape of the wings 611 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,480 to cut that grass and get it up that chute and into the grass bag. 612 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:09,840 The blade has wings on its edges, 613 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,200 which creates suction and pushes air upwards, 614 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,880 lifting freshly mown grass away from the cutting area 615 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,000 and into a collection bag at the back of the mower. 616 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,120 Right, well, I've been in here all morning. 617 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,160 Not being rude, Richard, but you've not offered me a cup of tea yet. 618 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,160 Sorry. So let's get the kettle on. Milk, no sugar. 619 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,240 So while Richard brews up 620 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:36,200 and our mowers travel to the next station on the line, 621 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,680 Ruth's getting to grips with the history 622 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,840 of a very different kind of lawn-cutting machine - 623 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:43,480 the hover mower. 624 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,920 Oh! You all right there, Ruth? 625 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:53,320 Oh! 626 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:58,480 The very first mechanical lawnmower, invented in 1830, 627 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:02,880 was such a beast that it took two people to operate it. 628 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,080 Ready, Clive? One, two, three, Go! 629 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:08,120 Ah! 630 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,320 It used a cutting blade on a cylinder 631 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,880 powered by a heavy roller, and a lot of push and pull. 632 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:20,400 London Zoo 633 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,480 even tried using camels to help, 634 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,000 and early steam and petrol mowers, 635 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,880 introduced in the 1890s, 636 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,240 also proved cumbersome. 637 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:37,560 But fast-forward through the decades to the 1960s... 638 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,840 # It's all too beautiful... # 639 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:45,000 ..when the suburbs were expanding with new homeowners, 640 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,760 all desperate to create perfectly cut lawns. 641 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:55,040 And suddenly a new lightweight mower landed on the scene... 642 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:56,920 Hello, madam. I've come to demonstrate 643 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,200 the revolutionary Flymo lawnmower. 644 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,160 ..complete with a free demo. 645 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,880 So the Flymo is totally revolutionary. 646 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,360 Lawnmower historian Clive Gravett 647 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,400 has certainly learnt the salesman's patter. 648 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,360 You've got no rollers, no wheels, 649 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,120 and it just simply floats on a cushion of air. 650 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,800 IT was invented by Karl Dahlman in 1963. 651 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:22,800 He was inspired by Cockerell's hovercraft. 652 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,280 The hovercraft had made global headlines 653 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:33,000 with its first successful crossing of the English Channel in 1959. 654 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,320 It could float across water and hover over land 655 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,960 using a unique jet propulsion system. 656 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,880 A Flymo, cos it's a flying mower! 657 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:46,520 We've got a petrol engine 658 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,040 and you have these vents where air is sucked in. 659 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,440 Yeah. And an impeller goes round underneath. An impeller... 660 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,280 Oh, that's what this disk is. 661 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,360 And that pushes the air down, creating a cushion of air. 662 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:01,360 And the blade obviously also going around to actually cut the grass. 663 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:05,400 Apparently, Karl Dahlman experimented with a dustbin lid. 664 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,240 And then you can hover in any direction. 665 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:10,360 So no more straight lines, you can... You can go round. 666 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:12,320 You can even go round in a circle. 667 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,080 It just floats on air. 668 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,920 It is a completely different way of thinking about lawn mowing. 669 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,800 Every man could have his own hovercraft in the garden. 670 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,920 But despite an initial flurry of excitement, 671 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:32,080 most blokes soldiered on with their traditional heavy roller mowers. 672 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,160 So in the early 1970s, 673 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:38,800 attention was turned to the women of the home 674 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,000 when Swedish consumer goods company Electrolux 675 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,240 marketed an all-new, fully electric hover mower 676 00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:50,200 in flexible, colourful, lightweight plastic. 677 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,160 Top advertising executive Rosie Arnold... 678 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,480 Welcome to the 1970s. 679 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,200 THEY LAUGH 680 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,960 ..believes the fashionable women of the '70s... Cheers. 681 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,120 ..gave this mower lift-off. 682 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,560 So what was it about the Flymo 683 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,600 that turned it into the brand that we know today? 684 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:13,000 What they'd identified at that time was a new market of housewives. 685 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,080 In the house, there were so many new gadgets. 686 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:16,520 There were vacuum cleaners, 687 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:19,320 there were washing machines, there were blenders. 688 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,480 It was all about speed, convenience. 689 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:23,360 That was the way the world was going. 690 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,720 And they identified that women were the major buyers of these things. 691 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,280 Right. And they thought, "Why not talk about the garden?" 692 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:31,680 So how are they doing this, then? 693 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,920 I think, you know, one of the first ads here, 694 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,600 "Jenny, you're not a grass widow again?" And it says, 695 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:37,800 "You're not going to tell us 696 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,600 "your husband still has that old tank of a mower?" 697 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:44,760 So that's leading straight in to that idea about this big, 698 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,760 archaic, masculine machine, 699 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,720 whereas this is this light thing that even a woman can use. 700 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:52,080 My eyes are drawn to this one, I have to say, 701 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:54,520 and that's mostly because I want that dress. 702 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,040 THEY LAUGH 703 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,480 Doesn't she look wonderful? "So little effort, in fact, 704 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,280 "that when it arrives, you and your lawn are both looking good." 705 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,160 It's a very odd thing, isn't it? This is being marketed at women, 706 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:08,360 and yet, to our modern ears, is patronising as heck. 707 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:11,880 What you have to remember is that it was men doing the advertising. 708 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,320 So in these mid-'70s adverts, 709 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:17,040 I noticed that the mower itself is blue. 710 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:21,360 The story goes that they were doing a research group amongst housewives, 711 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,760 and they all got together and asked for it to be changed 712 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,960 to the much more fashionable orange, 713 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,960 cos at the time orange was massively fashionable. 714 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,600 So we've got the Space Hopper and the Dukes Of Hazzard car. 715 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:34,960 It was an IT colour. 716 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,560 # Everyone's a winner, baby That's no lie... # 717 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,640 And, actually, it was a stroke of marketing genius 718 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:45,360 because it set it aside from all the other mowers that were out there. 719 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,120 So that, combined with advertising to women, 720 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:50,320 you'd got an absolute killer strategy. 721 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,280 And after 1977, 722 00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,160 all Flymos were orange. 723 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,000 Marvellous. Oh! 724 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,240 I think we have lift-off. 725 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:12,200 By the end of the 1980s, the orange hover was making up 726 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:17,240 a third of all lawnmower purchases across the UK and Europe. 727 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:21,320 SHOUTING OVER THE ENGINE: And it's all thanks to a Swede 728 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,880 with a fascination for the hovercraft. 729 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,520 That's OK, Ruth, we can hear you. 730 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,600 Nearly there, pal. 731 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,000 I've been pepped up with a nice brew. 732 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:47,920 And after nearly 3.5 hours, 733 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,840 our mowers are rolling along the assembly line... 734 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,720 ..where work starts on the upper body... 735 00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:58,960 ..with the addition of a mechanism 736 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,360 to adjust the cutting height of the grass. 737 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,600 But I'm off in search of a secret. 738 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,040 This is where they keep Cherry Healey's dental records. 739 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,560 Various teeth she puts in and out. 740 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:18,400 What's behind these curtains? 741 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:21,520 Like a Kubrick movie, this. 742 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:25,200 Never look in there. 743 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:32,480 The secret I'm looking for is how to mow those perfect stripes. 744 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:36,320 And for that, I need to head out into the sunshine. 745 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:38,480 Oh, beautiful. 746 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:41,400 # I'm walking on sunshine 747 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,040 # Whoa-oh! 748 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:45,480 # I'm walking on... # Oh, at last. 749 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:47,800 This is what we're talking about. Yeah. 750 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,520 # And don't it feel good, hey! # 751 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,080 This is one of our test fields, Paddy. 752 00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:57,480 I've been on loads of test tracks. This is me first test field. 753 00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:01,400 What's the optimal height for good stripe-age? 754 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:03,800 Well, for stripes, you actually need a little bit of length 755 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,800 left in the grass, because it's the bending of the grass 756 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,000 that gives you that striped effect. 757 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:13,920 All them years we've struggled, and that's the answer - 758 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:15,600 a bit longer in length. 759 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:18,720 According to Richard, for the best stripes, 760 00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:24,080 set your blade height to cut the grass at 4cm to 6cm. 761 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:26,520 Pull up the handle, then pull the engine start. 762 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,560 Right, OK, then. Right. 763 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:30,280 A pull cord... 764 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:31,760 ENGINE STARTS 765 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,160 ..sparks the engine to life. 766 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,200 Push on there and you'll be away. 767 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:40,000 Squeezing the handlebar engages the gears in the roller, 768 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:42,240 propelling it forward. 769 00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:43,840 Oh. 770 00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:47,360 Beautiful! Look at that! 771 00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:49,120 Feels as smooth as silk. 772 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,040 Tripod, that. Might want to get rid of that off the lawn. 773 00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:57,200 Occupational hazard. 774 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,240 Shall I go back up the other way, get the stripe going? Yeah. 775 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:06,760 # We're all going on a summer holiday 776 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,520 # No more working for a week or two... # 777 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:11,880 Oh, now we're motoring. 778 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,320 I am here for this. 779 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,480 Oh, what a treat. 780 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,520 The mower weighs 47kg, 781 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,400 which pushes down on the roller, creating the stripes. 782 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,920 Oh, my God. 783 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:31,200 THEY LAUGH 784 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,960 I've got two bad lines. At least it's consistent. 785 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,080 And I'm getting the two different colours. You are. 786 00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:39,080 When the grass is bent away from you, 787 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,440 you get a lot of light reflecting back from the blades. 788 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,320 That looks like a light-green stripe. 789 00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:44,720 When the grass is bent towards you, 790 00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:47,080 you're looking down the ends of the tips of the blades of grass, 791 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:48,480 that gives you the dark stripe. 792 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,920 I honestly thought it was how low you put your mower. 793 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,560 Not at all. No, the lower you go, the worse the stripe you'll get. 794 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:59,480 # The mornin' It's my lawnmower, lawnmower 795 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:04,480 # The afternoon My lawnmower, lawnmower... # 796 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,040 I think that's a bit better, Paddy. 797 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,600 Well, I could happily spend the day here on me own 798 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:12,680 testing lawnmowers. 799 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:15,560 If you're looking for someone, I'm your man. 800 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:17,800 You're more than welcome. Thank you. 801 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:20,480 # Look in awe at my lawnmower 802 00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:24,880 # With jealousy and awe at my lawnmower... # 803 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,000 Oh, it's so satisfying. 804 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,040 Hey, don't walk on the stripes, Mike. 805 00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:35,680 Straight across my handiwork. 806 00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,600 Oh, sacrilege. 807 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:40,400 PADDY LAUGHS 808 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:44,720 All right, shall we head back inside? You can, Richard. 809 00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:47,120 I'm just going to have another five minutes here looking at me stripes. 810 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,240 Go on, pal, I won't be long. Fair enough. 811 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:50,720 Mmm! 812 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:53,440 Gorgeous. 813 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,560 Surely you can't beat this, Cherry? 814 00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:06,640 Well, actually, I think I can - with a day trip to sunny Cambridge. 815 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:11,880 This is so beautiful. 816 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,520 The historic buildings, the punting. 817 00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:18,160 But look at that perfect, gorgeous lawn 818 00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:20,440 stretching all the way down to the river. 819 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:23,160 But I'm not here for a lesson on how to look after your lawn. 820 00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:25,960 I'm actually here for a lesson in how to NOT mow your lawn. 821 00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:30,360 They've had a finely manicured lawn here 822 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:35,920 behind the King's College Chapel for over 250 years, 823 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:40,880 but now a large section of it has been transformed. 824 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:45,960 Wow. 825 00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:57,920 All under the watchful eye of botanist Dr Cicely Marshall. 826 00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:01,400 Hi, Cicely. Hi, Cherry. Welcome to our wild flower meadow. 827 00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:08,760 Why did you decide to dig up half of the lawn 828 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,280 of this iconic setting and grow a meadow? 829 00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:14,720 It's been a fine lawn since 1772. 830 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:19,000 And in 2019, we wondered if we could make more of the area for nature. 831 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:22,800 We've lost 97% of our species-rich grasslands in this country, 832 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:25,000 mainly through intensified agriculture. 833 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,840 We also wanted to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. 834 00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:30,040 We also thought it would be beautiful. 835 00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:32,480 It is absolutely stunning. 836 00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:36,360 What plants can I see here? 837 00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:38,880 Well, we've got a species that are typical of hay meadow, 838 00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:42,040 so things like the carrot... I recognise that. ..the oxeye daisy, 839 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:45,840 the field scabious... Beautiful, those purple ones. Yeah. Stunning. 840 00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:48,280 The slightly pinker, that's greater knapweed. 841 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:50,520 I mean, the difference is so stark. 842 00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:54,880 Here, you've got this explosion of flowers. 843 00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:57,920 And then you've got almost nothing else except grass on here. 844 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:03,880 The meadow was created by scattering 845 00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:07,440 a mix of local East Anglian wild flower seeds 846 00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:09,600 and then letting nature do its thing. 847 00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:16,000 Incredibly, 51 of the 84 plant species here today 848 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:21,040 flew in on the wind or were dormant under the grass all along. 849 00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:28,120 Tending to this huge variety of plants is gardener Charlotte Waters. 850 00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:31,640 I mean, this is so stunningly beautiful. 851 00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:35,200 How is it that when I've tried to grow wild flowers at home, 852 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:38,720 nothing's happened? So I think your key is the yellow rattle. 853 00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:42,640 And you need yellow rattle to help establish the flowers, 854 00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:45,800 because the yellow rattle helps break down the grass growth. 855 00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:48,880 The yellow rattle competes with the root of the grass 856 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,040 to stunt the growth of the grass, 857 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:53,160 which means the flowers can then thrive. 858 00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:55,080 So it's thanks to this little plant 859 00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:59,360 that we have all of this and all this diversity? Yeah. 860 00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:01,400 What are your favourite things growing in the meadow? 861 00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:04,080 So it has to be a bee orchid, because they're so rare. 862 00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:06,840 And when they arrive, it's just... Everyone gets excited. 863 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:09,280 And it's like the gossip around the college 864 00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:10,920 that there's a bee orchid in the meadow. 865 00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:16,560 It may look gorgeous, but have these wild flowers 866 00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:20,200 really provided more food and shelter for wildlife? 867 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:23,000 To find out, I'm joining a group of volunteers 868 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,680 who monitor how the biodiversity differs 869 00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:28,640 between the meadow and the lawn. 870 00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:31,680 I mean, on the mowed lawn, I can see there's not much action happening. 871 00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:35,040 But the minute you step into the wild meadow, 872 00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,320 just a couple of sweeps with my net... 873 00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:41,880 Oh, yeah. Mother Nature is having a party. 874 00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:45,040 Look at that. It's absolutely teeming with life. 875 00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:46,400 Hello, Jiminy Cricket. 876 00:50:49,720 --> 00:50:53,320 As well as using nets to capture and release sun lovers 877 00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:57,520 like grasshoppers and butterflies, UV light insect traps 878 00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:01,720 are set up overnight to monitor nocturnal critters. 879 00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:04,160 Oh, fun. Look at this. 880 00:51:04,160 --> 00:51:07,600 Oh. This is a June bug, which is a type of chafer beetle. 881 00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:09,760 Oh, look. What's that? That is a heart and club. 882 00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,360 Heart and club. We've got a caddisfly, 883 00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,680 a moth, a beetle and a mayfly. 884 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:18,080 So that's four different insect orders, 885 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:21,200 which really shows the sort of diversity that we're getting. 886 00:51:21,200 --> 00:51:24,160 We have a rather wonderful feast here. 887 00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:27,040 Look at this. Look at that. 888 00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:30,240 Oh, my goodness me. It's an elephant hawk moth. 889 00:51:30,240 --> 00:51:34,320 That's a moth?! I had no idea they came multicoloured. 890 00:51:34,320 --> 00:51:36,760 It looks like something from a tropical country. 891 00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:40,200 This is absolutely beautiful. 892 00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,600 We've got 2,500 species of moths in Britain. 893 00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:47,480 The flat lawn gives them nowhere to hide. But that lovely rough, 894 00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,080 sort of three-dimensional architecture of the meadow 895 00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:53,280 makes a big difference. They make really good food for bats as well. 896 00:51:53,280 --> 00:51:56,680 What, he does? Yeah. No, don't say that! 897 00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:58,120 She didn't mean it. 898 00:51:58,120 --> 00:52:00,760 So is it working? Is the wild flower meadow 899 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:04,880 attracting more diverse plant and animal species? Absolutely it is. 900 00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:10,400 The results of the study have so far revealed 901 00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:14,440 over three times more bugs and bats in the meadow, 902 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:19,560 which now creates a vital wildlife corridor in the city. 903 00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:23,320 And no mowing has also reduced carbon emissions. 904 00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:28,920 What can we do at home to create something like this? 905 00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:31,280 Well, a simple thing you can do is just to stop mowing your lawn 906 00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:33,320 and see what you've got. And you might find 907 00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:36,000 your lawn is more species rich than you think it is. 908 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,160 So more diverse flowers, more diverse animals, 909 00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:41,000 a happier ecosystem. Yeah. 910 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:47,560 If letting our lawns grow wild 911 00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:52,400 means attracting more beauties like this, I say let it grow. 912 00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:57,880 PADDY: Yeah, that does look nice, Cherry. 913 00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:02,880 But some lawnmowers are absolute beauties, too. 914 00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:11,120 A proper mower! 915 00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:18,360 PADDY WHOOPS 916 00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:24,640 Having fun? Yes! Oh, well. Inside time. 917 00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,440 Oh! 918 00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:28,000 Party pooper. 919 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:32,280 Thoroughly enjoyed that. Frankie Dettori. 920 00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:44,040 Luckily, Richard does have some classic power tools inside... 921 00:53:44,040 --> 00:53:45,880 Ah. 922 00:53:45,880 --> 00:53:48,920 Look at that. Proper. 923 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:50,880 ..to lure me back in. 924 00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:52,480 Wow. 925 00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,280 This is like being in a toy shop. 926 00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:56,520 Oh! 927 00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:00,040 On the assembly line, 928 00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:04,000 we're ready to finish the fittings on the top of the lawnmower deck. 929 00:54:07,240 --> 00:54:09,720 Here we are. All right, Paddy, this is Marek. 930 00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:12,240 We're just going to put on some of the last parts of the assembly now. 931 00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:15,040 Yeah. So we've got a top cover to go on. We've got one here for you. 932 00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:18,520 Yeah. Stand aside, Marek, I'm going in. 933 00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:23,000 You just lower that cover over the top. 934 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:24,040 That's it. That's it. 935 00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,360 The black plastic cover provides a nice finish 936 00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,000 around that all-important height-adjustment lever. 937 00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:39,880 Ohh! We like that. 938 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:43,840 Little cap on the top of that lever. 939 00:54:48,720 --> 00:54:51,920 More, more, more. More? More. 940 00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,760 How's that? Yeah. And you check if... 941 00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:57,640 Don't move these. Ah! 942 00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:00,960 Pretty solid, that. I'll just give it one more. 943 00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:02,640 Yeah. Feels good. 944 00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:04,920 So next stage is handlebars. 945 00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:08,240 If you'd like to pass these over to Marek 946 00:55:08,240 --> 00:55:12,800 and he'll get them fitted up. Yeah. Marek, you're back on, pal. 947 00:55:12,800 --> 00:55:15,360 OK. Good luck. Thank you. Look after her. 948 00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:19,160 Marek installs the steel handlebars, 949 00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:22,040 which can fold away for storage. 950 00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,360 And now we've nearly finished, look who's turned up. 951 00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:27,360 Whoo! 952 00:55:27,360 --> 00:55:29,160 All the hard work is done 953 00:55:29,160 --> 00:55:31,720 and Cherry's here to steal the glory. 954 00:55:34,520 --> 00:55:37,920 Ah, here we are. 955 00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:41,200 Ta-da! Look at this. Ain't it beautiful? 956 00:55:41,200 --> 00:55:42,680 So shiny and new! 957 00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:46,760 And I can spin it round like a lazy Susan. 958 00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:49,120 Any chance of Richard putting the handle up for Cherry? 959 00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:50,400 That's all right, though. 960 00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:53,440 Brilliant, that. This is your final mower, Paddy and Cherry. 961 00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:55,760 Ready to go. Oh, beautiful. 962 00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:58,680 What a piece of kit that is. 963 00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:06,080 And now we've got a shiny finished mower, 964 00:56:06,080 --> 00:56:08,000 I think I'll go and put my feet up 965 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,920 and let Cherry give Gavin a hand boxing up. 966 00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:15,320 We'll put this under the handlebars. There we go. 967 00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:18,240 She looks great. OK. That is one big box. 968 00:56:18,240 --> 00:56:21,000 That is one big box. And it's ready to go in. 969 00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:24,000 OK, here we go. You got to line it up perfectly. 970 00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,640 Gavin, she's heavy! 971 00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:30,440 Go on, use your muscles. There we go. And she's in. All right. 972 00:56:33,040 --> 00:56:37,440 Lift her up. Oh, my God. That's it. Don't drop it. Don't drop it. 973 00:56:38,560 --> 00:56:40,200 Down she goes. Perfect. 974 00:56:40,200 --> 00:56:41,280 Whoo! 975 00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:47,400 Nice one, Cherry. Right, let's get these boxes over to dispatch. 976 00:56:48,960 --> 00:56:51,360 We've got a delivery to fulfil. 977 00:56:56,800 --> 00:56:58,880 You all right, Richard? Hey, Paddy. Hey, Cherry. 978 00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:01,240 I'm going to go over there and start boxing these. 979 00:57:05,120 --> 00:57:08,520 Oh, eh-up! That's it. Down. 980 00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:10,320 How many mowers on a lorry like this? 981 00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:13,280 So, with the one that Paddy's been building, we get 96 on a lorry. 982 00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:16,480 Beautiful stuff. Let's wrap her up. 983 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:19,360 We get up to four lorries a day going out of this site. 984 00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:22,080 Hey... 985 00:57:23,240 --> 00:57:25,760 And on they go, on to the lorry, ready to dispatch. 986 00:57:29,080 --> 00:57:32,040 Not sure the wrapping on that's very good. Who did that one? 987 00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:33,280 Couldn't possibly say. 988 00:57:33,280 --> 00:57:36,760 Oh... Good job. You did so good. Thank you. It looks great. 989 00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:38,240 Beautiful. Hey, Richard. 990 00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:41,040 Thank you so much for showing us round today, pal. 991 00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:42,880 Been a pleasure, Paddy. It's fully loaded. 992 00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:45,880 Get the doors down. Off it goes. 993 00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:57,320 Just 4 hours and 20 minutes after the start of production, 994 00:57:57,320 --> 00:57:59,680 our mowers are leaving the factory. 995 00:58:01,480 --> 00:58:06,040 From Hertfordshire, they head out all over the UK and Ireland, 996 00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:11,240 ready to make neighbours green with envy over perfectly mown grass. 997 00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:15,160 But as far as I'm concerned, 998 00:58:15,160 --> 00:58:19,720 there's only one way to properly christen a freshly mown lawn. 999 00:58:19,720 --> 00:58:20,760 Yeah. 1000 00:58:23,640 --> 00:58:25,720 Wahey! 1001 00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:29,480 I tell you what, I've not got real grass at home, 1002 00:58:29,480 --> 00:58:30,960 but after spending the day here, 1003 00:58:30,960 --> 00:58:33,200 I'm very tempted to get it put back in. 1004 00:58:33,200 --> 00:58:35,200 Enjoy. Game on! 1005 00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:41,040 Go on. 1006 00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:43,080 CHEERING 1007 00:58:43,080 --> 00:58:45,400 MUSIC: Parklife by Blur 1008 00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:50,840 Oh! 1009 00:58:59,280 --> 00:59:00,320 Hey! 1010 00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:04,520 Go on, Cherry! 1011 00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:05,800 Hey! 1012 00:59:05,800 --> 00:59:07,080 Whoo! 1013 00:59:08,160 --> 00:59:10,840 THEY LAUGH