Project Update: OMHS at the Thames Barrier

Thoughts and musings

Project Update: OMHS at the Thames Barrier

Lewis | May 11, 2015 | 0 Comments

You may have heard from a previous blog post regarding recent developments for Oakleigh Manor Horticultural Services, you may have even read about it in issue #3 of the Oakleigh Journal, our monthly email newsletter, or you may be reading about it here for the first time. Whichever category you fall under, the reality is the same; our contracted works, in conjunction with the Environment Agency, at the Thames Barrier Complex and its associated sites are well under way! Since we secured the contract, we have been very excited to not only work on this prestigious project with such an important governmental body, but also excited to bring you the latest news from our team in South East London. So let’s crack on, shall we?

The image you can see featured on this blog post is that of a new piece of state-of-the-art machinery at the disposal of Oakleigh Manor Horticultural. It is a robotic lawn mower, the MAS RC-01 from McMurtry, which is specially designed to cut sloped lawns. As I’m sure you all know, mowing on sloping lawns is very dangerous; this is highlighted by McMurtry themselves, who point out that a slope only has to be at a gradient of ten degrees can cause both manual and ride-on mowers to slide or roll. Also, when conditions are wetter or the slope is uneven as well, the dangers are very real. So, with the interest of the health and safety of our in-house teams and considering that the Thames Barrier Complex isn’t the flattest of areas, we have a new addition to our machinery ‘team’!

We have posted a couple of videos of the MAS RC-01 in action, being used by members of our horticultural team at the Complex. Click here to see Francis, a new but experienced colleague of ours mowing a very steep slope. Imagine doing that with a bog-standard lawn mower in the pouring rain! Also, click here to see our Horticultural Director David Reade being talked through a demonstration into how to use this brilliant piece of kit!

You my have seen on Facebook or Twitter that I am visiting the Thames Barrier Complex on Wednesday. No doubt I will have another project update on the work Oakleigh Manor Horticultural Services are carrying out in conjunction with the Environment Agency before the week is out!