Birdsong is back as Worcs holiday park rolls out its cutting edge robots
Robots are taking over the world of grass cutting at a Worcestershire holiday park – and providing guests with an even greener environment to enjoy their stays.
That’s because St Michaels Caravan Park in Tenbury Wells is using the latest technology to banish air pollution, reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and bring back birdsong.
Park owner Brian Griffiths decided to invest in the cutting edge mowers after his old ride-on machine finally had to be put out to grass during lockdown.
Robot mowers help cut 3-acre park
Up until then, said Brian, it had done a first-class job of keeping the park’s three-acre grounds looking trim – but he was concerned about the environmental impact:
“My wife Sandra and I have always tried to make our business as sustainable as possible, and to be as welcoming to wildlife as we are to holiday guests,” he said.
“I didn’t really see this policy as being consistent with a diesel engine chucking out noxious fumes and producing noise levels which drowned out all the bird song.
“I did some research, and found that the latest robotic mowers were ticking all the boxes; they don’t use petrol or oil and have absolutely zero emissions.
“The clippings are returned to the ground as a natural mulch, so that means we have no need to use artificial fertilizers to keep the grass green and healthy.
Keeping the peace on holiday
“And they make hardly a murmur in operation, so I needn’t worry about disturbing the peace of our holiday guests or stifling our feathered friends.” added Brian.
The mowers use GPS assisted navigation to travel around the park, and three miles of underground cable define the area in which they go about their work.
Henry, Annabel and Megan – as Sandra has christened them after their American grandchildren – work continually and spend a couple of hours cutting before automatically returning to their charging station for a top-up.
Brian can also control features such as the times they work, the height of the cut, and the route they take via an app on his smart phone.
“The three robots actually cost about half the price of a new ride-on mower, but to us their genius is in doing the job without any air or noise pollution,” said Brian.
“My only regret is not arranging any commission pay-outs now that I’ve had so many holiday guests admiring the robots, and saying they intend to buy one!”
Brian and Sandra, who have two grown-up sons, took over St Michaels Caravan Park in 2007, and also own nearby Wigley Orchard Holiday Park in Stoke Bliss which they bought in 1985
There is more information about St Michaels Caravan Park at www.stmichaelscaravans.co.uk
