Today we said goodbye to an old friend. Our Flymo Turbolite 400 finally gave up and died. He was no longer in the first flush of youth, in fact he was 8 years old and hadn’t been well for a while, but it was still a sad moment.

We’d bought him back in 2001 for £85 from a local dealer. Unfortunately on our way to pick him up I got a £60 speeding ticket so in the end he was rather expensive, but since then he has more than repaid us.

A willing work-horse that tackled the longest of grass and only ever complained towards the end when his motor was getting bunged up.

We’d thought he was on his last legs for a while, which is why in 2007 we bought a replacement, same make and model. As it turned out our old friend struggled on for another 2 years, but it did mean we had the luxury of having a brand new mower ‘in stock’ when he did finally succumb.

We unpacked the new machine and sparked it up. What a difference, so much easier and quieter than the old one, who I realise now had lost a lot of his ‘hovering’ ability.

If the new mower gives us the same service as the old one we won’t complain. R.I.P Flymo Turbolite 400.