大象传媒

In 1959, Hatfield Technical College students and former employees of the De Havilland Aircraft Company Tom Hudson, Mike Smith, Mike Savage, Hugh Tansley and John Wilson wanted to test the reliability of small petrol engines.

In order to do this they came up with a plan which saw them taking on a long journey across the country, and attracting a huge amount of interest along the way.

The project involved finding a suitable mower, so the team contacted Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries, the forerunner of today's Ransomes Jacobsen company, who agreed to help them out.

Mark Grimwade, who now lives in Shotley, was an engineer with the company back then and was given the task of assisting the students in their research and selecting the right model.

Mark Grimwade with the Matador

Mark carried out an apprenticeship with Ransomes and was involved in helping the firm with their relocation from the Ipswich waterfront to the current site on Ransomes Europark in Ipswich.

"I was waiting to go to Mexico where they had Ransomes De Mexico and there wasn't a lot going on so the lawn mower sales manager said to me that he had these students who wanted to do a run to Edinburgh and Ransomes lent them a mower, and me," said Mark.

A Ransomes Matador petrol ride-on lawn mower was chosen. Some modifications to the mower were made, including the addition of a deeper sump to the 288 cc Villiers engine, to provide enough lubrication for the 400 mile trip and a few tweaks to make it roadworthy.

"If you imagine riding down a highway with a metal roller, it would jar and bang and be extremely uncomfortable so we put a rubber coating on the roller," said Mark.

Mark and a team of four apprentices tested a couple of prototypes, running them non-stop around Ipswich for 90 hours, which was the estimated time it would take to travel at 3 mph down the A68 and A1.

The new Nacton Road works, which is now the site of Ransomes Europark, was being built at the time and bunk beds were set up for the test team in an old army hut that was being used as the security lodge.

With the trials successfully completed, the date for Operation Matador was set for Easter 1959.

The Dormobile

The five students arrived at Edinburgh Castle in a Bedford Dormobile, which was to be their mobile home for the following four days and nights.

The gift of a haggis was placed in the grass box of the mower to be presented to the Keeper of the Royal Parks in London, a Scotsman, at the end of the journey.

Despite confident tests that were carried out before the team left Suffolk, Mark did take precautions to ensure everything went smoothly.

"We had two mowers prepared, the first one did the dummy run and I carried that secretly in the back of a pick up truck in case anything went wrong with the one that did the main run."

Following as straight a line as possible, the team travelled down the A68 and crossed the border heading for Scotch Corner and down the A1 to London.

This was long before the advent of dual carriageways and the convoy of a Matador mower, Dormobile and an Austin A40 pick up truck, driven by Mark Grimwade, caused considerable congestion particularly as the route ran through the centres of most towns.

The Matador causing traffic chaos

"It was a fairly prehistoric creature, with bits of bicycle chain flying around, but as long as it all held together, which it did, it worked.

"It was slightly uncomfortable because, when you think about it, now you have these lovely upholstered seats and arm rests and all the rest of it, but in the old days we just used to have a metal pan sheet like the old tractors used to have."

Four days and three nights after they left Edinburgh, the students rode into Hyde Park to be greeted by a high-powered reception committee of Royal Park staff, Ransomes top management and dealer representatives, television crews and the press.

The haggis, by then soaked in petrol, was handed over to the Keeper of the Royal Parks and a ceremonial strip of Hyde Park grass was mown.

The Ransomes Film Unit, which accompanied the team throughout the entire journey, was on hand to record the end of the momentous voyage.

Matador rider

On Wednesday 6 May 2009, the Operation Matador team, now in their late 60s and early 70s, will arrive at the College Lane Campus of the University of Hertfordshire in St Albans, on a replica of the Ransomes Matador mower complete with the number plate and signage of 50 years past.

They then travel to Hyde Park in London, where they will re-enact the completion of their journey by mowing a ceremonial strip of grass and presenting a haggis and personal memento to the Keeper of the Royal Parks.

The successful completion of the journey was a real feather in the cap of a world renowned organisation which helped to put Suffolk firmly on the industrial map.

A noble haggis

During its 118 year life-time Ransomes and Rapier (as it was originally known) played an invaluable part in Suffolk's war effort and in 1914 extra buildings were put in place at the firm's base for the production of shells, guns and tank turrets.

Well regarded exports included the Ransomes and Rapier cranes and draglines, used internationally as well as in the development of the Orwell Bridge.

Today Ransomes is still hugely proud of Team Matador's effort, and the machine itself.

"It says a lot about the quality of the equipment we built back then, a tradition that we carry on today," said David Withers, Managing Director of Ransomes Jacobsen.

"After 50 years, I'm delighted that all of the team are still with us, that we're still producing quality turf care equipment in Ipswich and we're still producing the Matador mower, albeit with some technological enhancements from the original."