Museum of Welsh Life

The Museum of Welsh Life opened on 7 July 1948. Since then, it has established itself as one of Europe's foremost open-air museums, becoming Wales' most popular heritage attraction. The Museum stands in the grounds of the magnificent St Fagans Castle, a late 16th century manor house generously donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth. The 100-acre site is made up of park and woodland with 10 acres of formal gardens.

The grounds - at their peak during the Edwardian era - are being lovingly recreated, and are meticulously maintained. The grounds include extensive Yew- hedging which needs cutting annually, an impressive avenue of tall Limes, and Hornbeams that require regular pollarding.

Henchman initially provided The Museum of Welsh Life with a Wheeled Henchman to help tackle the Yew hedging. This proved to be a great success allowing greater lengths of hedge to be cut at a time, safely and without the need to keep moving a ladder. The whole process has been made a lot more efficient. The Wheeled Henchman has also enabled easier and safer cutting of the Lime trees and pollarding of the Hornbeams.

One particular problem is soon to be resolved, after the Museum took delivery of a High-Step Midi. Quite a large section of hedging was proving difficult and rather precarious to cut from a ladder due to a bank on one side with uneven ground. The High-Step Midi was the perfect solution as it is very sturdy, exceptionally safe on uneven surfaces and easy to move around.

According to Head Gardener; Juliet Hodgkiss, "safety whilst working in the gardens is a priority, and the Henchman have provided us with safe working platforms which also make the whole process of hedge cutting an easier and less time-consuming process."