The Tower of London is one of the Capital’s major tourist attractions with more than 400,000 visitors on a typical bank holiday weekend in the summer.


Makita back pack blower at The Tower of London

As the crown jewel in the Royal Palaces portfolio maintaining the 40-acres of grounds is a major task which is handled by a three-man team from Ground Control Limited, the national grounds maintenance contractor.

Ground Control has recently equipped their Tower of London crew with Makita Outdoor Power Equipment machines.

John Vail, head groundsman of the Ground Control Tower team said of their purchases, "The 4-stroke 43cc strimmer has so much power that you don’t have to keep it screaming as we would with a 2-stroke machine. This means it is quieter to use as it is not required to run at maximum RPM and this gives a much better exhaust tone. This is also important when you have as many tour groups going around the property as we do here at the Tower with guides trying to explain all the history."

The Ground Control team is also using 4-stroke back-pack blowers, 36v cordless line trimmers and hedge trimmers to take advantage of the virtually silent operating and zero admissions.

“The Tower is actually a small village with 150 residents living here,” says John Vail. “If we want to start cutting at 7am before the gates open at 9am we have to be mindful that there are people still sleeping. Using the Makita battery machines during this time helps us to keep the programme on schedule."