Posted by Dave Thewlis on July 08, 2006 at 15:45:13 from 70.191.49.25 user dthewlis.
In PM, when Nancy mows the lawn (and sends the NO GO message to the Picts) she is clearly pushing a hand mower. Ransome describes the blades spinning and the cut grass going into the "big green box in front". This is interesting because the only hand mowers I've seen (back to the 1940s), if they have a grass catcher, have it (usually a bag) at the back of the mower slung below the handles - and the spinning action of the blades, spinning forward in the line of travel, throws the grass to the rear. Of course these are all U.S. mowers.
So what was the Beckfoot mowing machine like? Did the blades revolve towards the rear by reverse gearage or something? Or was there a deflection plate at the rear and over the top so the grass had to get thrown out in front?