We were in the same position last year - almost literally.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
I was mowing up some twigs that the wife had cut, and one of them came straight up through the top of the apron, or whatever it's called. It transpired that our 15 year old Flymo Quicksilver had been running on rust for longer than we had supposed.
Like Slarti, there are parts of our grassed areas where a £1,000 lawnmower shouldn't be expected to go. Rocks, kerbstones, all kinds of stuff. So we passed up the chance to buy a Honda and went for a self-propelled Webb 46SPHW with a 140cc Briggs & Stratton, and with larger back wheels. Which apparently makes them better over rough ground. Our local Countrywide store was doing a price (£215) that we couldn't refuse, and now that the chain is going bust it might be worth looking again. (Screwfix also have them @ around £270. Alternatively, any sign of a bank holiday discount from B&Q?)
The big advantage of this particular Webb is that the petrol tank is finally big enough. (Those tiny tanks you so often get are deliberately designed to run the machine for only 40 minutes - so as to force the operator to take an Elf & Safety break. Or so they tell me.) But then, we opted for a 140cc engine rather than the usual 125cc. If you're buying any mower online, make quite sure which engine you're getting, because the listings can get quite confusing.
But whichever mower you get, do make sure that its cutting height is low enough. Nowadays, many/most mowers have single-lever height adjustment, which adjusts all four wheels simultaneously, and the downside of that is that you can no longer have the front wheels super-low, as we sometimes wanted to do. Even at its lowest setting, our Web is not exactly bowling-green-razoring equipment. But it's doing a good job, and we're happy with it.
BJ