I was sent a Henchman ladder to review.
There are a few jobs I tend to put off doing in the garden. Pruning a rose covering the end of the garage, tying in hornbeam that’s being slowly turned into a pleached hedge, reducing the mistletoe in our old apple tree. It’s not that I dislike doing them but they all involve climbing a ladder, which is a problem when you don’t do heights and all you have is an elderly set of wooden steps. So, I welcomed the chance to review a Henchman ladder.
Launched in 1994 by Mike Kitching, the Henchman range is what many professional gardeners use from RHS and National Trust gardens, to councils, country houses and even Royal households.
It was an idea born out of the sort of accident many of us have in gardens. Mike fell off a traditional stepladder while cutting a hedge and his son Tom, now the firm’s managing director, used this as the basis for his GCSE woodwork project.
Since Henchman launched at RHS Chelsea 20 years ago, the range has expanded and now includes ladders and platforms to suit every gardening job, with ladders ranging from 6ft to 16ft. You can also use them indoors, for decorating perhaps, and there are rubber feet available to stop the legs damaging floors.
The selling points are adjustable legs – all three on some models – that make the ladders suitable for uneven ground, and their easy-to-carry aluminium frame.
I was sent a Henchman platform tripod ladder to test and first impressions were good. The ladder was well packaged and delivery was prompt – once the snow had gone.
It comes fully assembled and, yes, it is light to carry, even, if like me, you’re not very big. In fact, it was far easier than my old wooden stepladder despite being much larger.
The three legs that make up the Henchman ladder are adjusted using a pin mechanism with a safety chain ‘anchoring’ the third leg to the steps.
At first, I wasn’t sure how stable it was as the ladder seemed to tip backwards as I climbed down. However, adjusting the two ‘ladder legs’ so that the frame was not so upright completely solved that problem.
The steps are wide, with a deeper ‘platform’ rung to stand on at the very top and I really liked the support of the rail, giving you something to lean against.
Did I feel safe? Well, as safe as I ever feel when leaving the ground and so much better than on my wobbly stepladder. I now have no excuse for not tackling those gardening jobs.
• For more details about Henchman, visit the website.
• The tripod safety ladder was provided by Henchman in return for a review.