Gritter names revealed!

Names for the fleet of gritters serving the Orkney Mainland have been selected – with help from the ever imaginative Orkney public.

It follows a survey by the Council over the festive season calling for suggestions – which resulted in over 900 suggestions.

Amongst the Spreadie Mercurys, Gritney Gears, and Gritty McGritfaces (there’s always one – actually, 12. And a Frosty McFrostFace) there were some great Orkney-specific suggestions. These were put to the public in a Facebook poll last month.

The top names as voted by the public, for the eight mainland gritters, are:

• Gritty Buckie
• Brrrrrsay
• Maes Plough
• Dingiesplough
• Hamnasnow
• St Margrits Hope
• Grit Gaan
• Scapa Snow

Earl Thawfinn originally made the top eight, but to avoid confusion with the Orkney Ferries vessel it was replaced with 9th place ‘Hamnasnow’.

OIC’s Head of Neighbourhood Services, Lorna Richardson, thanked the Orkney public for their enthusiastic response to the gritter naming:

“The whole exercise certainly showed the Orkney public are rather creative and value the work our gritters do.

“It really must be said there were a good few giggles at many of the suggestions. At the end of the day, the entries we had with an Orkney theme were just so good, we felt it only proper to give a nod to that and to our unique community by polling the public on those.

“We hope to have our gritters bearing their new names in coming days, and meanwhile we’re working with schools in our isles communities to help gather suggestions for names there too.

“I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank folks for their expressions of support over recent weeks on our social media for the gritter crews, as they’ve battled against some of the most difficult conditions seen for many years.

“In particular, the flood of thanks we received when we had to call our crews back in as the conditions were just too unsafe for them to continue in was fantastic to see -   and really lifted spirits after a few very long days!

“We’re sure there will be more challenging weather come our way yet this winter – so keep an eagle eye out for newly named gritters soon!”

There were many great entries – just some of those showing particular creativity include:

• From Here to Griternity/Buzz Iceclear
• Grit-Nam Style
• Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney
• Oh you canny shove your gritter up Ward Hill

And a personal favourite in the Council’s Communications team:

• Working A965 What a way to make a living