Local children name county’s gritters

[Hereford Voice]

Residents will now know how to address their gritting lorry, thanks to the efforts of local children who worked to give every new gritter in the county a name.

Herefordshire Council ran the special competition for primary school pupils in October and received almost 100 entries.

The winners were invited to attend the Balfour Beatty Living Places depot to meet their gritters in person, along with some of the winter heroes who maintain and operate them. They were also presented with their own competition winner certificate to take home with them, and a mocked-up registration plate with their gritter name on.

Councillor Barry Durkin, Cabinet Member for Roads and Regulatory Services, who helped decide the winners and presented the certificates, said:

“This competition was a great opportunity for Herefordshire children to show their creativity at work, especially over their October half term. There were so many fantastic and imaginative names submitted, and we had a really difficult time deciding the winners. Almost every name gave us a chuckle and everybody who entered should be incredibly proud.”

The winning entries were:

• Snow-way! – named by Theo Bezant, Stretton Sugwas
• Ice-a-saurus Rex – named by Harry Attwood, Shobdon
• Sprinkle – named by Benji Rowlands, Whitecross Nursery
• Humpfreeze – named by Robyn Stevens, Kingsland C of E
• Sir Grit-a-Lot – named by Daisy Hardman-McCabe, Trinity Primary
• Julius Freezer – named by Lucy Harris, Luston Primary
• Ready Salted – named by Eli-Jacob Howard, Walford Primary
• Taylor Drift – named by Lottie Wooles, Sutton Academy
• Who Dares Grits – named by Sienna Stead, Trinity
• Lottie Wooles, who attends Sutton Primary School and won with Taylor Drift said:

“I was over the moon when I heard that my name had won! I like Taylor Swift, so thought about how I could create a name from that, and the word ‘drift’ came to me. I enjoyed the naming event, and especially the chance to sit in Taylor Drift and be shown around and find out how the gritting all works.”

Robyn Stevens who attends Kingsland Primary School said:

“I loved seeing the gritter lorries as I like the colour yellow and bright lights. They keep our roads safe for me to go to school and other nice places. When I grow up I hope to drive the quad or maybe a gritter. I enjoyed the hot chocolate, biscuits and the people were very nice to me. I will look out for Humpfreeze on cold days.”

Cllr Durkin continued:

“Gritting operations are just one part of the strong winter maintenance plan in place to maintain transport connections for local communities throughout the county. There are 959km of Primary Routes and 677km of Secondary Routes to keep safe and accessible, and the gritters will be on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the end of March 2025 to deal with whatever the winter weather throws at us.”

Mark Pearson, Contract Director for Balfour Beatty Living Places in Herefordshire said:

"We’re proud to play a key role in ensuring that Herefordshire’s roads remain safe and accessible throughout the winter season. Our teams are dedicated to keeping the roads clear and safe 24/7, and we look forward to seeing these unique and creatively named gritters in action as they help keep everyone moving, no matter the weather."

To find out the latest information about gritting in your area, make sure to follow the Highways team on Facebook at Herefordshire Highways