Rubbish and a Clove Hitch

On a remote island some things always stay the same, yet other things change quite quickly. For islanders, an island like [[Westray]] is like a child to its parents; all the changes are imperceptible. To an occasional visitor, however, the Island is like a grandchild to a grandparent; where it’s hard to believe how much change there’s been in such a short space of time. As a visitor I notice and marvel at the changes all around me.

One such change is the new rubbish collection service. Wheelie bins have arrived on the Island after 60% of the Islanders voted to try the new waste collection service, making [[Westray]] first again. (It’s first in renewable power from the wind turbine, uses biodiesel, has a community electric car…). I begin to wonder where my wheelie bin is. I search the grounds. There’s not one anywhere. Maybe in the outbuildings? I finally find it bolted safely in an outhouse. How incredibly thoughtful of them, although I suppose if it blew away they’d only have to come out again with another one. The bin is there with a leaflet explaining their scheme together with a five foot stake, two pieces of rope and a bungee cord. I wonder how someone from Surbiton would react to their wheelie bin arriving with a five foot stake and two pieces of rope with instructions on driving the stake 24 inches into the ground with a sledgehammer and using a clove hitch as the ideal knot to secure the bin to the stake to prevent the tie from shifting.

Hasn’t the Island grown? To a visitor the unremarkable is remarkable. Now how do you do a clove hitch again…

Feel free to leave a Reply :)