WBHQ Outing 2003

Critchley's in Cricket St Thomas near Chard is one of the oldest and most famous wheelie bin manufacturers in the South Somerset area.

It was therefore a wonderful venue for the first Wheelie Bin HQ outing. An overcast day didn't dampen the spirits of the eager party of Binners as we set off to the factory site. The site is situated by the main Chard By-pass route so we both bought Day Rover bus tickets and were at the gates by ten a.m.

Even from outside the factory gates it was clear that this was a wheelie bin fan's idea of heaven. Majestic stacks of brand new wheelie bins in the familiar Dorset County Council Burnt Umber livery stood proudly on guard to welcome all visitors.

Stack of brown wheelie bins Wheelie bin spare wheels Green, red and blue wheelie bins Another huge stack of brown wheelie bins

Once inside we felt like children let loose in a sweet shop with a large sum of money and no parent to warn of the dangers of tooth decay. A stack of wheels were a most intriguing find - were they to be used to build new bins or for the refurbishment and repair of those already in service?

A rainbow of red, blue green and brown bins lay around every corner in both the traditional doorstep 260 size as well as the larger euro bin 3000 roll top variety. At one point we both feared we would run out of film before we had seen everything!

Yet another stack of brown wheelie bins Green and orange wheelie bins Stack of green wheelie bins Close up of stack of brown wheelie bins

Unfortunately at around quarter past ten we were spotted by a large and unnecessarily abusive security guard who threatened to call the police if we didn't leave the premises so we had to bring the trip to a premature conclusion.

Despite the early end to the day all in all we felt the trip to be a success and look forward to making the WBHQ Outing an annual event. Back in Chard we had chips and cans of cola before depositing our unwanted wrappings in guess what - a wheelie bin!