Help name Shropshire’s gritters – voting now open!
Fifty names have been shortlisted in a competition to find names for Shropshire’s gritters – with many of the names clearly influenced by the events of 2020.
Click here to vote in our online poll – at www.shropshire.gov.uk/nameourgritters.
In mid-October people were invited to suggest names for the 25 vehicles in the Shropshire Highways fleet.
There was a brilliant response, with more than 750 suggestions made. Fifty names have been shortlisted, and people are now being asked to vote for their favourites.
Topical names on the shortlist include Super Spreader, Snowcial Distancing and Snowvid-19, along with Chris Gritty, Captain Tom and Snow Wicks.
There are nods to famous musicians – Melton John, Lewis Caploughdi, David Plowie and Lionel Gritchie; to TV and film stars – Hugh Lorrie, Gritter Garbo, Meryl Sweep and Robert Ploughney Jr; to TV shows and films – Gritain’s Got Talent; The Grittiest Showman and Gritty Woman; and to TV presenters – Spreddie Flintoff and Jon Snow.
From the world of sport, Roger Spreaderer and Usain Salt make an appearance. And yes, Gritty McGritface is there too.
Three of the gritters will continue to be named after local youngsters Zac Oliver, Charlie Desmond and Jack Edwards.
One is to be named The Harry Johnson Trust, in memory of local boy Harry Johnson, and to help raise awareness of the charity set up in his name
And one is to be named after Percy Mullaly, long-serving car park attendant at Shirehall in Shrewsbury who sadly passed away earlier this year.
That leaves 20 names to be chosen – and that’s where the public vote comes in,
Steve Davenport, Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:
“We asked for people to suggest names for our gritters and we’ve had a fantastic response, with more than 750 suggestions made. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who suggested a name.
“Our ‘experts’ have considered all of the suggestions and have drawn up a shortlist of the 50 best or most popular names – and there are some really good ones. I don’t think it’ll be easy for people to pick their favourites but I hope they’ll have a go!”
How to vote
Click here to vote in our online poll.
The 50 names have been randomly placed into five groups of 10 names. People can vote for up to four in each group.
The four most popular names in each group – 20 names in total – will then be given to the gritters before they hit the roads this winter.
Voting ends at 12 noon on Wednesday 25 November, with the winning names announced shortly afterwards.
The shortlisted names, listed by group, are:
Group 1
Snowcial Distancing
Roger Spreaderer
David Plowie
Alexander The Grit
The Grittiest Showman
Gritney Houston
Snow Patrol
Salt Disney
Spreddie Flintoff
Grit Ekland
Group 2
Luke Snowalker
Meryl Sweep
Gritter Garbo
Gritty Gritty Bang Bang
Spready Mercury
Snowella Benjamin
Basil Salty
Snow Be Gone Kenobi
Ice Queen
Gritty McGritface
Group 3
Grit The Road Jack
Chris Gritty
Dick Grittington
Snow Wicks
Lionel Gritchie
Ready Salted
Cool Runnings
Snowvid-19
Dave
Walter The Salter
Group 4
Slush The Magic Wagon
Gritain’s Got Talent
Jon Snow
Gritter Thunberg
Grit Expectations
Hugh Lorrie
Gritty Woman
Captain Tom
Melton John
True Grit
Group 5
Ice Ice Baby
Super Spreader
Salty
Olaf
Lewis Caploughdi
Wilfred Snowin
Gritney Spears
Usain Salt
Spread Flintstone
Robert Ploughney Jr
Click here to vote in our online poll.
The gritters that have been named after local youngsters:
Charlie Desmond suffered from muscular dystrophy and passed away five years ago at the age of 15. He has been described as ‘such a brave boy’.
Jack Edwards from Cleobury Mortimer passed away four years ago after a battle with leukaemia. He has been described as ‘an inspiration to the local community’.
Zac Oliver from Broseley was diagnosed with a rare strain of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in May 2018. An appeal raised £500,000 to send Zac to Philadelphia for life-saving treatment.
The Harry Johnson Trust was established in November 2014 following the death of seven year old Harry in July of that year. Harry died following a nine-month fight with Double Hit Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
