My wife Nan and I have been going to the Western Isles of Scotland for more than 35 years, staying in various places up and down the island chain.

These range from Galson in the northwest of Lewis, away up beyond Stornoway, to the south of Harris and across a ferry to Berneray, with a causeway to North Uist, right down to the very south of South Uist, from where since 2001, there is another causeway to Eriskay. Then with another ferry one can cross to the Isle of Barra, which in turn is connected by another causeway, to the Isle of Vatersay!

Several uninhabited islands then make up the rest of the Outer Hebrides.

One of our favourite places, one amongst so many, is the small port of Leverburgh on the south coast of Harris, from where you can get a ferry to Berneray/North Uist, several times a day. There is always something to see at Leverburgh, as fishing boats and ferries come and go, as well as fast motor launches, that take tourists out to St Kilda, the most westerly point of the UK, 43 miles west of Harris and North Uist.

With friends on both Harris and North Uist, we take the ferry across the Sound of Harris almost every year – and have done for many years!

This ferry is liable to changes in time due to tidal changes in the very shallow waters of the Sound of Harris. However, usually on the afternoon ferry, there is a large Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) waste and recycling truck, towing a drawbar trailer almost as big as the truck itself!

Believe me, unless you are an expert at reversing on one track roads, you do not want to come up against this huge combination, when it is in a hurry to catch the ferry!

We have noted year on year that this truck and trailer usually heads south on the ferry from Leverburgh, South Harris to Berneray/North Uist in the mid-afternoon. It takes up quite a lot of space, so booking on the ferry is pretty much essential.

Having been ‘chased along’ the lanes by this unit on a number of occasions, we have found it terminates its southbound journey at the Waste Recycling Facility at Hebsat on Benbecula, having traversed North Uist and Grimsay on the way. There it does what it does to load up the rubbish and recycling for the day, before setting off north again to catch the ferry back to Harris and then on to Lewis.

A ‘Bin lorry’ in Scotland is a generic term for anything from a light van chassis to an eight-wheel truck! This one is a small six-wheel truck.

The ‘Bin Man’ on Barra is a native of neighbouring Vatersay, which is also included in his bin round. However, I found out just recently from a television programme, that twice a week (I think) this bin man takes his ‘bin lorry’ on the ferry, some forty minutes across the Sound of Barra, to the Isle of Eriskay. From there he traverses the causeway onto South Uist and drives some 30 miles, all the way up to this same waste recycling facility on Benbecula! There he ‘tips his load’, which is then sorted and baled, while he takes his bin lorry all the way south again to Eriskay, to catch the late afternoon ferry back to Barra! This then is his working day, when he has to empty his truck!

This ‘bin man’ simply loves his job; indeed he considers this his dream job! He can keep up with everything that is going down on Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist and Benbecula, not to mention all the rumours coming south from North Uist, Harris and Lewis as well! Meanwhile the bales of recycled material and the non-recyclable rubbish is picked up by the combination unit coming south from and returning to Stornoway, 94 miles in each direction and requiring an hour’s ferry trip from Harris to Berneray/North Uist in between.

This transfer appears to take place four days a week! I understand that this recycled material then goes ashore on a different ferry, from Stornoway to Ullapool, for onward transport to the Inverness area.

Meanwhile again I understand that all the non-recyclable rubbish goes to an island landfill site outside Stornoway. Two vitally important journeys for the entire Hebridean island chain, both including return ferry trips and long days of work, are both operated by very safe, careful and dedicated drivers from Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar – driving on very difficult one track roads with passing places. It requires employing a lot of well-planned logistics, all to ensure complete recycling to the highest possible standard – as well as disposing of an “absolute load of rubbish”!!!

Alan Higgins