The Wild Wheelies in "At The Beach'

One fine sunny morning, the Wild Wheelies are awoken by Luke the Ute honking his horn outside their house. They stretch, yawn and scratch their lids.

“What’s all that noise?” asks a bleary-eyed Shreddie.
“Come on, Wheelies!” calls Luke. “We’re going to the beach!”
“It’s Luke”, says Grubby sleepily.
“Why is he waking us up so early?”
“He said beach”, gasps Jarman excitedly. “We’re going to the beach!”

Luke honks again. “Come on, you Wheelies! Grab your buckets and spades. We’re entering the sandcastle competition!”

They bounce out of bed and race around looking for their beach gear.
“We’re going to the beach. I love the beach!” chants Shreddie.
“Me, too”, declares Jarman. “I hope the tide’s out!”
“Don’t forget your towels, hats and sunscreen”, reminds Grubby.

Soon they have put all their beach gear into their backpacks and they bundle into the back of Luke.
“Put your belts on and hold on tight!” instructs Luke and off they go, driving along the High Street and down to the beach.

Soon they arrive at the beach. The Wheelies scramble out and look for a good spot on the sand. There are a lot of human boys and girls with their buckets and spades registering for the sandcastle competition.
“Look how beautiful the sea is!” says Shreddie.
“Great!” says Jarman. “The tide’s out”.

They go to the registration table to fill in the form and pay their entry fee. Sandy the Surf Lifesaver greets them and tells them that the starting time has been delayed.
“Why has the start been delayed, Sandy?" asks Shreddie.
“Just take a look at the beach”, says Sandy with a sigh.
“O no! Look at all the rubbish on the beach!” points out Grubby.
“How did it get there?” asks Shreddie.
“O, why do people leave their ugly rubbish on the beautiful beach?” asks Grubby in exasperation.
“Same old story, “says Luke sadly. “Not enough bins and signs”.
“Some of it’s been washed up by the sea”, says Jarman.
“Yes”, agrees Luke. “But who puts it in the sea in the first place?”
“Come on everybody!” says Grubby to the Wheelies and the boys and girls. “Let’s clean it up or else we’ll never build our sandcastles”.

Jarman jumps to it and helps a group of kids pick up plastic and glass bottles. Shreddie scoots about the sand with some of the girls scooping up bits of paper and cardboard. Grubby and some older guys go about gathering up the other garbage such as plastic bags, ice-cream wrappers, crisp packets and cigarette butts.

During the clean-up operation, Luke calls Barge on his mobile. Luke asks if the Waste Management Centre trucks can come down to the beach and pick up the rubbish they have collected.

It doesn’t take long for Barge, Tubs and Tank to arrive dressed for the beach!
“It’s too nice a day to be picking up rubbish down back alleys”, explains Barge.
“Too right!” agrees Tank.
“I love sandcastles”, says Tubs. “I could watch them all day long”.
“Only until the tide comes in”, retorts Barge.
“Yes, it’s always sad watching the castles being slowly washed away”, sighs Tubs.
“Never mind”, consoles Tank. “You can always build another one”.

The three Trucks help the Wheelies empty the rubbish into their containers. The boys and girls look on in awe as the Trucks lift the Wheelies up and down to empty the rubbish.

Soon the sandcastle competition is about to begin. Sandy the Surf Lifesaver comes over to thank the Wheelies and the Trucks.
“I’m glad you lot are here. There was a big storm last night further up the coast”, explains Sandy. “That’s why so much rubbish has washed up on the beach. Not only that but it looks like someone had a party here last night. Without your help, it would have taken ages to clean it all up”.

The boys and girls are happy too. Now they can get on with the tricky business of building sandcastles.
“Hooray for the Wheelies!” they cheer. “Hip hip hooray!”

Sandy holds up his hand to quieten them. Then he blows his whistle. The competition is on! The Trucks help the Wheelies build a huge sandcastle. Barge uses his big arms to scoop up the sand and fills up Grubby. Then he turns him upside down to make turrets and towers.

Grubby has a great idea. “We can use the lollypop sticks as flagpoles and the driftwood as a drawbridge!”
“Brilliant!” says Shreddie. “I’m going to make flags from ice-cream wrappers and crisp packets”.
“Cool”, says Jarman. “We can use bottle tops and straws to decorate the walls”.

After an hour, Sandy blows his whistle again. The competition is over. Now he has to judge all the sandcastles. He walks up and down the beach with a serious look on his face making notes on his clipboard. There are big ones, small ones and long ones. There are plain ones, cute ones and fancy ones. The Wild Wheelies wait anxiously for the result. Theirs is the biggest castle but there are lots of other good ones.

Sandy blows his whistle and all the competitors gather around. “Well, this is the best competition ever!” he declares. “It has been a tough job to decide the best. But after much deliberation and careful consideration the winner is….”

The Wild Wheelies all hold hands and squeeze their eyes shut.

“…the Wild Wheelies!! For their Super Duper Castle!!”
“Yeehoo!” shouts Jarman.
“I can’t believe it!” screams Shreddie.
“Champions!” declares Grubby.

Barge, Tank, Tubs and Luke honk their horns in celebration. The boys and girls cheer and applaud. Sandy asks Grubby to come up to accept the trophy and the prize money.

Grubby stands before all the sandcastle builders. He holds the trophy aloft and everyone hoots. He clears his throat before saying:
“Thanks to all the boys and girls who helped clean up the rubbish on the beach. Without your help we wouldn’t have had such a terrific competition today”.

The boys and girls cheer and the Trucks honk. Grubby continues:
“Thanks to Sandy for organising the competition”.

Sandy takes a bow while everyone applauds and honks. Grubby goes on to say:
“And lastly, we’d like to donate the prize money to the Surf Club so they can help keep the beach clean!”

Sandy, the kids and the trucks cheer and honk again; this time even louder than before. Sandy thanks the Wheelies on behalf of the Surf Club and all the people who will enjoy a nice clean beach.
“We can wave goodbye to rubbish on this beach”, jokes Grubby.
“We shore can!” quips Jarman.
They all laugh!

The Wild Wheelies In "At The Park"

One lovely sunny day in Bintown a group of young colourful and animated wheelie bins are rolling down Recycle Street. These are the Wild Wheelies and they meet at the corner of their street. Let’s join them on the street corner and find out what they are up to.

“What a lovely day!” says Shreddy. "Let's go to the park".

"Good idea", says Jarman. “There will be loads of people at the park. I'm sure we'll have fun”.

When they arrive at the park they find not so many people but quite a lot of rubbish.

“Oh no!” says Grubby. “All the people have left the rubbish from their lunch. Just look at all the wrappers”.

“And look at all the cans and bottles!” says Jarman.

“And look at all the paper”, says Shreddy.

“We can’t play with all that rubbish lying around”, says Jarman.

“Come on Wheelies”, says Grubby. “Let’s tidy up!”

So they wheel into action. Jarman collects the empty cans and bottles. Shreddy picks up the paper bags and newspapers and Grubby gathers the rest – the wrappers and half-eaten burgers, boxes of cold chips, apple cores and banana skins.

“I can’t play on a full stomach”, says Grubby. “I’ll have to find Barge”.

“Good plan. I’ll go and find Tank to give him all the cans and bottles”, says Jarman.

“I’m sure Tubs will love some more paper”, says Shreddy.

Fortunately, the three Waste Management Centre trucks are having their lunch break just outside the park.

“What’s all the fuss?” asks Barge.

“Looks like you’ve got some rubbish for us”, remarks Tank

“Not you lot again”, says Tubs.

“We’ve got all this rubbish that the people have left behind from eating their lunch”, says Grubby.

“Goodness! People are so untidy!” admonishes Barge.

“Why are they so untidy”, asks Shreddy.

“It’s simple”, explains Barge. “Firstly, there just aren’t enough bins and secondly, there aren’t any signs up to tell the silly things to put their rubbish in the bins!”

“We’ll have a word with Mr Parker, the park ranger”, says Grubby. “I’m sure he’ll know what to do”.

“Good idea”, says Barge. “Anyway, let’s relieve you kids of your rubbish and you can go and play”.

Barge reaches out his arms and picks up Grubby, tipping him upside down. The rubbish spills out into the container.

Tank lifts Jarman. All the cans, bottles and plastic containers come pouring out. They tinkle and smash in Tank’s container.

“Weeeee!” says Shreddy as Tubs picks her up and empties all the paper into his container.

Once they’ve been emptied the Wild Wheelies bid their farewells and scoot off back to the park. They start with a game of chase.

As they trundle through the park and the bushes they find some other interesting things. Shreddy finds a cardigan and an umbrella.

“They must have thought it would rain. And now they’ve forgotten them”.

She puts on the cardigan and twirls the umbrella.

“Look at me”, she says. “I’m a fashion model”.

“Ooh, you’re so beautiful,” says Grubby jokingly.

“Where’s your cat walk?” Jarman calls out and the boys have a laugh as Shreddy prances and poses for them.

“I found a ball”, says Grubby. “It was over in the bushes. It’s a bit flat but we can still play with it”.

So they kick the ball to each other. “I’m Trasham United”, declares Grubby.

“I’ll be Cesspool Rovers”, says Jarman.

“I want to be David Muckham!” says Shreddy.

Whilst they are playing, the ball rolls into the bushes. Jarman chases after it and reappears waving something in his hand.

“Look what I’ve found. It’s someone’s wallet. They must have dropped it as they were walking past”.

“Gosh”, says Shreddy. “That’s important. We should hand it in as soon as possible”.

“True”, agrees Grubby. “They’re probably wondering where it is right now”.

“Look!” says Jarman, “there’s Mr Parker. We were going to talk to him anyway about the bins and the signs!”

“Come on”, says Grubby and they trundle off to see Mr Parker.

“Hullo Wheelies”, greets Mr Parker. “What’s all the fuss? You lot look very excited!”.

“We found a wallet!” says Jarman. “We have to return it to its owner”.

“They’re probably looking for it right now”, points out Shreddy.

“Let’s have a look”, says Mr Parker. He takes the wallet from Jarman and opens it.

“My word!” he says. “There’s all sorts of things in here. Money, cards and a photograph of a little baby”.

He shows the Wheelies the photo and they all go aaah!

“Babies are so beautiful”, sighs Shreddy.

Mr Parker looks at the driver’s licence. It belongs to Mr Summer the Accountant.

“Well”, says Mr Parker. “He’ll be counting the cost of losing this!” They all laugh at the little joke.

“I’ll go back to my office and phone him immediately. There might be a reward in this for you Wheelies!”

“A reward?” they cry excitedly. “Wow!”

Just as Mr Parker is about to walk off to his office. Grubby says, “Mr Parker! There is one other thing”.

“And what’s that, young Grubby?”

"Well”, continued Grubby. “We were here just after lunch and there was so much rubbish lying about. We cleaned it all up and gave it to the garbage trucks”.

“Good job, Wheelies. I was wondering where all the rubbish was. There’s always a mess after lunch”.

“Barge says it’s because there’s not enough bins and there aren’t any signs to say put your rubbish in the bin!”

“Hmm”, pondered Mr Parker. “You could be right there. You know, if there were more bins and signs up telling people to put their rubbish in them I’m sure there would be less rubbish in the park. I’ll get onto the Council straight away. I’m sure we have some spare bins and we can have some nice signs made up. It’s been a busy day for you kids, hasn’t it!”

“Sure has”, agrees Shreddy. “You’d better take my fashion accessories to the lost property office, too”.

She hands Mr Parker the cardigan and the umbrella.

“O, yes”, says Mr Parker. “People are always leaving their belongings behind”.

“And Grubby found a ball. But it’s flat”, said Shreddy.

“You might as well keep that”, said Mr Parker. “I don’t think anyone would want their flat old ball back”.

“We don’t mind”, said Shreddy chirpily. “We’ve been playing with it and it’s fine”.

“Yes”, agreed Grubby. “And I scored the winning goal in the Wheeled Cup Final!”

“Yes, but it was a rubbish shot!” jokes Jarman.

They all laugh.

The Wild Wheelies In "On The Street"

One lovely sunny day in Bintown a group of young colourful and animated wheelie bins are rolling down Recycle Street. These are the Wild Wheelies and they meet at the corner of their street.

They are quite extraordinary children. They are the shape of wheelie bins. Their eyes and ears are on the lid. The mouth is the gap between lid and body of the bin. Their long arms reach the ground and are flexible so they can pick up things and put into them in their mouths.

Let's meet them. Grubby is the eldest boy. He is a general rubbish wheelie. He is dark green. He is the leader. He is the one with the good ideas and is always the one to urge the others to clean up. He is sensible and pragmatic.

Jarman is the second eldest boy. He is a glass, cans and plastic wheelie. He is dandelion yellow. He is a bit more reserved but is more intellectual. He is the first to make jokes and offer witty observations.

Shreddy is the youngest girl. She is a paper and cardboard wheelie. She is sky blue. She is the more exuberant and naïve of the three. She asks the awkward questions but is enthusiastic and caring.

Now let's join them on the street corner and find out what they are up to.

“What a windy day it’s been”, says Shreddy.

“I agree”, says Jarman, “look at all the paper. The wind has blown it all over the street!”

“Come on!” says Grubby, “let’s clean it up”.

So, off they wheel, chasing the paper. Grubby and Jarman stand on the fluttering pages so that Shreddy can gather them up.

Grubby wonders why there is so much paper on the streets. “Most of this is the local newspaper”, he observes. “Why is it flying around all over the place? “

“There must be a reason”, says Shreddy.

It takes them half an hour to gather up all the paper. Once they have finished, poor Shreddy is full. “I’m stuffed”, she says.

“Let’s go and find Tubs”, says Grubby.

Shreddy burps. “Oops, sorry”, she apologises.

They soon find their friend Tubs, the paper recycling truck from the Waste Management Centre, on the High Street. He looks cross.

“Hi Tubs! What’s up?” they ask in greeting.

“What’s up?” replies Tubs. ”I’ll tell you what’s up, it’s all this paper. It’s everywhere!”

“It’s the wind”, explains Jarman.

“We’ve cleaned our street”, says Shreddy proudly, “I’m absolutely stuffed”. She burps again. “Oops, sorry”.

“Well done kids”, commends Tubs. “Now stand back. I’m going to lift up little Shreddy and empty all the paper into my articulated rear receptacle”. Then he reaches out with his big arms and picks up Shreddy and empties all her paper.

"Weeeee!” says Shreddy as she moves through the air and back down again, “that always makes my head spin”.

“Come on”, urges Grubby, “let’s help Tubs with the rest of this paper”.

“Good onya, kids”, thanks Tubs. “The sooner we pick up the paper, the sooner the streets will be clean!”

So, the Wild Wheelies wheel up and down the High Street, collecting the strewn paper. As they go about their business, they sing a little song.

Soon, they have picked up all the paper on one side of the street. Poor Shreddy is full again. Tubs reaches out and lifts her up again.

“Weeeee!” she says as Tubs’ strong arm lifts her again and empties more paper. She giggles as all the paper comes tumbling out. “It tickles”, she says.

But, there is so much paper it takes another three loads to clean all the paper from the High Street.

“I’m feeling sick”, says Shreddy.

Grubby and Jarman tell her she has done a great job. “We couldn’t have cleaned the High Street without you”, they say. Her friends’ kind words make her feel a little better but her head is still spinning.

“It’s terrible”, bemoans Tubs, “every time it’s windy, there’s newspaper blown everywhere. Why can’t they do something to stop the newspapers being blown about by the wind?”

“Where does all the paper come from?” asks Shreddy.

“From the piles of papers that people put outside their houses to be recycled”, answers Tubs. “The problem is that I can’t get to them quick enough”.

“Hmm”, ponders Grubby, “I’ve an idea. Come on, Wheelies. Let’s go and see Mr Read the newsagent”.

Off they trundle to Read’s Newsagency around the corner form the High Street.

“Hullo there, Wheelies”, greets Mr Read. “You all look hot and bothered. What have you been up to?”

“We’ve been chasing newspapers all over the town, Mr Read”, says Grubby.

“And look at poor Shreddy”, says Jarman. “She’s feeling sick with all the stuffings she’s had!”

Shreddy burps again. “I’ve got a headache, too!”

“Goodness me!” exclaims Mr Read, “I had no idea!”

“It’s the wind”, explains Jarman. “It blows the paper that people leave for recycling”.

“We’ve spoken to Tubs”, says Grubby. “He wishes that something could be done to stop the paper being blown about”.

“Well, the Council has already provided recycling bins for each house”, says Mr Read. “That cost quite a lot of money. I don’t think the Council will pay any more”.

“You need to put something heavy on top of the pile of papers”, deduces Jarman.

“What, like a brick?” asks Shreddy.

“A brick would work”, confirms Jarman.

Grubby has a great idea. “What if you spoke with Mr Brickley the builder. I’m sure he’d have some spare old house bricks. Then you could talk to the Waste Management Centre. I’m sure they would help too as it would save Tubs extra time and effort trying to catch all the paper!”

“Hmm”, mused Mr Read, “you know, it’s worth a try. I’ll call Mr Brickley and Mr Fowler right now”. So, he picks up his phone and rings Mr Brickley’s office.

He speaks with Mr Brickley and tells him the idea. Sometimes, Mr Read nods his head. Other times he shakes his head.

Soon the phone call is over. “There you are”, he says. “Mr Brickley is only to glad to help. He has a pile of old bricks that he doesn’t know what to do with. So he says we can buy them off him dirt cheap!”

They all agree that this is good. Maybe their plan will work.

Then, Mr Read picks up his phone and, this time, rings the Waste Management Centre.

He speaks with Mr Fowler and they discuss the issue. Sometimes, Mr Read says yes yes yes. Other times he says no no no. Sometimes he waves his hands around. Other times he scratches his head.

Eventually, the phone call is over and Mr Read hangs up. Mr Read turns to the Wheelies and says “Well, well, well. Mr Fowler agrees that something should be done. Good old Tubs has had a word with him too! So he’s agreed to pay the cost of Brickley’s bricks!”

“Hooray!” shout the Wheelies in unison.

“Looks like our paper chasing days are over!” declares Grubby

“I wonder if this will be in the papers?” wonders Jarman

Shreddy burps. They all laugh.