It is raining and I need an umbrella. You think: Please God, find me an umbrella - thanks, that was quick, I see one! But it's broken. Somebody has abandoned it.
Of course, if it's somebody's umbrella, I won't take it. A perfectly good umbrella next to a bicycle belongs to somebody, if it's a working umbrella.
But a broken umbrella which you can't use for fear of spiking somebody in the eye, which you can't close down as you go through a doorway onto a bus or train - that's different.
If you are tidy-minded, you could pop it into the nearest bin, trying to fold it up so that the spikes don't tear the bin liner and injure the person emptying the bin.
Or you could look for something to salvage. What about the velcro strip which fastens it? That would be helpful to a sewer. But it doesn't save much on landfill.
I would like to preserve more of the umbrella which somebody has spent their day making, and which somebody else has designed to be, as the poet Keats wrote, 'a joy forever'.
Problem
I see broken umbrellas all the time. I must have about four of other people's, not to mention my own. Feng shui says broken things should be thrown away - or repaired.
Can you get umbrellas repaired cheaply? I wish I could find a cheap umbrella repair shop.
I once took one to the umbrella repair shop in London. The cost of a repair was about twenty pounds sterling or more. The cost of a new umbrella was about five to ten pounds.
It is worthwhile spending on the repair if the item is an heirloom of sentimental value, or vintage, and in good condition.
Sometimes the broken umbrella is half open on its side and obviously broken. Sometimes it is fastened up neatly and tucked away in a corner. When you try to open it you find one of the spokes is broken. Sometimes a nasty spike is hanging down. The push up mechanism is jammed.
If the only problem with one of your own umbrellas is the missing cap on one of the struts, sometimes you can sew the fabric on through a hole in the end of the strut, which looks like the eye of a needle.
You can see videos on how to fix umbrellas on Youtube and Wikihow. I tried to mend one of the Sixties style umbrellas with a strap to hang over your shoulder. I wonder when that style will be resurrected.
I tried to fix a broken long umbrella. I could not removed the spike on the end. It must have been stuck on firmly.
I thought the handle would make a good walking stick.
I also had trouble cutting the fabric away.
Imagine my surprise when I was able to remove the fabric from a full-size umbrella.
I was struggling with my broken umbrella which was unable to close. I was trying to wash off the dirt from when I picked it off the ground.
I carried the umbrella half open to the station and decided to wash it off and try to close it.
I made a new friend, Natalie, who got in conversation with me and tried to help me. We decided that the fabric could be cut off if only we had a pair of scissors. Natalie obligingly offered to go to the nearby office and ask if she could borrow a pir of scissors.
I held the umbrella steady and she snipped off all the fabric. It was anchored at the top by what looked like a button. I was contemplating cutting the fabric with a hole in the middle. but Natalie, not having suffered from an umbrella tip which was unmovable before, simply tried to screw the button and it came off?
I said, "I'd like to save the handle with the chord, too."
She did the same magic trick.
I have my lovely fabric - and a new friend.
What could I do with the fabric to recycle it?
Any suggestions?
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
