General Chat

I live very close to the Weetabix factory where they are made. On the other side of town we have a massive spice factory. Today, in my garden, all I could smell was curried Weetabix!!!!!!!

Do any of you have any special "smells" from your garden?

When I lived in Eccles I could smell the Kellogg's factory in Trafford Park. Corn Flakes every time the wind was in the right direction :-D

I too used to live within smelling distance of the Weetabix factory!

However, there was also a fur and feather factory somewhere near. When the wind changed direction everyone had to shut their windows.

A friend used to live in Essex, near the jam factory, altogether a much more pleasant smell.

From the school playing fields we could smell Robertsons jam factory. Either they made lots of strawberry or everything smelt the same!










eih

Aah. The Oxo factory on the way into Waterloo.

It didn't get as far as my garden but Shippams had their factory in the middle of Chichester. Sometimes the town smelt of chicken and sometimes fish.

During my van driving days I would drive over Porchester where the Smiths crisps were made. That would whet the appetite. The fell mongers nearby would soon counteract that.

Vanilla from the Wall's factory, early 1970s.

Oh yes, also the pork pie factory, a whiff of hot fat lingered on the wind!

For a couple of days every year when the kids were at primary school I would have to drive past a field of freshly cut coriander. Luckily I like it and would have to rush home to cook a curry.

Years ago when my sister lived in Guildford there was a roundabout that you always closed your windows for on the way to hers....the local pig farm could be smelt for miles........

No particular smells waft to my garden, but I do remember the Smiths crisps factory girls mentioned by Sharron.
If they happened to be travelling on the same bus as us, we used to try and guess which flavour they had been producing that day.

In our school playground we would sometimes get an awful smell of the fertiliser factory at the other end of the small town. The processing of animal bones was not at all pleasant.

Summer holiday journeys to Wales meant changing trains at Cardiff, where there was always a strong smell of brewing.

Back in early 80s we did used to get burning of wheat stubble in fields near here. Not only was the smell unpleasant, it was really annoying to find that a very fine layer of sooty ash had floated through any open windows.
Thank goodness that burning has stopped now.

You can't beat living within the gentle waft of 'animal by-product processing'. :-0 :-0
Trouble is, when you grow up with it you accept it as normal LOL
It wasn't very nice but it became utterly revolting once you knew what it was.

College beckoned at 18 from a good distance away and the air smelled so sweet :-D

The hot summer of 76 was pretty fragrant here.

There used to be a bit of pig keeping enterprise down the road and piigies do soe particularly lovely droppings.

There was quite a large dairy far at the top of the village and they would empty the slurry lagoon from time to time and spread it lavishly upon their fields.They were being quite commendably green before their time but cow dung takes on a whole new depth once it has had tie to ripen a bit in a lagoon.

Now, here is a bit of totally useless knowledge fro the back of my head somewhere.

If your ancestors were ag labs, they would probably been familiar with stubble burning. It was known as Denshering in the early nineteenth century bt declined with improved farming methods until it was tried again in the 1980s.

MotownGal,
The fur and feather processing plant nearby is called Chettles. OMG nobody could describe that stench. When their lorries trundle past as you walk along the road it's nauseating. I'd rather smell Weetabix curry than Chettles any day! You must have lived quite near me then. I live in Wellingborough. Where abouts were you?

Thank you to everyone for your interesting replies. I envy some of you--I'm pleased I don't live near some of you!!! :-D

There was a place like that in Shoreham, called Dolphin Canadian as I recall.

Luckily, it was too far away for e to smell the plant but the lorries were a bit rich as they passed. It is a smell in a class of it's own isn't it?

ooo Kay, Chettles! I had to google but see they are/were part of the De Mulder group, in which case, you'll get my drift - pardon the expression.
It should be a criminal offence to pollute the air with such revolting smells. imo.

I'm familiar with stubble burning.
Both in Blackmore End, and Abbotts Ann, (early 1980's) we lived right by a field, and every year the stubble on that field was burned. :-|

The first time it happened, in both places, I had washing on the line.
I'm amazed at how loudly I can shout, when riled!
Both times, I received profuse apologies - apparently, no-one had complained before, they just accepted they didn't deserve any warning.

After the first time, in both places, they knocked on my door, (and the neighbours) to inform us of their intention to start the fire, which meant I could not only bring my washing in, but also the children, and close the windows!

Very near Kay. Yes, Chettles were the ones who delighted us with their perfume. Usually about 6pm. :-(

I used to shop in Wellingborough, in the Arndale Centre. I did Google maps the other day just out of curiosity. It has changed so much!

Yes, Sharron, there's nothing to compare it with or any words to describe it. The factory's only about a mile from my house so it's possible to smell it without the wind blowing in my direction!!

Island, I totally agree that it should be a criminal offence to allow such a stench to waft around. It's literally impossible to sit in the garden when they're doing what they do, but I don't actually know what the smell comes from-whether it's just the smell of tons of rotting flesh or if they burn it for some reason.

MotownGal, even I don't know half of Wellingborough and I've lived here for 62 years!! They're just building a whole new area called "Stanton Cross" near the railway station-pretty much a whole new town, which will have it's own schools, doctors, shopping centre and community centre. Of course, it's not the Arndale Centre any more, but Swansgate!! Apparantly they thought a new name would improve the image but I've yet to see any such improvements!!

When I visited my Aunt on the farm my Uncle would be muck spreading and we would be eating lunch, windows open and not bothered by the smell, that was life back then, not for the faint hearted snowflakes of today me thinks.