Smell memories
 

Went into our Marketing Department today, and smelt their top of the range photocopier.

Had a small lamp, when I was little, which we stood in front of during the winter in the hope that it would ward off colds wearing these green goggles.
Didn't give you a tan of course. Just froze as I had a moment of 'recall' if you understand me. Was called a Sunray Lamp.

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The smell of oil takes me right back to the docks in Newcastle. I was five and we were going on holiday to Denmark.

Just that one smell evokes so many memories, and takes me back through to time thirty six years ago in a flash.

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Ooopsie I'm off now......

The smell of bread takes me back to childhood, and makes me remember how I didn't want to get up before five o'clock, like my Dad and my Grandpa, to make it.

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Big trigger, smell, isn't it ? Talking of food, absolutely loved Silverskin pickled onions, used to sneak up in the middle of the night and pinch a few out of the jar, wrap them in a 'proper' hankie, go back to bed and eat them under the covers peeling each layer of skin off with me teeth. Mum always knew of course, must have stunk !!

Always think of this when I smell 'em.

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the smell of a newly bathed baby,,,,,i think it was the johnsons soap.....

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Mrs Hamers shop on the corner of Church Street and Johns Street, Church. It always had a very distinctive smell which I’ve only ever smelt once since in 30 odd years. It still comes back to memory occasionally, I always thought it’s was a polish or something like that? I use to go begging for Milk Bottles so I could go and get the penny and a sniff…………..

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I will allways remember the smell from the animal rendering plant (Ashworths ?)adjacent to J T Rothwells on Bridge st. in Church , they used to have open-top truck loads of hoofs/hooves and cow horns delivered ,never found out what the final product was

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May Jolly's shop at the corner of Henry Street and Lion Street smelt wonderful, a mixture of paraffin, linoleum and all sorts of other fascinating things. Yates's confectioners smelt of oven-bottom muffins and hot pies - yummy! Whenever I smell Chanel No. 5 it immediately brings back memories of my mother.

Smell is probably the most potent sense - ask me about all the experiments sometime.

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On the Freeport in Fleetwood ,there is a shop that sells all kinds of smellies.
Its called "Woods of Windsor "...oh i just love that place

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Firelights...those waxy ones......when i was pregnant I almost ate one (I said ALMOST...I probably would have taken a bite if hubby hadn't walked in and frightened the pips out of me). I never fancied anything edible when I was pregnant....carbolic soap, petrol fumes, jeyes fluid...moth balls were my favourites.....and all those smells bring back memories.

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Mind you, there was nothing like the smell of cotton as I walked through the weaving sheds and cloth rooms to visit my mum and dad. Up to last year, still had the pleasure, until my company had to close down its weaving side.

So now that is only a 'smell memory' of a once great Lancashire industry.:(

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Rich tea biscuits remind me when i used to help my grandad sort out things in church including tea and biscuits for after the services....i used to get away with eating as many as i liked unlike all the other kids who could only have one, as my grandad was the vicar :not_ripe:

My craving was pine disenfectant, what is it about chemicals and pregnancy?!

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Walking down Abbey street as a child, just before the junction of Little Blackburn Road there was a grocers shop on the left named Tippings who sold various kinds of coffee beans and they would grind them for you there and then, (instant coffee was available but not as popular as it is now) and the smell, everytime I smell ground coffee I always think of Tippings Grocers.

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OOOh firelighters Yes!! all white and smooth and yummy smelling (ok getting carried away) Ive got a weird thing about touch- when i got my easter egg this year i just sort of touched it and licked it for about an hour- Oh god, what am i saying!!! Please dont ban me :confused:

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Oh...I remember Tippings...and Blowers on Church St.......they used to put fresh sawdust down in a morning and it smelled lovely....they used to do ground coffee too and it was put into blue sugar paper bags......and they used to have glass topped biscuit tins so that you could choose which biscuits you had in your half a pound of 'mixed' biscuits.

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I loved going into Woolworths and hanging around the loose biscuit stalls and cake stalls on a Saturday morning, sniffing that sweet air filled with everything you could desire.

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Aaaah, felt there was a big softy in there somewhere Doug. :)

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All those Heavanly smells coming out of , Varley's , Arnfields, Youngs, Brady's, Bakerie's Whalley Rd Top end of Clayton, and the Chip Shops, Doras,Whalley Rd, Pillings, Burnley Rd, Grimshaws, Blackburn Rd, Hackings, Whalley Rd and one next door to the top Club, cant remember the name and hot buttered pies on a Friday .

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The same has Granny for me it's the smell of johnson's baby products and a just bathed baby.

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The smell of raw bacon...one whiff and I'm five years old and standing in Redmans with my mum looking at the rather imposing gentleman with the moustache who was the custodian of the bacon slicer at the back of the shop.

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As everyone knows, today has been roasting hot....I had some letters to post....I walked down the street and could smell the pungent aroma of 'gas' tar.....it brought back so many memories.....bursting the fat shiny bubbles between the cobbles with a lolly stick.....trying to get a big ball to roll in our hands and invariably getting it onto my clothes.......or even worse, my hair.
My mother would spend time getting it out of my clothes but she would just take the scissors to my hair and I ended up looking like an urchin.......aaaah days of innocence, alas now long gone!

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I love the smell of fresh fish, always have. As a child I used to love walking through the fish market just sniffing the fumes. When I lived in Whitby, in the late 60s, it was a delight to walk along the fish-quay early in the morning and just take in the smell of the catch.

The smell of new-mown hay also puts me on an instant nostalgia trip - right back to the days when all the children in the neighbourhood used to help the local farmer get the hay in, long before the days of combines and bailing.

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The smell of Oddies Pies ! It were on the corner of the market on....hmmmm....is it Broadway? Is it still there? When I hear of all these changes in Accy, demolitions of grand old places, well it's just sad. Here in Canada, we have no history. Literally almost ! (The country was settled 144 years ago). Nor do we have a distinct identity, as Canada prides itself on being the melting pot of the world - which is great on one hand, but truly - Canadians have no distinct sense of identity, certainly not the way Lancashire folk do.

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Oddies are still in accy tina, but in the arndale centre now, a junior school classmate was manageress until she retired 3 years ago, still smells damn good in yon though.:)

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I would think that melting pot is what makes Canada the Country it is. A sense of identity can have its advantages, but can also at times can come with some baggage.

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Sorry Tina have to disagree with you on this , think most Canadians I've come across have the distinct traits which idenify them as Canadians , ( most of them were born there, 2nd generation) , so they don't carry any "nostalgic baggage" like their immigrant parents,

Hope Eric comes across this thread , he's an ex Accy/Clayton guy who also lives in Canada and from reading his posts on Accy web I don't think there anyone is of a more Canadian mindset than him ;)

Something which gets my goat both in Canada , Australia and other places where UK immigrants tend to gather is how they complain about "Coronation st" being 6 months or more behind the UK or how they can't find Birds Custard powder ...... sorry folks , you left the UK , adapt live like the locals ;)

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Can you buy Birds custard inthe bay area?
What about Nuttals mintoes?
Every city hasa little shop where ex pats can buy a little bit of something that reminds them of days gone by.
Things like CROSSE & BLACKWELL PICCALILLI, great stuff.:D:D

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There was a little shop just off the Rundle Mall that sold British sweets.....coltsfoot Rock Sarsaparilla tablets, barley sugars.....aniseed balls, mint imperials, pontefract cakes.

Don't know if it is still there...haven't been to Adelaide for 7 years or so.

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Hand washing dispenser soap in hospitals always reminds me of having my cherrubs. Poison perfume reminds me of Lar-de-Dars in the 90's. Great thread, thanks Kate x

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When I was about 4 or 5, my gran used to take me for a regular walk down Charter St, along Pickup St and on Moscow Mill St. There often used to be a sickly sweet smell on Moscow Mill St, which my gran told me was a dog biscuit factory. Was there such a factory over that way back in the 50's or is my memory playing tricks on me?

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Yep twas "Sterling Dog Biscuits" had a few mates worked yon mate.;) was still going in 70s, dunno when it shut, but seem to remember a court case about a fiddle.:D

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Cheers, for that, Mr C! :)

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You could still get that smell in blackburn just off gorse street near the canal there is a dog food/ biscuit factory only problem sometimes it gets mixed with a minty/toffee smell from glisten toffee factory on the other side of the canal ewww:D

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Sterling the guy that owned it, was a real down to earth bloke, he'd always speak in a morning when he got out of his roller to pick up his newspaper on his way into work:D:D

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My nostalgic Smell Memory is of leather.My mind is going back to when I was a little lad going to Church Kirk about 1936. All the kids wore clogs at our school. When it was time to have new irons on the clogs I was sent by my Mum to a cloggers in Henry Street.There were great big sheets of leather hanging in roof of the shop.The smell of that leather has stayed with me all my life.Like when you got a new satchel for school, or if you got a new leather wallet.The lovely distinctive smell of leather first came to me in that cloggers shop all those years ago as I waited in the queue for new irons to be fitted to my clogs.

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When there was a Warburton's Bakery on Jacob Street in Acc, used to love walking past that in the morning on the way to school!

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Also remeber an Italian deli that was on lower Water street before the Easthgate demolitions, my dad was a loyal customer and the place smelt wonderfully of freshly ground coffee and Italian salami ! He used to buy the most amazing proepr frankfurters from there, loved it! Would have been on the corner opposite Melbourne House.

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No linds the bakery yon was Mosleys, a mate used to work yon on nights in mid 60s n used to nick Manchester Tarts fer us at Black Annies.:D

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We used to walk down by the bakery on our way home from Peel Park school(we lived in the Woodnook area) we would call at the bakery door and see if they would sell us any squashed cakes......they usually gave then to us...glad to be rid of us little urchins I guess.
We were pleased if we got an iced bun with a cherry on it.......delighted if we got a cream crisp, a vanilla, or a cream horn. Happy days.

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Strewth, Mr C, was this a boarding house or a bordello?? ;)

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no bordello she chucked me out fer sneaking a bird in.:D

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Ashworths animal products , bottom of Bridge st. in Church , tipper trucks full of non edible animal parts , horns /hooves etc

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The shop in Gawler Place is still open, and you can still buy all of the above and more.

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Do you know I racked my brains to try and remember the name of the street.
I knew it began with a G......but the rest of it escaped me.
I took lots of sweeties back to Melbourne for my sister in law, who was hankering after dolly mixtures, Bassetts Allsorts and aniseed balls. I spent a fortune in that shop.

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Yes I would agree of course that Canada has an 'identity', but only in the sense that it is ' different '. All countries are different from each other.

I don't think all nostalgia is baggage - We collect memories as we go along. It's our story!

I will agree that there are traits that Canadians are more likely to have - Largely on an even keel, laid back, etc. I don't think those traits are purely Canadian.

I see the good in Canada too. It is to me the most beautiful country in all the world. I appreciate the way that people are individuals. They follow no crowd in notable numbers; there is room for EVERYONE. And everyone is welcomed. I am pulled to it. While I grew up in England, I was actually born in Canada, and spent 8 or 9 of my formative years here. From 9 to 20, I spent the other half of my formative years in Accrington. I am soooo much of both .

Please know that no offense was intended - not at all ! I was speaking from my personal experience, and from my own perspective.

Peace.

PS I agree on the Coronation Street and custard complaints - how about being happy that we get Corrie at all, being half a world away !

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Who can forget the smell of a new Corporation bus ... was it the leather or some sort of cleaning/finishing product they used ? Was very exciting when a new one turned up at your bus stop.

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New leather sandals....red ones with a fancy punched design on the front......from Littlewoods in Blackburn, four and eleven. I loved them.......hardly dare wear, them was afraid they would get spoiled.

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Bit sad you had to wait seven years between new pairs though.:o:p

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We were poor, and rarely got anything new. Everything came from the Jumble sales or hand me downs(from more affluent families)........and the sandals that I referred to were four shillings and elevenpence...though I am pretty sure you knew that all along:).

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Today, several times, I have smelt something resembling Fullers Earth Cream.
I have been alone all day and don't have any Fullers Earth in my flat.:confused:

The windows have been open most of the day but the smell doesn't seem to be coming from outside.

I looked for an answer on the web (as I do) and am a bit spooked by references to - 'clairscent'.:eek:

PS panic over :D - it is the lilies I bought a few days ago that have opened :D

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Was just going to have a sniff round to see if I could smell out:D

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I did once smell a ghost (for real!) so I panicked a bit when I read about 'clairscent', and thought that I was now lumbered with yet another version of ESP.

It is bad enough sensing emotions, smelling spooks is a step too far :D

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Two other smells that instantly take me back to childhood.

Petrol - going to Mooney's garage with my dad. Although I was always disappointed you didn't get free gifts at a Fina filling staton. No little busts of World Cup players there!

Rubber - the black mask used to give gas, when I had my tonsils out aged three at Accy Vic. Reminds me of my Nan smuggling ice cream in for me afterwards, past the Sister.

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Not that nauseating perfume 'Angel' was it, Margaret... :D

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Redmans on the ccorner of Blackburn Road. Bacon and small baked Hois Loaves we sued to get them on the way home from the swimming baths. Tippings was on Blackburn Road near the Grammer School. Took your cookery list for school and they would measure it all out. Mr Tipping used to deliver the groceries to home and collect on a Friday. Good old days.
Littlepom

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Me too, Littlepom. Think they cost 1 1/2d. Was a toss up between putting 1d in the hairdryer at the baths or buying one of these. Always went home with wet hair.. :)

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This Saturday many year's ago used to be the start of the annual week in Fleetwood . Smell of fish .

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Yep, remember that too ... used to go every year for many years (had 2 weeks ... posh, eh !).

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Two weeks oooooooooogh ya were posh:D

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Well we weren't so lucky as Kate, it was one week only at the Costa Del Roughit or as its better known today Blackpool:D

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Ooh luxury ! You lucky, lucky, ........ ! We had 2 weeks in Rhyl, in a damp caravan with wet Dogs. (proper nasal memories them) :eek: Ever since then I've not liked going abroad ! :D

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Just found this and couldn't help but recall the appalling smell that hit you on brewing days as you got off the bus in Blackburn. It used to make me gip as a small boy (or as we used to say "coaten?")

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It was horrible.

I used to smell it every day, getting the bus back from school.

It came from one of the breweries, Thwaites, or Whitbreads, and came from processing the stinking, wet hops.

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Ya the stink in Blackburn was awful, funny how it became so wonderful when it was stuck in a glass on the bar:thepint:

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Never as bad as the bone factory on Bridge Street Church

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That was worse that than Blyth's and that's saying sumat Frank

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depending on wind direction you could smell it all over town

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When you lived in Ossy you couldn't get away from it really no matter which way the wind was blowing Bone Factory and Blyth's one way Cockers the other, we got it every which way:rolleyes:

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Yeah, that would make you retch, and your eyes water, it was so bad.


http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...liCFjxLZQsoM7g

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Can remember living in Church in 70s,and being unable to leave windows open on a hot day, was terrible.:eek:

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Would that be Metcalfe's boiling bones.

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Yep sure was, at first used to think it was Wm Blythes, until i started yon in 77, Then Meltcalfes used to infiltrate the cabins n put yeh off yer bait.:eek:

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Yep smell of shiney black tar bubbles as you collected them into a big ball of tar .....butter margarine would get the tar of small hands and clothes coupled with a clip round the ears

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Chimneys burning coal pre smokless fuel, Bomb fire nights for days after and parrafin heaters after smokless fuel yuk

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my childhood memorys was of fresh cut grass, haymaking was always my favourite time of year,

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there were some very pungent smells when you actually worked inside Blyth's, the Sulphur plant was a bit iffy as was the tin plant

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True but unlike Ashworths those didn't float oer church.;)

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There'd have been a riot if it had a done:rolleyes:

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Just think what todays kids will never have, the pleasure of pricking gas tar bubbles with a spent match. on hot summer days.
Watching gas tar boiler coming round streets, chap with a big iron teapot, pouring hot tar between gaps.

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Pouring the hot tar between the cobbles. Most of the cobbled streetshave now been covered with tarmac

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Yep, you can still see them at the botom of the pot holes that keep appearing around the streets in Woodnook, the patch ups usually last around a couple of months, if they only prepared the pot holes properly by under cutting, drying the collected water out, before using a proper mix of tarmac, the repairs might last a few years, but the council just love wasting money on shoddy work, instead of having a good job done once.
Retlaw

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They turned up across from our house last month ,looked at a small pothole about 6 inches diameter filled it with cold tar mix and tamped it down with a wooden stick. Needless to say it didn't last a week. The whole operation lasted five minutes.