sounds & smells

[merseywail]

With the loss of so much industry, & changes in lifestyle, there are many things no longer with us. we have photos to remind us of places etc , but what about the sounds & smells. where i lived i used to love the early morning smell of fresh bread from local bakeries. the smell of coal fires allways reminded me of cosy nights in by the fire. now & then the smell from spillers on longmoor lane would keep the local dogs happy, am to far away now. some smells not so nice! like the litherland tannerys , or the tar works. Also gone are the sounds, like the works hooters such as johnsons simple things like the 'ding ding' on a bus. the many styles of rag & bone men (now making a comeback) the general clatter from the docks ( now replaced with the odd bang from a droped container) even the 'wooorp' of the mersey foghorns . Anyone got anymore lost sounds & smells ?

[shytalk]

merseywail, Just count yourself as lucky not to have lived near the tannery on New Chester Rd. Tranmere. The worst stink there ever was.

[drone_pilot]

merseywail, Just count yourself as lucky not to have lived near the tannery on New Chester Rd. Tranmere. The worst stink there ever was.

I used to live on green lane over the road from the Tannery's god what a stench, still smell it now

[Gerry]

I remember the distinctive smell when going into the ships chandlers of the ropes made from natural fibres. They had a unique smell of earthiness and oil somehow combined that just isn't there today.
The nylon man made ropes that are so lifeless now even with their new bright colours trying to bring some character to them fail miserably in my opinion.

[folkiesue]

I can still smell the parrafin and hemp smell from the chandler's, where we used to buy washing line for one and six to use as a sipping rope. I can smell the roast pork from Lister's pork butcher's on Breck Road, and the leather from the cobbler's which was just next door (I think). Mrs. Davies' pet shop was further up and she had pet food in large containers, which you bought loose. That smell wasn't really nice! What about the smell of the 'bombdies' where we played - all rotten wood and that derelict building smell.

I can hear the sound of my mother's 'rack' as she hoisted it up towards the ceiling, full of washing to be dried. I can hear Barker & Dobson's 7.25 hooter, calling the workers in and the one-o'clock gun.

I'm sure I'll think of more...

[folkiesue]

Whoops - skipping rope

[knowhowe]

Excellent thread. For me, one of my earliest memories was the sulphurous stink of the steam trains when being pushed in my pram over the railway from our house in Ursula Street and being terrified by the smoke that would envelop us as we passed over the bridge.
Later, lying in bed in Crosby and hearing the ships fog horns on the river. Also the one o'clock gun.
I used to pedal down the dock road from there to visit my dad at work and go to the museum. The pong of dog biscuits- Spillers?- was so strong along there. The ozone on Crosby beach and the rich stench of the ponds where we'd get frogspawn, catch sticklebacks- and regularly fall in.
Much later, I used to make belts, bags, sandals and the like from leather and used to regularly get the ferry over to the Birkenhead tannery to buy my skins. As previously noted, one end of the place stunk to high heaven but the part where the finished hides were kept was just the opposite- wonderful.
(Actually, with the demise of photography as a way of making a living, I've recently got back into it- but have to go to Chesterfield for my leather now. See what you think- http://www.goodhiding.co.uk)
Also as a kid, the mysterious aromas emanating from the doors of pubs where we weren't allowed to go. The smells of a coal fire and of the paraffin heater we had in our bedroom. Grandad's pipe. The oily pong of my dad's overalls when he came in from work. My mam's cooking- heaven.

[christy]

Widnes doesn't smell like it used to. That chemical smell that got you by the throat when you got near the Bridge was atrong and can't remember when it stopped. Always felt like I was going on a day out when I smelt that cos was usually going to Chester or the zoo.
The mix of candy floss, chips, hotdogs, urine, tramps and the mersey at the Pier head when all the buses stopped there. Especially if we got to go on the ferry aswell cos then you would get the smell of the diesel aswell.
Port sunlight used to smell aswell and although it wasnt nice, like Widnes made me feel like I was going for a day out (Wales usually)
Although they were not that pleasant, I do miss those smells and the feelings they gave you.

Sounds that I miss are hearing the fog horns of the ships on the river on a clear day (prop still hear them, just not by ours) and the sound of factory sirens for dinner time etc

[burkhilly]

For me it is the smell of a Chandler's shop - unique IMO. Very few chandlers shops left now of course. Although there is still one in Broadgreen Road which has "that" smell. I go in there quite frequently to get the smell - I love it.

[Cadfael]

For me it is the smell of a Chandler's shop - unique IMO. Very few chandlers shops left now of course. Although there is still one in Broadgreen Road which has "that" smell. I go in there quite frequently to get the smell - I love it.

I'll second that smell! Kut A Bill at the Childwall Fiveways, you only had to go in for a second to get 'that smell'.

Now if someone can bottle it, I'll have one please

[essexscouse]

going to the swimming baths at steble st walking out through the washouse exit and getting a toasted cheese sandwich from the teashop there we used to pull the drawer like driers open to warm up and dry our hair while we ate the toasties ( she always used to grate the cheese which was really posh we thought) the ladies in the washouse screamed at us to close the drier

happy days

[brian daley]

The smell of Hales bakery in Garston, that wonderful aroma that tells of crusty loaves and succulent meats enclosed in short crust pastry,the meat and crust separated by a filling of delicious jelly. We would stand at the back of the bakery like Bisto kids,noses drawing in draughts of pie filled air. On a lucky day one of the workers would give you a hot pie,useless to them because the crust was broken,wonderful to you because there is no taste like that of a hot, freshly baked, meat pie.

I've just put a stone on thinking of those short crust wonders.

[andymccabe13]

i've always liked the smell of the underground at james street since i was a kid

[wsteve55]

i've always liked the smell of the underground at james street since i was a kid

Ha,Ha,Ha,
It's a while since I've been down there,but I dont remember it having a particularly nice smell?

[Ron B Manderson]

how about the smell of the coal tar used to fill space in tram rails.
Still love that smell even today.
If you had a cold you would stand beside it for ages .
Sounds.
Where i lived in dundee the trams would diddle down the hill beside our house. What a noise. Yet when they changed to busses we were unable to sleep for the noise.

Ron