Peninsula Pong
M32 asks:
I have a quick question for you. Ever since moving to Greenwich many years
ago I experience an occasional rather unpleasant smell wafting across the
park. Presumably this comes from a factory or plant down on the river in East
Greenwich? Do you have any idea what is causing it, if it's harmful and if
it is ever going to go away!? I used to think it might be a brewery or
something but it is more unpleasant than that. Its not terrible, just
unpleasant. And if the wind is really strong it even occasionally infects the
rarefied air of West Greenwich :-) I just wonder how many of the x thousand
new occupants of the peninsular (one day) will be happy to live with the smell
next door.
I think we have all experienced that smell from time to time. The strange thing is that it's always different - sometimes quite yeasty, other times chemical, yet others downright putrid.
The factory that used to be responsible for the truly terrible smells of yesteryear, Molassine, which made animal feed and which was responsible for the Great Molasses Flood (see Mostly-Accurate History) is long dead and gone, though I notice that Mary Mills has written a lot about it on the web.
It must be a factory - though which one is a mystery. I've always assumed that it's the one with those strange pipes and towers at Enderby Wharf - but I could be totally wrong. That one, surely, is Alcatel, which only does telecommunications. Maybe I've got that wrong though.
My own theory is that the factory no longer exists to manufacture anything, save new and ever-worsening smells. They have an army of scientists working around the clock to create new pongs in the hope that one day AEG will pay the company large amounts to go away...
To be honest most of the time it's quite ok. It's only on a particularly bad day when the wind's in a certain direction that it becomes a problem.
Does anyone know the real culprit?
I have a quick question for you. Ever since moving to Greenwich many years
ago I experience an occasional rather unpleasant smell wafting across the
park. Presumably this comes from a factory or plant down on the river in East
Greenwich? Do you have any idea what is causing it, if it's harmful and if
it is ever going to go away!? I used to think it might be a brewery or
something but it is more unpleasant than that. Its not terrible, just
unpleasant. And if the wind is really strong it even occasionally infects the
rarefied air of West Greenwich :-) I just wonder how many of the x thousand
new occupants of the peninsular (one day) will be happy to live with the smell
next door.
I think we have all experienced that smell from time to time. The strange thing is that it's always different - sometimes quite yeasty, other times chemical, yet others downright putrid.
The factory that used to be responsible for the truly terrible smells of yesteryear, Molassine, which made animal feed and which was responsible for the Great Molasses Flood (see Mostly-Accurate History) is long dead and gone, though I notice that Mary Mills has written a lot about it on the web.
It must be a factory - though which one is a mystery. I've always assumed that it's the one with those strange pipes and towers at Enderby Wharf - but I could be totally wrong. That one, surely, is Alcatel, which only does telecommunications. Maybe I've got that wrong though.
My own theory is that the factory no longer exists to manufacture anything, save new and ever-worsening smells. They have an army of scientists working around the clock to create new pongs in the hope that one day AEG will pay the company large amounts to go away...
To be honest most of the time it's quite ok. It's only on a particularly bad day when the wind's in a certain direction that it becomes a problem.
Does anyone know the real culprit?
Labels: Ask The Phantom
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
14:11
25 Comments:
Isn't there a bread factory on the peninsula? Just to the west of the entrance to the tunnel? I've seen more than a few tankers of flour heading into that industrial park and it would explain the yeasty smell.
Oh dear - is that what bread smells like?
I wonder if it's more than one factory?
One very quick bit of research later.....
I'm thinking of Morden Wharf Road, I can find two companies that appear to work there and might be responsible for some of the pong.
Tate & Lyle have a company there called Amylum UK. I thought Amylum made animal feed but not in the UK apparently. They do appear to be involved in the bakery trade and the processing of wheat into starch and glucose syrup. Have a look here:
http://www.dalkiasolutions.co.uk/content/downloads/Amylum.pdf?from=-10956799215874202
Apparently they generate their own electricity and sell it back to the national grid.....
There's also a company called Greenwich Distillers Ltd that seem to be based there. They're a member of the Gin & Vodka association so I think we know what they make :)
It turns out that GDL are 100% owned by Amylum UK and are apparently the only grain alcohol production plant in England.
So it does sound like there's lots of grain and yeast type activities going on there.
Cor - cheers, C.A!
Great piece of detective work.
I vaguely remember Mary Mills sending out one of her e-newslettery things which mentioned talks with one of the companies over the whiff...
It's Tate & Lyle. My father-in-law lives closer to the factory than us and regularly experiences the "Greenwich stink". He's been along to a residents meeting with Tate & Lyle, but I don't think he found out much of interest.
Some pics here:
http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=11990
Fantastic pics, Methers. Thanks for the update.
Thanks for all the info, that's very interesting. Whoever thought sugar would smell so bad? I can't believe they are allowed to get away with it, especially with the thousands extra homes about to appear nearby. Surely no one would buy property round there if they knew about the smell? Can't T&L move out to Kent or somewhere? Or just shutdown altogether, I mean, how much glucose syrup do we really need? :-)
...and that Amylum link is interesting. Lots of green and blue uplighting going on in their factory - looks like a set for Doctor Who!
Thing is, the smell (of one kind or another) has been here longer than any of us.
T&L have a very long history in this area, and to be honest I can't really see that they should be forced out - much as I would like clean air, they do have historic precedence. We can but hope that they decide their site is worth so much to potential developers that they'll sell up and move somewhere cheaper, giving their shareholders nice dividends.
I suspect they're angling to get a good settlement from the developers. The longer they hang around, the more cash they'll get to go from grateful neighbours like AEG who (at least before they lost the Casino bid) wanted to build a luxury hotel practically next door.
I guess we'll never find out what will go on there, but I personally don't think the factories will stay much longer. The land will be just too valuable. And actually, that will be a sad thing (excpet for our nostrils.) Maybe we could encourage nice, non-smelly industry to come instead, keeping at least some of the working traditions of Greenwich.
The Tate and Lyle site also process molasses, hence a cloying sweet smell sometimes.
There's also a distinctive chemical smell that wafts across the river from Canning Town when the wind is in the wrong direction. I believe it comes from what used to be International Paint ... now Nobel .. the building with the large neon sign visable from the riverside footpath between the Dome and Greenwich Yacht.
It reminds me of the hoppy smell you get in Edinburgh, but my dad, who's ancient and from Lincs says it's sugarbeet. He is ancient, though...
I agree with you GP - it'll be a terrible shame if the factories shut down and are forced out. You forget the smell almost as soon as you've noticed it, and I like a working skyline. It smacks a little less of Disney. Besides - what about the jobs that would go with it?
I suppose I'm in the minority, but I don't mind the sugary smell at all. It's one of those make-a-memory smell that will always bring me right back to Greenwich, no matter how far I've strayed.
ah, T&L's Amylum UK - I believe that used to be known as Tunnel Refineries. It has been pumping out that whiff for decades.
So it sounds as though we have our own "Greenwich blend" of aromas, rather than just the one. Well, I guess that's another way that Greenwich is unique...
That smell employs hundreds of Greenwich people and luckily for them it's unlikely to go anywhere as a 50 year lease was arranged less than 15years ago by my father in law. It's just part of the charm that is Greenwich.
MJ
You have a point. To lose the industry that has supported Greenwich for loner than any of us has been around would be a shame. Britain as a whole is losing its industry in favour of services - and this is at least still a working factory. I put up with the smell as part of the whole Greenwich gig - but it's nice to know what exactly that smell is...
never smelt the 'pong' but it must pale in comparison to a childhood trip to Burton-On-Trent. A heady combination of the brewery (hops), the Marmite factory and the meat factory (not sure if its still there) At around 4pm in a certain spot these smells collide and the results is truly vile
Go back 20 years, and the pong used to be a hell of a lot worse - now only the Yuppie Village on the peninsula gets it regularly (ho ho ho).
I used to live in Charlton and there is a regular pong near to the river. I'm sure the T&L refinery is in part responsible but I think a good deal of the smell is general river stink. I always find the small to be most prevalent in the eveing and, having lived in a river based city previously I beleive there is some evidence that rivers let out algae type smells near dusk..... dunno what you all think? Also I suspect if you are silly enough to live in lego millenium village you proabably deserve the smell whatever it is! :)
OK Here is the REAL answer. I worked for Tunnel Refineries so I know! (Tunnel Refineries changed its name to Amylum which is the latin for Starch).
The 50 acre site at Greenwich processes crops such as wheat and maize and extracts starch. The starch is then converted into glucose syrup. The syrup is then forwarded into the food chain and appears in most processed foods that we eat. Its very likely that EVERYONE in the UK will eat in the next 24 hours something containing glucose syrup from Greenwich.
As regards the smell, this is a bi product from the process. Just as there is a hops smell near a brewery. It may be unpleasant at times but not dangerous to health.
Hope that clears up things
Jim
Thanks Jim. I guess that explains why the whiff is never exactly the same two days running...
What a fantastic blog.
I've always been baffled by that smell and wondered if it was harmful. My daughter's school is really close. So now I know.
Also, what do the outdoor flames do?
I've no idea, Anon. I've always assumed it was burning off some horrid gassy by-product and not delved too deep into it. But keep an eye out - others may know.
As a new resident to the 'Yuppie Village' I totally accept that the factory was there before any of us and has every right to be there. However, the smell some days is really obnoxious and I do think it is a blight on the area. Surely improved filtering could be used to remove the smell? We visited the site a few times before we bought (off plan) a year ago, and for some reason never smelled it. I must admit, if we had known then what we know now we would never have bought the place...
As a long standing employee of this mysterious factory, it is with sadness for my self and colleagues (and probably with blessed relief for you lot), it was announced today that the whole site will be shut down by this time next year.
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