I Miss The Smell Of Belfast

[apalachie]

Went down to put an alarm system in one of the Silos in the docks, on entering the whiff would have knocked you for six as a boat was unloading. They gave us breathing gear that blew clean air across the masks.
On going back the next day with a different colleague I warned him about the stench he was about to endure but knock me down with a feather a different boat was unloading and the smell of citrus fruit was wafting throughout the place, you would have thought you were in a meadow full of orange trees.

[Pennywhistle]

I had to work in it as an outside contractor once or twice, the first time we went to the place there were ten of us & evrey one of us threw rings round us the minute we got out of our van.
The funny thing was, after about our third day in the place we hardly noticed the smell

Knew a fella once that went to "Burnhouse" for a job interview as a "Fitter".Before he got his coat off or showed his references,the foreman took him to a "pit" that was jam packed with dead livestock and such,including (he said) family pets from the various local vets.The "pit" was at the "front end of the rendering process" and the "protein" was forced into the system by a giant Archimedes "screw" thing that was driven by a really big chain.

Looking down into the pit,the foreman informed him that from time to time,the chain would jump off the drive crank and it would be his job to descend a ladder and wrestle the chain back onto the big sprocket.

Question was,could he do it?

Short answer was "No" and interview over!

The "honk" from the Lagan at low tide ,has gone since the weir was constructed beyond the Queen's Bridge and the black sludge is no longer visible at low tide.On occassion,whether it is a maintenance issue,the weir is lowered leaving the tidal banks exposed and the once familiar "rotten egg" smell fills the air once again..

[BLOOMFIELD]

My first job was above Sawyers fish shop in High Street.

They used to roast their own coffee.

The smell of over ripe fish and roasting coffee wafting up to our

open windows would have gagged a magot.

[barry]

My first job was above Sawyers fish shop in High Street.

They used to roast their own coffee.

The smell of over ripe fish and roasting coffee wafting up to our

open windows would have gagged a magot.

Ahh,  that's  what  happened  to  ya       

[BLOOMFIELD]

Yea, you would know all about magots   

[oilyrag]

I remember Sawyer's . I worked around in Queen's St and used to pass it daily , there was always hussell and bussell around this area probably due to the number of bars , but I used to always stop and  look in at their display of fish on the slab there was always something placed to shock the public some fish from away down from the depths with big eyes and teeth showing and a gub that could have swallowed a mellon.There was always a peculiar whiff coming from Sawyers didn't realise then that it was coffee. .can't say I knew much about coffee them days except it came in a bottle and was called CAMP ...yuke.

[oilyrag]

The Sawyers I was on about used to be on the corner of Fountain and Castle St. Looks like its now a British Heart Foundation

[chink]

it is on the opposite side of the street   my friend  owns it now   very expensive

[greyghost]

I don't miss the smell of fish n chip shops, or some of the factories. I'll bet it's much better these days.

[buttercup]

Don,t understand  why people don,t miss some off these smells , I loved walking the docks area and gallaghers the smell of tabacco although I was never a smoker, they just remind me of my childhood and happy days .!!

[jemmy hope]

The smell of the bleach works on Palmerson St is a smell not soon forgotten.

[tboy]

My first job was above Sawyers fish shop in High Street.

They used to roast their own coffee.

The smell of over ripe fish and roasting coffee wafting up to our

open windows would have gagged a magot.  

above sawyers ?  naw, probably facing sawyers in the tax office  magot

[AL CAPONE]

Welcome to the forum Northside Exile, hope you stick around and meet with all the great people on here.
 
There is nothing worse than the smell in Belfast City Centre on a hot day!!  The smell from the sewers would make you want to bok!  Though, having said that, I've not been in the Centre this long and many a day.
 
Where I live, I was only 9 years old when we moved here, we had a Brewery near us, and the first time we got the wiff from it, we all thought we'd have to move, but got used to it over the years.  Now it's pulled down and new housing is being built - could stick the old smell more than all the blooming dust, dirt and vermin coming from the building works now!

I know how you felt sally Ann, i went o St Marys and hated dandering up that hill, the smell was rank. 

[kate.o]

we lived beside eliza st bakery .so its hard not to miss the lovely smell.and it was allways there.  

[Dingaling]

The smell of the Ormeau Bakery; the smell of Bells coffee being roasted;the smell of the Lagan when the tide was out.And what about the sound of the Glasgow boat or that deep,hoarse sound of the foghorn.