THIS TIME IT’S PURRRRRSONAL!
The Oldbury smell– Everyone knew the source, everyone detected the odour of cat piss. A local councillor even waved her withered bush in front of a committee as to the effects it had blighted on the neighbourhood. I have unearthed the story of this pussy pong in several previous posts.
But we are not done yet it seems from this article.
The bad smell appears to have reached Tipton, (and quite ominously Dudley Port), in this article from The Birmingham Daily Post of 29 July 1967. The familiar themes emerge about the MO of the offending olfactory menace- sleepless nights, making people feel ill, and elusive to track down. But was this in itself “the Oldbury smell” of old, or a new “Lion King” on the block?
OH YES WE DO!!!!!
Though the source is suspected by an unnamed councillor, there is less of the vigour to do something about it as was the case with the indefatigable Councillor Gunn. It had already been noted that the lagoon was causing a stink in 1958, and making nearby factory workers feel ill. I would strongly suspect this to be down to phosphine gas.
How was this remedied, who knows, though I suspect money would have changed hands somewhere to look the other way?
