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Shropshire Union smell


Philip

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I'm wondering if anyone else notices a distinctive aroma of the water towards the southern end of the Shropshire Union? I'm guessing it is a mixture of the soapy water from Barnhurst sewage works, combined with the canal bed/bank materials and the vegetation; I think a good description is a fragrant earthy smell. The smell has been there as long as I've known and I like it, find it adds to the character and many quirky aspects of this canal. It's particularly noticeable at locks with the bywash and when you open the top and bottom gate paddles.

 

Are there any other canals people know of which have a distinctive 'smell' to them?

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Staffs and Worcester is similar at  Compton, though less so at Gailey.  I guess the reasons are similar to the Shroppie smell but the Gailey end of the summit is also fed from Calf Heath I think.

 

Then of course there is the Stinko on the GU.  Also a sewage works.

 

There are one of two spots on the  BCN too.

 

Coventry basin  can really honk in a hot summer, especially if you back into the arm nearest the shops and then stop sharply.  Icecream sales were down that day!

 

N

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Brentford can be pretty smelly if you stir the water up. I moored between the A4 and the railway bridge a couple of years ago and when I put boat in reverse for a second to stop it the prop lifted up all sorts of unmentionable materials from the bed of the river/canal. 

The smell was very nasty indeed.

 

Nothing one would normally recognise from anywhere just very unpleasant. 

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

The crow. the flight of locks up to the titford pools has a very distinct smell of creosote, at least the bottom lock does

I think a certain @TheBiscuits has a picture after taking a dip in the bottom of The Crow.

 

it's very shallow on the offside, even Rivets 5000 ran aground.

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