My Town Monday - The scent of Welwyn Garden City
I have been a resident of Welwyn Garden City for the past 25 years. As a town, it is many things, but one of the most enduring things that people remember about the town is the aroma of Shredded Wheat!
The original company opened a factory in Welwyn Garden City (UK) in 1926, which became part of Nabisco in 1928. The tall concrete cereal silos that form part of the factory are a local landmark and are listed structures, built by Peter Lind & Company of London. In 1988 Nabisco sold the UK site to Rank Hovis McDougall (who made own-label cereals for supermarkets), whose breakfast cereals division briefly became The Shredded Wheat Company. In 1990 RHM sold the site to Cereal Partners. Some Shredded Wheat is made at Staverton near Bath, where all Shredded Wheat will be produced from 2008.
In the last few months the factory has closed down and all the jobs have been lost.
Before the closure the factory went into production every night, cooking the malted wheat. On a still night on the way home from work on the late shift, I could smell shredded wheat all over the town.It was particularly pungent if you had to stop at the traffic lights close by!! If the wind was blowing you could catch the whiff of it for miles about! It was not an unpleasant smell and it reminds me of home!!
12 comments:
The factory building is very attractive. it's a shame about the jobs, and I love shredded wheat, so I think I would have liked the smell.
Terrie
I really used to quite like the smell of that factory but don't like eating shredded wheat.
Malc used to visit the factory shop and buy packets of cereal - didn't realise that it had closed - real shame.
I wonder if the smell made people want to have a bowl of shredded wheat?
Certainly beats living near a chicken farm!
That smell is one of my faves,always reminds me of home!
We have nearby town that smells of muffin mix.
Shredded wheat is my son's staple diet in the morning. I hope this doesn't affect the rice of his Wheetabix!
I wonder what they'll do with the factory? Think Prince Charles will be by with an idea of converting it into some sort of historical monument?
Around my area we catch the scent of cattle feedlots in the evening. It's not nearly as pleasant, but ranchers describe the aroma as the smell of money.
I remember that smell, Travis. Unforgettable.
Great post, Lyzzydee. Makes me think of the smells in my hometown, Fort Worth. We've got factories for Miller Beer and Mrs. Baird's, so a drive down I35 greets us with smells of warm bread and brew. Yum.
Very cool. Reminds me of years ago...I worked security at a plant that made Welch's grape juice. Another guard there & I made great friends (& even ended up living in Toronto for a while,) so now the smell of Welch's grape juice always reminds me of him.
If there was a factory store, then I'll bet that was delicious! I worked at a Kellogg's plant nearby as a temp. When my time was up, they gave me a few factory fresh boxes to take home.
Wow. Best cereal I've ever had!
The factory also produced Ritz Crackers and Shreddies, of course. Brilliant products.
Forgot to mention Mary Baker cake mixes! Fantastic. The R & D guy used to get me to taste test them. Baked Alaska never forgotten.
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