Nauseating aromas
Pentonville Prison, where some of our most notorious prisoners were held.
The strong aroma of beer, and what I know now to be yeast, hung in the air, and was getting stronger as I walked towards my destination. I entered Brewery Road. On the one side of the road was the offending brewery. I entered the building facing it, on the other side of the road.
Lunchtime arrived, and I decided to go to the park with a group of friends. We crossed the road, passed by the brewery and rounded the corner. Now a really bad aroma filled the air. Not beer any longer, this was the smell of blood!
As we made our way up the road towards the park, the smell was getting nauseatingly stronger. We passed a group of men sitting on a wall. They were wearing white overalls that were covered in blood, and eating sandwiches. They made all the usual noises, of young men trying to act macho. We, on the other hand, were holding our hands over our faces in the hopes of not breathing in the horrible smell of blood. This made them chant all the more.
Finally we had passed by this awful building, this ’slaughter house’, as it was called. This is where they slaughtered cows. Often I had seen cows being herded down this road. The cows, with the smell of blood in the air, knew they were on their way to death. I hated it.
Finally we were at the park and able to breath in, the hopefully, cleaner air. Not that any air was particularly clean in London.
Our lunch break over, we retraced our footsteps past the slaughter house, past the brewery and back to school for afternoon lessons.
I had taken all this in my stride as a child, and only now see the strangeness of having a school on top of a prison, a brewery and worst of all, a slaughter house! This was a building that housed two schools from ages 5 to 15 years.
I checked Brewery Road on Google maps and the school, although known by a different name, is still there. The prison is still there, but I wonder about the brewery. The slaughter house, obviously no longer exists. In fact I’m amazed that they ever slaughtered cows in the city of London.
Another little glimpse into 1950’s London.
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weechuff | 4 May 2008 at 10:45
When you come to think of it, it was a strange thing to do in the centre of London, wasn’t it? I remember the very noisy cows being herded toward the slaughter house as well:0(
Daisy | 4 May 2008 at 15:52
What a vivid description! It does seem very wrong to have a school next to those things.
Cindy | 4 May 2008 at 18:03
Just found your blog via entrecard and am adding you to my friends list so I can find my way back.
granny grimble | 4 May 2008 at 18:25
How awful. I could have put up with the brewery smell and the prison, but cattle being led to slaughter, that’s a horrible thing to expose litle girls to on their way to school to. I worked very close to Smithfield Meat market in the City of London, and I hated seeing the men sitting outside eating and smoking and covered in blood. But at least the meat was dead by then!
Sindie | 4 May 2008 at 22:41
EEEOOW! And I bet those smells still make you feel ill to this day?
Babs (Beetle) | 4 May 2008 at 23:02
weechuff: I’ll never understand why they did. The cows had to be brought into London. Why they weren’t slaughtered first is a mystery.
Daisy: Yes – very strange
Cindy: Thank you.
granny grimble: It was really awful! We hated it.
Sindie: Lots of smell make me feel quite sick. I wonder if it has anything to do with those memories.
Croom | 5 May 2008 at 0:32
Yuk and Yuk again. Poor little (or big) cows. I hate the thought of any animal being slaughtered, at least I think it is bloodless and humane now.
Wish I had the will power to be a vegetarian.
Tina Spain.
JD at I Do Things | 5 May 2008 at 22:17
Very nice little story—love that “slice of life” type of description, even tho it was about a slaughterhouse. Your typical schoolday was much more eventful than mine!
JD at I Do Things
MamaFlo | 6 May 2008 at 4:20
The images you describe are horrible. Would make me not want to eat beef.
Swubird | 6 May 2008 at 5:32
babs:
Wow! What great story. A slaughterhouse? How gruesome.
Very well written. I could see the prison, and the men in white, and I could smell the blood. You really pulled me into the story.
Did this take place in the 1950’s?
Have a very nice day.
Babs (Beetle) | 6 May 2008 at 19:37
croom:
I was young enough for it not to really register that they were being slaughtered so I could eat them.
jd:
Thanks for the comment. We did have quite a few ‘eventful’ things happen during our school days.
mamaflo:
As I explained to ‘croom’ It didn’t really register then, that they were dying so I could eat them.
swubird:
Oh yes, in the 50’s. I don’t know when it closed down, though I can’t imagine it was functioning for too much longer.
Duckie | 8 May 2008 at 0:14
That is so very odd! I enjoy your writing … I always feel like I’m right there.
Liudmila | 8 May 2008 at 20:05
Sometimes I think about it too: wen I see something like this I wanted to be vegetarian. The problem is that vegetarians kill many alive beings to eat vegetables too.
Jena Isle | 13 May 2008 at 17:54
Your memory is good. It is indeed surprising that authorities allowed a prison near a school.