We live in picturesque village but it’s ruined by foul smell – we can’t open our windows… the cause is utterly bizarre
VILLAGERS across the pretty hills of Somerset have been left holding their noses over a mysterious smell blowing in the wind.
The pungent pong, which has resurfaced over the last two months, is particularly nauseating as it resembles the smell of cannabis – leaving many to wonder if there is even an illicit farm operating nearby.
Fed-up residents have taken to social media in search of answers, with one in the village of Yatton, south of Bristol, asking: “Who’s got a grow on then because it stinks.”
Another asked: “Anybody know what is causing the sulphuric dioxide/weed/pot smell every morning wafting across North Somerset?”
Locals in the know explained they were also once suspicious of the unusual aroma, which blows across the north of the county every summer.
But the smell of marijuana is actually caused by the process of crushing blackcurrants for Ribena, which is carried out every summer at the Thatcher’s Cider factory in the small village of Sandford.
Bar tender Kim Drew, 59, said: “There’s a lot of talk about the smell of cannabis every year. Years ago, when we first noticed it, we thought there was a cannabis farm somewhere.
“It hasn’t been too bad this year but in around 2018 it was really strong.
“You get used to it living here, because although it can be quite strong at times, at least we know it’s nothing illegal and it’s only for a couple of months.”
Summer pong
From June each year the smell wafts across Churchill, Congresbury, Yatton, Clevedon, Portishead and the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.
Teacher Nic Baykaa-Murray, 50, moved to the village of Yatton 22 years ago.
He admits: “It was probably 15 years ago we first noticed the smell. It very clearly smelled like weed, we just thought someone in the neighbourhood smoked an awful lot of cannabis.
“Then we found out what really caused it. Depending on the weather and which way the wind is blowing, some days it’s really strong, and other days you can’t even smell it.
“When it’s really strong though we have had to close our back door, which isn’t ideal in the summer.”
The Thatcher’s Cider factory is based at Myrtle Farm, where as well as as apples for its cider, it is responsible for processing 90 per cent of blackcurrants used in the popular squash Ribena.
On social media one local person wrote: “I don’t mind the smell but thought wowwee, someone is getting higher than the clouds on that stuff.”
While another commented: “I can’t believe it, it makes me feel queasy, it’s one of those smells that just gets to me, I usually keep our windows shut.”
Yatton resident Zoe Paul, 28, said she moved to the village a year ago.
“We’re from the area but moved to the village about a year ago. Recently I did notice a smell of what seemed like cannabis, but even when I drove elsewhere, I could still smell it.
“I did some research and found out what causes it, and it’s good to know it’s nothing else.”
‘People mistake it for weed’
In Sandford itself the smell is much less noticeable to the people who live there.
Many told us they didn’t even notice the unusual smell, that they could only smell the sweet smell of apples, or that they ‘were not familiar’ with the smell of cannabis.
Dyfan Jones, 35, is an actuary who lives a stone’s throw from Thatcher’s.
He said: “It’s not something which is bad enough to bother me. People mistake it for weed, but we don’t seem to smell it as strongly here as in other places, although it’s worse in the damp weather.
“I’ve travelled to other villages nearby and it’s smelled stronger. It seems to get swept away from here on the wind and settle in pockets in the surrounding areas.”
Tammy Williams, 54, was visiting her mum’s house in Sandford.
She said: “It does smell like cannabis and is stronger in certain weather, but it doesn’t bother my mum as she has lost her sense of smell. It’s something we’ve got used to, but it does cause quite a lot of people to wonder what’s causing it.
“I work at the local surgery and nurses and doctors have wondered if somebody is smoking cannabis close by.”
Around 12,000 tonnes of blackcurrants are collected from 35 growers across the UK to be processed by an army of seasonal workers.
During the process the harvested berries are mashed, and the juice is pasteurised at the plant before it is turned into a concentrate to be used at Ribena’s main mixing factory in Coleford, Gloucestershire.
As the juice is evaporated into a concentrate, it lets off a vapour, which the team at Thatcher’s also capture and turn into a liquid aroma which is added to Ribena. The process of the pressing and subsequent evaporation is what is causes the smell.
One Facebook user from the Yatton Community group said he wrote to Thatcher’s a few years ago to seek assurance the fumes were not harmful.
The concentrate is taken to the Forest of Dean factory in Coleford, Gloucestershire, where it is kept in cold stores for use throughout the year.
A spokesperson from Thatcher’s said: “It is the harvest season for blackcurrants, which runs from July through to the start of August.
“All the blackcurrants that are used in Ribena are pressed at Thatcher’s Cider’s mill in Sandford, before being transported to the Forest of Dean for processing into the world famous juice drink.
“We are coming to the close of blackcurrant pressing for this year, then we have a short window before the annual apple harvest at the end of August.
“The aroma that people may be noticing is completely natural and part of the blackcurrant pressing process.”