here\u2019s a smell in Battersea, south-west London. Today, there are streams of the internet devoted to a whiff of toast commuters notice on the train over the river. It\u2019s something to do with local coffee roasters, apparently. But in the early 1970s, the area was very different economically, and the stink wasn\u2019t nearly so pleasant. The strong stench \u2013 described at the time as \u201clike dead bodies\u201d \u2013 was colloquially known as \u201cThe Battersea Smell\u201d.<\/p>\n
There was various speculation about causes. Most likely was that the stench came from one or two local factories \u2013 the gin distillers John Watney and Co and the glucose manufacturers Garton Sons and Co. But no one really knew. Moreover, the local council seemed to be actively avoiding trying to find out, and avoiding attempting to do much about it.<\/p>\n
As a local paper at the time noted, \u201cWe can get to the moon, phone relatives in Australia, perform miracles of surgery but a simple matter like getting rid of a smell seems to baffle everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents were especially annoyed as the local council insisted they use (expensive) smokeless fuel to cut air pollution yet seemed to do nothing about the stink. They suspected that the council found the jobs and rates revenue offered by the factories too important to risk.<\/p>\n
In 1972, a group of scientist-activists decided to make the smell an early project in \u2018community science\u2019. Called the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science (BSSRS or \u2018Bizrus\u2019 to their friends), they wanted to see if a bit of grassroots research could help unlock the mystery.<\/p>\n
They started by contacting two housewives on a local estate who were leading a protest; then they met with the tenants\u2019 association and the local doctor, as well as the local councillors and the Vicar of Battersea. The next step was a survey of residents\u2019 experiences of the smell, which BSSRS hoped would both collect some of the missing information and put pressure on the local council for more research, and possibly more action.<\/p>\n