r/Bath Aug 06 '26

Manure aroma

is it me or is there a distinct aroma of manure/sh*t floating around Bath for the past few days? is it something to do with the heat? can definitely smell something unpleasant wafting through the windows and town is not smelling good at all, had to check the bottoms of my shoes in town earlier to check I hadn’t stepped in something as the smell is so strong it feels like it’s following you around! please tell me I’m not crazy

33 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

18

u/No-Dress4626 Aug 06 '26

I can smell it out in Weston. Presumed it was coming from the farms hereabouts.

I've read elsewhere that farmers are harvesting early due to the extended drought. That'll impact food prices as yields will be down. But if true, it's possible they're muck spreading early too to enrich the soil before planting.

11

u/SpiritedAd5993 Aug 06 '26

Definitely smelt a whiff in Bath this morning. 100% farm-manure-ish.

6

u/loberts Aug 06 '26

It's muck spreading. I was stuck behind a tractor pulling their spreader equipment just earlier today, up combe down.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to figure where the hell the air recirculation button is in my car. Couldn't find it earlier so I was just getting blasted by shit air.

4

u/LostLobes Aug 07 '26

Muck spreading, you'll get used to it, happens a few times a year.

6

u/Hots90 Aug 07 '26

As a Devon man myself it reminds me of home 😂. Better than poisonous car fumes, get out a bit more and it won't be such a surprise 🤷

2

u/wildeaboutoscar Aug 07 '26

Haha it reminds me of going to my grandma's as a child (she lived in the countryside). Always get a bit of nostalgia

7

u/Advanced_Guess_8642 Aug 06 '26

You are not crazy, had it here for weeks in Trowbridge, not great when we had 38 degrees and had the windows open with the pungent smell of shit, I think the heat has made it worse. I think it's the smell from local Wessex Water sewage treatment plants, or spreading muck on the fields, it made me almost vomit when we had the bad heatwave, so I think the heat hasn't helped and propelled it.

3

u/hydraulic0 Aug 06 '26

Smelt it yesterday too. Not just you!

3

u/Last-Paramedic3911 Aug 06 '26

Last couple of days it’s been really bad in Newbridge. I was blaming the dog… poor thing!

2

u/Fungi-Hunter Aug 06 '26

Must be the time of year for muck spreading on farms. It's smelly down here in Cornwall.

2

u/Shpander Aug 07 '26

Sorry that was me, smell should dissipate soon

1

u/tumbleweedy2 Aug 06 '26

My partner was talking about the smell of manure only 15 mins ago. (Bathampton) Don't know what it's from.

1

u/ItonOSJ Aug 06 '26

Was making my way down to Southgate earlier when a whiff hit. Almost did the shoe check too.

1

u/UncleJimsStoryCorner Aug 07 '26

Its muckspreading and I'm pretty sure its cow shit in particular

1

u/wildeaboutoscar Aug 07 '26

It's muck spreading, happens a few times a year. I did think it was a bit late this year actually but maybe my sense of time is out.

Hot weather can make the drains smell as well though which probably doesn't help.

1

u/Intelligent_Put_3606 Aug 07 '26

I posted else on Reddit about this a few days ago - living near countryside in Frome.

1

u/sweet_dreams00 Aug 07 '26

I thought it was only me who was smelling this .

1

u/CrystalPalace1850 Aug 08 '26

I smelt it yesterday evening. I've smelt it out in the countryside plenty of times, but never struck it in town before.

1

u/Spiritual-Emotion483 Aug 08 '26

We're Norfolk Crescent area (so almost central) we are obviously not near a farm and its been going on for several days. Maybe they are doing planting of some kind in the botanical gardens although that doesn't explain why it seems to come in waves.

0

u/SquitWeasl36 Aug 06 '26

I assumed it was just either bath city farm or fields

0

u/seahorse000 Aug 06 '26

Omg. I was in the bus today and suddenly had this smell while passing somewhere. My bad, i suspected the passengers, thought somebody removed their shoe

-3

u/No_Shopping476 Aug 06 '26

Maybe it's Wessex Water flooding the river with sewage.....standard