The apiary in Google Maps

[Swarm]

There must be forage or the hives wouldn't be there. When I think back to where I grew up, a small village between two railway lines and nestled next to two collieries and a drift mine, we had slag heaps at the end of the street. The Bargoed Taff river had been covered and flowed through a tunnel beneath the one track and the colliery yards. (It has since been uncovered when the site was reclaimed)
On top of a desolate hillside overlooking all this my friend's Grandmother ran a farm where she kept quite a few hives. This was early 1960's and the pits were in their heyday, diesel locomotives hauling enormous lengths of coal trucks on both tracks, the ground used to move. Not wonderful surroundings for bees but within a hundred yards of the upper track, the mountain side opened up into meadows and hedgerows that stretched, unhindered, for a few miles.
It's funny but my childhood recollection is always the heavy scent of Hawthorn in the air, I suppose we took all the industrial stuff for granted and didn't even notice it.

 

[Podilia]

produce one on the most nominated honey since the anticity, the thyme honey of Hymettus.

Thank you for your reply. I don't mean that Greek honey is contaminated or something like that. I just watched the film and found the apiary in the industrial zone near the sunflower field. The film described the region in dark colours so the ariary seemed to me as a surprise.

It's great that many people have shared their view and experience. I know from the history that Britain was heavy industrialised country in the past and coal was the main source of energy.

 

[Apple]

Usual practise these days seems to be that the owner of the contaminated land give it away to a developer, and it becomes the developer's responsibility to remove the contaminated soil. last site I saw this happen on a few years ago, developer had to remove in excess of a meter of soil for incineration after 100+ years of industrial chemistry activities. Site was in excess of 20 acres IIRC. one waterlogged part of the site had some sort of injectable 'membrane' put in to prevent leaching of the heavy metal contamination. Mostly houses now

Would that have been the Vinyl Products / BP petrochem site in Carshalton?
Grandfather had bees on the allotments adjacent to the site... that glowed like Dante's inferno at night... the Wandle used to flow in many different colours when the dye works had a spill!

Contaminated soil was land filled I believe... and it is all housing now... would not want to eat the carrots from those back gardens.
Wild Horses would not drag me back there now.... did have a pint in the Lord Palmerston for old times sake on a return trip about 20 years ago!

Chons da

 

[pargyle]

Back in the 70's and early 80's, when the Phurnacite plant still existed in Abercwmboi, I'd have given that accolade to the Cynon valley. We would regularly set off from sunny, dry Pontypridd only to get to Abercynon and the dark skies as we looked up the valley.

In my early days in the 1970's I worked for Woolworths and I was sent to manage Pontypridd Woolworths on Taff Street for four weeks whilst the usual manager was off sick ... I was run ragged by the staff there - Three of the shopgirls came down to me one day in my first week and told me that they had a regular customer who came down to the store on a donkey and the usual manager always went out and held the donkey whilst the customer did his shopping. - he was a very good customer they told me and it was worth keeping him sweet by looking after the donkey.

So, I didn't know any better and the bloke was there outside the front of the store with the donkey and I duly went out of the store and took hold of the bridle .... the beggars left me stood there holding the donkey for nearly half an hour until half of Pontypridd were stood across the other side of the road pointing at me and the donkey .. Eventually I looked inside the store to see that all the shopgirls were collapsed in hysterical laughter at their counters having well and truly fitted me up with the help of the donkey supplied by Jones the Donkey who was a cousin of one of the girls ....

The following week ... it was a lovely spring day and the sun was shining... the staff supervisor came screaming at me to get the sandbags up from the cellar as the rain was coming ...I looked out of the doors into this lovely sunny day and asked her if she had organised Jones the Donkey as well and to pull the other one as it had bells on it ... then I looked along the street and some other shops were putting sandbags around the front of the doors ... and by this time the penny had started to drop as the staff supervisor was getting very agitated... She was trying to tell me - they'd had a call from 'up the valley' and they had a thunderstorm up there ... 20 minutes later the water was pouring down Taff Street and the sandbags were the only thing that stopped the store cellar from flooding.

I had a lovely four weeks there despite being constantly aware that everything I was asked to do had a 50/50 chance of being another practical joke ... there was a terrific cafe just across the other side of the road who kept me fed and watered most days.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hilarious Philip
I love your stories.
You certainly have led an exciting life

 

[pargyle]

Hilarious Philip
I love your stories.
You certainly have led an exciting life

You mean I've got into all sorts of scrapes ... mostly of my own volition . ... the donkey story followed me throughout my career with Woolies ... everywhere I went in the company I was inevitably asked if I could look after the donkey ....

 

[Apple]

Reminds me of the day the site foreman sent me down to the stores for a " long weight"

 

[pargyle]

Reminds me of the day the site foreman sent me down to the stores for a " long weight"

Ha ha ... In my school holidays I worked with the M & E fitters at Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts factory in Owlerton, Sheffield ... I was sent to the stores to fetch the Long Weight, the left handed screwdriver, the heavy stamp, a hand wrench, a one foot stand, you name it - I fell for it. The look of 'oh not again' on the storeman's face usually told me it was yet another fool's errand they had sent me on ...They looked after me though - I learned a lot. On nightshifts we used to watch the speedway next door from the roof whilst drinking beer and eating fish and chips ...and of course there was the free liquorice allsorts ... you could eat as many as you wanted as long as you didn't put them in your pocket.