People buying houses with associated noise (churches, railways etc) and then complaining about the noise?

STINT47 · 29 Mar 2024

I live close to a church and don't mind the bells if they're running during the working day.

The issue is that they ring them at tines when we are not working such as early each Sunday and on some public holidays. When we are trying to enjoy our days off from work they could show a bit more consideration.

RailUK Forums

ChrisC · 29 Mar 2024

STINT47 said:
I live close to a church and don't mind the bells if they're running during the working day.

The issue is that they ring them at tines when we are not working such as early each Sunday and on some public holidays. When we are trying to enjoy our days off from work they could show a bit more consideration.

But isn‘t the main purpose of church bells for them to be rung before the Sunday service, not midweek during the working day.

Purple Train · 29 Mar 2024

ChrisC said:
But isn‘t the main purpose of church bells for them to be rung before the Sunday service, not midweek during the working day.

It depends, but, in general, yes, the purpose is not for them to be rung during the working day! Quite bemused by the post you quote to be honest, unless it's a joke which has flown over my head (very easy when you're my height!).

ChrisC · 29 Mar 2024

Purple Train said:
It depends, but, in general, yes, the purpose is not for them to be rung during the working day! Quite bemused by the post you quote to be honest, unless it's a joke which has flown over my head (very easy when you're my height!).

After I had written my comment and posted it I began to think that perhaps I had misunderstood a joke.

PeterC · 29 Mar 2024

ChrisC said:
After I had written my comment and posted it I began to think that perhaps I had misunderstood a joke.

I certainly read it as a joke.

Purple Train · 29 Mar 2024

PeterC said:
I certainly read it as a joke.

In which case, my sincere apologies to @STINT47.

Xenophon PCDGS · 29 Mar 2024

When wishing by buy a property, having paid the solicitor acting on your behalf to make a full survey, you would expect that the researches carried out during that survey would have brought matters appertaining to noise that would detrimentally affect the prospective property purchaser to their attention, which could then give the purchaser the chance to seek another property away from the noise pollution.

Mr. SW · 30 Mar 2024

Just down the road from me.

Springs Branch · 30 Mar 2024

No one has mentioned living near pubs yet!

A mate once moved into a house a few doors down from a popular pub, with much swagger about how convenient it would be getting to and from a good night out.

A few weeks later, cue lots of moaning about loud late-night conversations and shouting in the street, car doors slamming, engines firing up and the like at chucking-out time (on nights when he wasn't out in the boozer and had to get up early for work).

Maybe these days with the demise in many street-corner pubs, no mandated 'last orders' closing time - which had everyone turfed out at the same time, and drinking supermarket booze at home, it's less of a problem.

Some establishments I frequent have "Please leave the premises promptly & quietly" signs in the car park etc., but I doubt these will have too much effect in keeping noise down from those out for a good time.

Just make sure you don't buy a house between a pub and a church - kept awake half of Saturday night by rowdy pub patrons, then just when you've finally got down to some decent sleep, the bloody church bells start!

PeterC · 30 Mar 2024

Springs Branch said:
No one has mentioned living near pubs yet!

My late mother in law moved into a nice quiet cul-de-sac which lead to a footpath. Only at 11:30 on a Saturday night was it obvious that it was a popular short cut from the town centre pubs to rather a lot of housing.

52290 · 30 Mar 2024

ChrisC said:
But isn‘t the main purpose of church bells for them to be rung before the Sunday service, not midweek during the working day.

In many churches the same bells are used for the quarter chimes if the tower has a clock. It is often these that cause complaints especially if they ring throughout the night. Luckily my church, of which I am the tower captain, doesn't have a clock. They really are more trouble than they are worth, if people aren't complaining about the noise they are complaining about them telling the wrong time.

Mcr Warrior · 30 Mar 2024

Don't the bells of most (automatically operated?) church clocks stop chiming when overnight (after, say, 10 p.m.)?

52290 · 30 Mar 2024

Mcr Warrior said:
Don't the bells of most (automatically operated?) church clocks stop chiming when overnight (after, say, 10 p.m.)?

They can be,and most are, set not to ring during the night. When we ring for services we pull the chime hammers clear of the bells using a special rope. If we don't pull them back on after ringing then the clock will stay silent.

northwichcat · 30 Mar 2024

Buzby said:
You would think that… but I’ve lost count of the media stories of dwellers complaining about church bells, flights taking off/landing all sorts of annoyances that were all in place before their arrival!

You have the right to complain to changes though. For example, if a little branch line with 15 services per day gets upgraded to a mainline with 70 services, or if an airport gets new terminals or runways added, or if a church decides to start using their bells to ring out every hour, instead of ringing them just ahead of services.

J-2739 · 30 Mar 2024

northwichcat said:
You have the right to complain to changes though. For example, if a little branch line with 15 services per day gets upgraded to a mainline with 70 services, or if an airport gets new terminals or runways added, or if a church decides to start using their bells to ring out every hour, instead of ringing them just ahead of services.

But is it really reasonable to believe that something like a railway line will not undergo such changes during its lifespan? Do these people expect for these infrastructures to remain in stasis?

Trackman · 30 Mar 2024

I know someone who lives on a main road near a set of traffic lights and there is a hospital/ambulance station nearby. Years back they changed their policy of use of sirens during the night when approaching the traffic lights, so it woke all his family up. The double glazing didn't help.
Anyway, everyone in the area became really annoyed with this, so the local council/MP became involved. In the end it was overturned and things returned to normal. Say he hears very short blasts now and again if the junction is not clear.

WAB · 30 Mar 2024

Mcr Warrior said:
Don't the bells of most (automatically operated?) church clocks stop chiming when overnight (after, say, 10 p.m.)?

Depends. It will generally require alterations to the original mechanism, which many churches have stumped up for but some haven't (or refused to).

northwichcat · 30 Mar 2024

J-2739 said:
But is it really reasonable to believe that something like a railway line will not undergo such changes during its lifespan? Do these people expect for these infrastructures to remain in stasis?

I would say if you had purchased a house near Stone station when there was no service, it would not be unreasonable to think a service would be introduced, nor would it be unreasonable to think it might be used as a diversionary route. However, if you think it would be acceptable for it to become the main route for Avanti services without any consultation with local residents, then you're being unreasonable.

DunsBus · 30 Mar 2024

When the Binns clock in Edinburgh's West End was installed in 1960, it played the Westminster chimes every quarter hour, Scotland the Brave at seven minutes past the hour and Caller Herrin' at twenty-three minutes to the hour.
Soon afterwards the city fathers were bombarded with letters of complaint from nearby businesses asking for the clock to be silenced, as the chimes and tunes were putting people off their work. Whether or not a letter was actually sent to Binns ordering the clock to fall silent I'm not sure but I do know that businesses had a lot of clout in Edinburgh back then and they could be very vociferous.
(The clock did eventually fall silent but this was due to a lack of maintenance - it was restored a few years ago to full working order, though it doesn't play the chimes and tunes overnight.)

DM352 · 3 Apr 2024

Remember the new squeezed houses up at Streethay when Class 115/6 terminated north of LTV cross city and people complaining that the dmus had loud engines in the newspaper letters to the editor.

After electrification, it went to class 310's blasting their high pitch weird horns at crossing that sounded like something was stuck in the horn funnel. Less complaints then as LTV went to one platform and Streethay freight and diversions.

Rather listen to loud trains than neighbours loud cars with bass music!

paninaro · 3 Apr 2024

Mr. SW said:
I was brought up in a house on a main road with three bus routes and opposite three schools. It was also under the flightpath to Heathrow. When a Concorde or Trident flew over, the whole building used to shudder. When the road and airport was quiet you could hear motorbikes racing each other down the M4 at over 100mph. And when it was really quiet, you could hear the Piccadilly line and Class 50s on the GWML. Very distinctive engine noise. And there were church bells, both from the CofE Parish Church and the RC Church further down the road. You could smell aviation spirit in the air.

Sounds like you were brought up near me (Heston). Our back garden was literally 100m from the M4 so the strangest day was when the motorway was shut due to an accident and the omnipresent traffic rumble was absent. I knew something was different but it took ages to put me finger on it.

And then a Trident probably screeched overhead.

Sun Chariot · 3 Apr 2024

paninaro said:
And then a Trident probably screeched overhead.

Golly, it all happens in Heston...

The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile, equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV)

SargeNpton · 3 Apr 2024

And in Edinburgh...

MSN

www.msn.com

Urgent intervention to stop 'health and safety killjoys' silencing historic gun salute from Edinburgh Castle

The Defence Secretary has intervened to stop "health and safety killjoys" from silencing Edinburgh Castle's historic One O'clock Gun.

The last firing of the artillery piece was scheduled for 1pm on Easter Saturday, following concerns about the noise from the 155mm field gun.

A safety notice was issued after initial noise trials were conducted by the Army Environmental Noise Team – in keeping with health and safety guidance.

Historic Environment Scotland, who manage crowds at the Castle, had concerns about handling the number of people who would be there to watch the firing, particularly from Easter onwards.

In December, the cordon distance for the public watching the gun was increased, and ear defenders were also made available.
But recent health and safety tests suggested those distances needed to be increased further.

An MoD source said: “The one o’clock gun has been fired for more than 160 years without complaint and health and safety killjoys are trying to bring it to an end.

“This level of risk avoidance is ludicrous. Yes, keep people at a safe distance and make sure young children are ok, but this is truly health and safety gone mad."

PeterC · 3 Apr 2024

SargeNpton said:
And in Edinburgh...

MSN

www.msn.com

This wasn't published on Monday by any chance?

SargeNpton · 3 Apr 2024

PeterC said:
This wasn't published on Monday by any chance?

It was, but as it has been printed in several different newspapers, either they have all fallen for a joke or it's real.

Mr. SW · 3 Apr 2024

Sun Chariot said:
The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile, equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV)

Actually a less-destructive sort of Trident.

Sun Chariot · 3 Apr 2024

Mr. SW said:
Actually a less-destructive sort of Trident.

I rather hoped it was the Hawker Siddeley sort...

GRALISTAIR · 4 Apr 2024

Xenophon PCDGS said:
When wishing by buy a property, having paid the solicitor acting on your behalf to make a full survey, you would expect that the researches carried out during that survey would have brought matters appertaining to noise that would detrimentally affect the prospective property purchaser to their attention, which could then give the purchaser the chance to seek another property away from the noise pollution.

Indeed!

High Dyke · 4 Apr 2024

I grew up living not far off the A1, so you learnt not to be bothered by any traffic noise. I'm now living about a quarter of a mile from the East Coast Main Line, and working on the railway don't think of trains as noise nuisance. I've also lived a few hundred yards from the Parish Church. Again no issues from me.

I recall a couple of stories about train noise though. One local resident complained to the papers that "they were told trains didn't run passed their house overnight." The other tale was of a chap doing a self build house near to the railway. After a couple of years of construction, with trains passing frequently, he then decided to complain how noisy it was.

Jimini · 4 Apr 2024

This led to the well-documented demise of one of Reading's most popular nightclubs -- The After Dark. Long story short: new flats built nearby > new residents complain about the noise coming from a nightclub that's been there for decades > nightclub has to shut down after council intervention.

Sad times.

Clubbers reveal sadness over Reading After Dark club closure
The club has had to close after failing to overturn a decision to take its licence away over noise complaints

Clubbers across Reading have revealed their sadness over the closure of the legendary After Dark nightclub.

The much-loved club will stay closed after its owners failed to overturn a decision by Reading Borough Council to remove its licence over noise complaints.

Hidden away in a tiny alley off London Street, the rumour in Reading was you could only ever find it if you were a good few drinks into the night.

The old-school club was famous in the 80s, 90s and 00s for its sweaty walls and sticky floors, giving revellers a memorable experience and some brilliant nights out over the years.

But now those are over, with the club's future very much uncertain.

The owners have yet to confirm their plans, but there have been a number of planning applications to convert the building into flats in the past - none of which have been met with much enthusiasm by the council.

For the club to get a new licence and reopen the owners would have to convince the council a lot had been done to soundproof the building.

The complaints from neighbours previously said the music was so loud they could identify the songs being played.

While the building's future is up in the air, it is clear the club holds a place in the hearts of many people around Reading.

Owner Zee Khan has previously told BerkshireLive he knows of a number of married couples who met in the club.

People buying houses with associated noise (churches, railways etc) and then complaining about the noise?

Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Member

Member

Established Member

Attachments

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Clubbers reveal sadness over Reading After Dark club closure​

Clubbers reveal sadness over Reading After Dark club closure