The search for silence

Ariadne I like the sound of seagulls but I supose you can have too much of even a good thing!I also like clocks ticking and chiming [although we do not own any like this.]I live next to a country church, but there are only bells on Sunday morning [twice] which make visitors jump, but we are used to.Sometimes bell ringing practise, but only about once a month.Lots of cawing rooks around the tall trees that ring the churchyard though.I think that all humans need a bit of silence now and again.

We don't have TV or radio on, and music only when we want to sit and listen. But we have clocks, and I love the ticking (not in the bedroom, however)
That is the only sound I need. (The seagulls drive me mad in the mornings.)

My grandfather's long case clock is in the hall, and it is a slow, measured tick. The Westminster chimes are off, however..in here there are five clocks of various ages, and one little French clock has the busiest tick ever. But I can still hear the grandfather clock in the hall.

(Theseus is a clock addict, BTW - there are also six fob watches on the bookcase behind me!)

We never had TV when I was a child- and I think teaching made me adverse to noise. When I am on my own at home, I never put TV or radio on- and just like silence + birds, cow bells and the odd tractor! OH had TV as a child, and he would have TV or radio on all the time.

I love the sound of silence and am very intolerant of other peoples' noise. Sadly, like Mollie I can't have complete silence due to 3 different tinnitus sounds which plague me day and night - but I love lying in bed and hearing the wind through the trees and the sound of the waves lapping on the beach 100 yards away. The general hum of everyday life - cars, chatter, the odd aircraft overhead and children playing deadens some of my own internal sounds and is welcome and as Holly says, a visit to a big town or city soon puts one's perception of silence into perspective.

I too love silence. I certainly find it on Skomer when the visitors have gone. There are thousands of sea birds, yes but I think it is all relative. Also the Outer Hebrides can be a wonderfully silent place to be.

Even my back garden on the outskirts of a town can be silent, until the flippin' dogs next door get a whiff of me in my swing chair. Just bird songs and the occasional passing plane.

I love the sound of silence and calm.. I can cope with noise in small doses but hate loud music ( in any setting) Couldn't live in a big town / city. I will often turn the radio on during the day if I am on my own but after 20 - 30 mins I turn it off again. In the middle of a crowd ( even a happy family one) I will sometimes have to find myself a quiet corner to refresh. Even after 37 years of marriage my DH is always surprised to find me sitting knitting ,sewing or reading in peaceful bliss.

I was just thinking how quiet it is sitting here in a hamlet in Bavaria, snow falling outside when I found this thread. The silence is only broken by sounds of GS singing & playing & the church bells next door which ring every quarter of an hour. I no longer hear them at night or at the 6am peel. A hearing problem means I miss a lot of birdsong but I hate all the noises I hear with aids. But there is nothing like the peace & quiet, heightened by the contrast, when you leave the main streets of London & go into the many pockets of silence found there - the Inns of court, the ruined churchyards & one I found recently - the foyer of the Embankment entrance to Somerset House (with sofas).

Yes, I love to feel the vibes of the bells too. And the Tibethan used to caress bowls with a wooden peg to create those sounds and vibes- to heal.

But still, I'd rather not have them between 10.00pm and 7 am- and savour them the rest of the time

Cow bells are lovely in the distance at night and very soothing

When I was at boarding school, my dormitory faced Lichfield cathedral. I loved the bells, still do. Occasionally we would go right up into the bell chamber when they were ringing. Heavenly! You could feel as well as hear them.

Living alone in the countryside, near Dartmoor, is wonderfully silent.
I hate too much noise now, it seems to get right inside my head.

Thanks- I suppose the more cases won, the more weight do new requests for bells to be silenced AT NIGHT. I shall be there very soon, and I think I will pop in for a chat whilst there. Very supportive and positive re tradition and bells, but at the same time questioning the value of bells ringing 173 times after 10 and before 7- and the long string of single bells at 8am on Sunday- which for people who work all weekand want a well deserved lie-in- a real pain. See how it goes- will report back.

I'll see if I can find anything out Granjura - it may take time.

strangely enough we now live right behind a Swiss Church- bells ring at 12 for lunch, at 10pm for curfew- on Thurs evening at 7pm to tell us it is the Sabath coming- and for very occasional funerals and weddings- but the hours and quarters were silence a very long time ago- when people started to own clocks and watches (we live in Watch Valley after all).

nfkDumpling, I have not asked personally, but I know others who own houses and apartments near us have- and were told 'bells were here before you- tough'. Would love to hear more by pm on how your village managed to get bells silenced at night. For me, no need to stop at 7, but anytime after 10 till 7- and to stop the long string of single bells at 8am for matins on Sunday (the normal service being at 10.30) - thanks.

granjura I sympathise! Our daughter moved to a village where the church clock has the same format. We live next to a church, so are quite used to bells on Sundays and on practice days. The clock in daughters village sounds lovely during the day, but I agree....all night long? very annoying!

Have you asked them to turn them off at night? Our church has a peel of eight bells. Practice night - two hours every Tuesday, Sunday morning service - half an hour-ish from 9.30, visiting ringers - usually very good - on the odd Saturday and one or two quarter peels on special days throughout the year. The clock, like yours strikes the hours and quarters, and since it's mechanical, the bells are turned off between seven in the evening through to seven next morning.

Nfk

Found it thanks. Ashwell in Herts.

Strange thing is, when only discovered the noise of the bells at night after we had bought the place. We lived near or next to 3 different Churches, one in London, in Putney area, and 2 in East Leics- and neither of them had bells ringing at any other time but special occasions. We therefore never ever suspected that the Church near the small market town centre where we bought our flat- would have bells ringing about 400 times a day + bell ringing practice for 1 or 2 hours per week. As said, I really don't mind during the day, and I quite like the bell ringing practice- although it is VERY repetitive and VERY loud- but can't see the point of bells ringing all night- as said, each quarter is 4 bells and cumulate... so 4, then 4 + 4, and 4 + 4 + 4 and for the hour 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + the hour- so midnight = 28 bells, as loud as Big Ben. It is just too much.

I remember bell ringers somewhere being ordered to stop - but I think they were allowed to resume on appeal ! (sorry!)

mollie, can you remember where it was (that bells were silenced after complaints)? Thanks

No, we can't stay somewhere else because we own the apartment (our daughter lives in it)- I am not against the bells, like them during the day- but think they serve no purpose during the night, between 10 and 7 (173 bells during that time only) and that a long string of single bells at 8am on a Sunday, is just too much- and impacts too much on those who live in the town itself. I am all in favour of tradition, but there is a limit if it does impair the quality of life of others. We have double glazing- but I just can't stand sleeping with windows closed. And I am a staunch atheist

We moved to West Sussex four years ago for the peace and quiet. Now Gatwick is running a new flightpath trial - for six months! So, every two minutes (literally) we have planes flying overhead, having just taken off, so they're relatively low There was no warning, apparently they don't have to notify anyone or have consultations as it's a trial. Think we all know where the 'trial' is heading . . . . . I know I sound like a Nimby, but we naively thought we were far enough away from the airport to be safe! So disappointed, especially as we moved from a 'burb, which was busy and noisy!

All we heard when we moved here were birds from the nature reserve and the occasional car, plus very quiet distant planes!

Although we live in an inner city, our area is lovely and quiet. We are not overlooked at the back and when we sit in the garden in the summer the only sounds we hear are birds, ducks (we have a canal at the back of our garden) and the occasional chugging (if that's the right word) of a narrowboat as it goes by.

Think yourself lucky that you're only a visitor, Granjura. Can't you stay elsewhere too? Sorry that it bothers you but you have a choice. I'm with the locals who have kept the bells over the years. I often see in-comers complaining and having church bells silenced - there was a case in the news just two weeks ago, just one complaint by newcomers and the bells stopped after hundreds of year - and I think it's a shame.