Do you live near a church with an hourly bell ring?

[weemouse]

Hi,
We are thinking about moving house and found a lovely property in a near by village. The house is around 300m from the church and I did hear the bell ring at around 4:00pm on a visit, so I'm assuming it's an hourly ring.

I've email the church contact to ask for a schedule of the bell ringing and wanted to ask for anyone's experience of living within hearing distance.

Did it annoy you at weekends, nights? Do you just get used to it and not really hear it through today's double glazing?

Any input appreciated, it's a lovely property and I don't want this to be a negative.
Thanks

I used to, and miss it!

@greensanatomy

I come from a Muslim country where we have prayers 5 times a day and every time I go there, it takes me about a week to not notice it anymore where I don't realise it's prayer time.

I adore the sound of call to prayer.

@ListeningQuietly

Odiham have been particularly annoying this week, something to do with flying at strange hours to calibrate the ATC iirc.

I said as much to my DH and he replied, how will we know they are being even more annoying.

All joking aside we don't really hear the 'nooks unless they are very low.

When I lived in London there was a tube line at the end of the garden and I damn near lost my mind in week one, week two I didn't hear them.

I used to live next to a goods line... you get used to noise that is usual and does not need a response.

Still better that when I first moved to London - where I lived and where I worked were both targets for IRA bombings.

You know it’s bad when you wake up to a bang, look at your other half and say ‘bomb? Aye bomb’ and roll over and go back to sleep.

Only if it's a good muezzin, surely, @MirandaMarple! Or a good recording? I was somewhere (I think in Turkey) once and the 'live' dawn call to prayer came from a minaret just under my window, and was incredibly beautiful. Until about the fourth day when it was someone different who sounded kind of like Bob Dylan's less tuneful cousin. Alas, my language skills didn't extend to 'Bring back the usual guy!'

I think Turkey takes the quality quite seriously, though -- there is, or used to be, an annual competition to find the best muezzin.

I lived near a village church for 7 years where the clock chimed every hour, plus the quarters. I got used to it very quickly, and missed it when I moved away.

I do and very rarely notice it. It's lovely to hear the Church bells ring on a Sunday and at weddings (and handy as it reminds me when I am running late and need to get to Church on a Sunday!)

Our local church also chimes the quarter-hours. It's jolly useful to keep track of time when I'm out gardening, but I honestly never notice it otherwise.

I used to, noticed it at first, then didn’t hear it unless it was pointed out! Preferred it to traffic noise (but got used to that too).

@Ovine

Only if it's a good muezzin, surely, *@MirandaMarple*! Or a good recording? I was somewhere (I think in Turkey) once and the 'live' dawn call to prayer came from a minaret just under my window, and was incredibly beautiful. Until about the fourth day when it was someone different who sounded kind of like Bob Dylan's less tuneful cousin. Alas, my language skills didn't extend to 'Bring back the usual guy!'

I think Turkey takes the quality quite seriously, though -- there is, or used to be, an annual competition to find the best muezzin.

You know, I've never even considered whether the muezzin was any good?!

It's one of those sounds that when I hear it makes me realise I am probably in a beautiful part of the would.

We were on holiday next to a church that had two bells, different tones. At quarter past it was bell 1, one ring, at half past it was bell 1 two rings, at quarter two it was bell 1 three rings, on the hour it was bell 1 four rings, followed by bell 2 with the number of rings for the hour.

It was very hot so all windows open.

You can imagine our faces at midnight the first night!

By the end of day 2 we all thought it was cool that we always had a reminder every 15 minutes of what time it was. After the third day we stopped noticing it and just paid attention when we wanted to know what the time was.

It's the thing we remember most about the holiday. Tbh the apartment was a bit crap but we'd like to go back just because of the clock.

It's great so many of you live within hearing distance of bells, or flight paths and don't even notice it as time goes on.

Still awaiting a reply from the church, and my Neighbour said she will ask her friend who lives in that village also, how often they are ringing.

And just to make it clear again, it's my choice whether I live there or not, I'll certainly not move having known about it, and then moan later

Thanks all again, so very interesting all the replies.

We live fewer than 100m from a carillon, we have single glazing, and it's fine- you honestly just don't notice it.

Ours has a tune played each quarter hour, and then each hour is tolled. The quarter tune stops chiming between midnight and 7am, and there's just the hourly toll.
On Saturday, occasionally on Sunday, and on NYE a lovely man named Trevor comes and plays a variety of music- Bach, Abba, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Folk or hymn tunes, etc etc. The only niggle is that the quarterly mechanism is old and runs slow over a week, so loses time unless wound regularly. It's running 4 minutes slow today, grrrr.

The only time I notice the chimes is if we watch a film in the evening (because the background noise is quieter) and we have to pause at 10pm or 11pm because I can't hear the dialogue.

We previously lived on a square with a church that chimed quarterly hours (the tune from Big Ben, though I don't know its name) and tolled hours. We were about 40m from the tower and we genuinely rarely heard it. It just becomes part of the background.

Can't help wondering what's the point of chiming clocks if the people who live nearby 'can't hear it after a while', makes them pretty pointless?

Yes, we barely hear it through the windows, but love it in summer. You don’t notice it though generally after a week or so. Ours is hourly.

@Ifailed

Well, you do still hear it, it's just that you get used to it same as any regular background noise. You just arent always conscious of hearing it.

@BournvilleGreen I love that carillon (obvious which one cos of your name). You are so lucky!

We used to hear the church practise till we got double glazing - makes a BIG difference. I know it does chime but after so many years we don't hear it or the railway at all!

We live next door to the vicarage & church- so approx. 50mtrs. for the last 18yrs.

We honestly don't notice the church bell - which chimes every morning before service (bucket hit with a hammer type) not the full peals. Maybe notice if we are outside in the summer, but it never bothers us.

Grew up next to a church - didn’t notice it after awhile. Although my brothers bedroom was possibly more affected but only during bellringing practice! Love the sound when I visit my parents now

I grew up near village church with bells and have always lived within hearing distance, so it suits me well. Before moving here 5 years ago we popped into the farmshop (working farm in village centre), got chatting and will always remember what the farmer said - "if you don't like hearing a cock crow, my cows moo'ing, the church bells a-pealing or moan about tractor mud on the lanes, then this isn't the place for you". We are very happy in this village with a chiming church clock and regular pealing!

@swnewstart

Sounds like where i grew up i was used to all of these noises

But it meant as an adult living in other places i wasnt used to car doors closing, people talking outside, basically normal suburban noises and id always have to go look out the window to see what it was.