Church bells thundering at 11.20 pm

[Poppywoppydoda]

AIBU to think it’s unreasonable to have church bells thundering at 11.20pm or have I just lost perspective as finally managed to get my DDs to sleep and they’ve now been woken up.

Just to be clear we live across from the church and the bells go every 15 mins all day every day and this doesn’t bother us. This was relentless really loud ringing which went on for 10 mins.

I love church bells. I was brought up always near a church and when I worked abroad for a few years at first paused hesitantly on street corners wondering what sound I was missing, it came to me it was church bells on the hour.

A lovely muslim lady used to play me azan (call to prayer) when I was in a state of distress. I loved that too.

I didn’t see anyone saying that particular Church building goes back 2000 years. But the Church, ie the community of believers worshipping Christ, does. I believe tower bells are a mere thousand years old or so as a tradition. And that particular Church has probably been there somewhere between 100 and 1500 years (having been rebuilt somewhat if it’s the latter!)

It's obviously a tradition to ring the bells in the church you live opposite. YABU.

It’s soul destroying to have small Dcs woken by load noise late at night. You have my sympathies. I was at midnight mass and there were no bells ringing, so it’s not compulsory is it.
You've had some bloody aggressive responses though and the sound of church bells (whilst irksome at such a late hour) is probably quite cheery compared with being bitched at for settling your own child to sleep or daring to mention late night noise at Christmas.

YABU. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Completely predictable noise late at night on one night a year, the most important year of the christian calendar and that

I’d have told the dc that the bells meant F.C. was in his way and they’d better go to sleep ASAP.

I LOVE church bells.

Ding Dong Merrily On High
In Heav’n The Bells Are Ringing ......

It's not conpulsory but it's a lovely joyous sound and a beautiful tradition that I hioe doesn't get lost in the desperate race not to offend anyone ever.

*hope

It is totally normal for churches to ring bells for midnight mass. Not mandatory, some don't - just like some don't have a clock which bongs on the hours.

To have a full peal, they will also have regular campanology practice. So although this one is later at night, it'll be happenening at odd times (including evenings) all year. It'll be part of the noise of home as far as your DDs are concerned.

But it's crap when your DC are still getting used to the noises around your home. But like residents in SW London and aeroplane noise when one comes over early. It's usually a familiar noise you screen out, but very now and again it gets you.

Yes I agree that it’s s joyous sound and personally I love ‘em.
But I can vividly remember those days of tiny DCs when I was sleep obsessed and even glaring at a police car racing past with sirens in case it woke my napping baby.
There’s no call for the mean tone of some of the responses

Good grief. Celebrating Christmas at Christmas. What a shocking idea. Let's just buy lots of shit that no-one wants instead.

They are unnecessary. PP have pointed out that it's one of the most important dates in the Christian calendar so I doubt if there was anyone within earshot of them sat at home watching telly wondering why there was so much xmas-related stuff on, when sudden they heard the bells and thought, "Oh shit it's Christmas eve, better hurry on down to the church".

Presuming youre celebrating Christmas Day today YABVU. It's once a year and the bells are part of the celebration of,the birth of Jesus.

Did you not think about this when you moved next to a church? They ring bells and at least once a year they have a midnight service.

I think yabvu and need your head examining for asking the question. And I am not a Christian.......

Ifailed Bells aren't just a call to a service, they are a sign of joy.

That's why they are rung after a wedding, as it's part of the celebration, not beforehand calling the congregation to witness.

Not every church has bells, it's not a requirement. But it's a normal widespread practice.

As it's so difficult to get a full bellringing team (there's a real shortage generally) especially for Midnight Mass (people may be away) then this must be a church with a considerable commitment to its bells.

I hope your DDs 'normalise' the noise soon. How do they manage when it is practice night?

Is it surprising that so many advocates of Christian tradition on this thread are being so very sarcastic and unpleasant? Hmm...

Quite what small children needing to be sleep in the middle of the night has to do with buying tat is unclear undercover

Evelyn - I am suggesting that it just might be a bit more enriching for DCs to hear the bells and understand the context than to be bombarded with plastic shit. The story of Christmas is an adventure whether you are Christian or not (I'm not), and a little bit of cultural relevance and understanding how different people feel about Christmas might be more beneficial than stuff. Children love midnight carol services and it's a shame OP didn't take them over to hear it as it's so close-by.

How very dare they put their church opposite the house you've been in for centuries?!? The inconsiderate bastards!

I'm 100% not an advocate of the Christian religion, but even I can see that it's absurd to buy or rent a house near a church with a belltower and complain about this.

I will be ringing our church bells for new year, having returned to bell-ringing after a 17 year gap - inspired by talk of hobbies on MN.

Oh - and my DD has just started learning.

sends earplugs to OP

Undercover we don't know how old the children are, nor whether they have been bought tat.

If they're very small they won't get anything out of being woken in the middle of the night and dragged to church. If they are 4+ and attend school they will have been thorough immersed in "the story of Christmas" there, and will be every year throughout primary at least. Not going to midnight mass won't lead them to not knowing the nativity story or have any influence on whether they want to be bought tat.

I was made to go to multiple church services (midnight mass and 9:30 church the next day, always) throughout my childhood. I did not love it.

thoroughly that was meant to say

The church was their well before you were, the bells signify an important event in the Christian calendar.

They aren't going to not ring the bells because 'children are asleep'

YABU.

Oh and Christingle too

Christingle just before Christmas, carol singling with a very tone deaf group of Jolly people and their reluctant sulky younger relatives, Midnight mass (always very cold inside the old stone church with the temperamental boiler, always well attended by the tone deaf who love to sing the high pitched "rounds" version of carols "Glorororororia" - keep going, only the small children, dogs and bats can hear you now.....), 9:30 church the next day...

Not joyful, just cold and sleepless and dreary and smug.

Perhaps the joyful Christmas atmosphere happens if you go to a cathedral service with hundreds of people there, not a cold village C of E church where the vicar drags the service out to punish those just there after the pub because they thought it would be atmospheric and uses the sermon to tell off the people who fail to turn up on regular Sundays...