Complaining about Village life?

[BumpkinChic]

I just don’t really get this.

I live in a rural village and almost every week we have someone complaining on the village online group about one thing or another… mostly over things that pretty much come along with rural village life. The top culprits are usually along the lines of:

”they haven’t told us they are going to spread manure and now I can’t open my windows because of the smell”

“church bells ringing at all hours”

“the internet speed is always so poor”

Why are you living rurally if you didn’t factor these things in? What is complaining on a Facebook groups supposed to do about manure? IMO a lot of these things are minor annoyances. I know not everyone has the choice of where to live but I know this is not the case for some of the regular moaners. And I know village life can sometimes be dreary but I love it and have always lived in small villages so I know I’m biased.

please enlighten me, I’m genuinely baffled.

Why are church bells ringing at all hours? Is bell ringing the only entertainment or social group?

I’ve lived in the countryside for 17 years. Each year around September I’ve noticed the smell of muck spreading. Never had a problem with it, and as one poster said on here “where do we think food comes from?”

HOWEVER, this season, the local farmer seems to be using a different type of fertiliser. It is so, so, so bad. I cannot describe how bad it smells. It makes me and my family gag, and there have been days were we have had to stay in. The CIA should use it in interrogations.

Lots of other people in the village have the same problem. It may because the high price of fertiliser post pandemic/ Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the farmer has substituted for something cheaper that is much less neighbour friendly.

Whilst appreciating farmers have to make a living, I do think we have a right to complain a bit about that

I think you'll find the bell ringers have other things to do during the day, such as working, childcare, etc. It's pretty common for clubs & societies to do things in the evening as that's when they have their free time, with the added advantage of going to the village pub afterwards (to help keep the pub open!!).

So they aren’t ringing at all hours then, just for a few hours in the evening.

We live in a village which is known (globally) for its Imperial War Museum…. which also has an active airfield and is renowned for its spectacular air shows. People move here and then complain about noisy aircraft and the dangers of air displays. Absolutely incredible (and also amazingly annoying!).

They ring the hour.

They need permission to shoot on your land. You needed to speak to them or they can have their gun license removed.

Actually shooting rights are a lot more complicated than that.

I would never dream of complaining about it but wow the fertiliser spreading smell has been horrendous in the past couple of years, really vile. Is it true that in some cases human excrement is being used? Certainly smells like it!

Yes, in some places the sewage companies will sell farmers a tanker load for the cost of delivery, and its liquid so its easy to spread.

Oh this sort of comment on our village FB group really ticks me off too.😡
My usual polite response is something along the lines of if you don’t like it get back to the town you came from, because it generally is from incomers who don’t have any idea about the countryside. Incomers who understand & respect the countryside, farmers & village life are very welcome.🙂

Thanks @theInebriati - if you don’t mind me asking is there a set time when this spreading happens or does it depend on wind /temperature? We would like to have a big outdoor party at the end of next August but don’t want to risk it coinciding with the overwhelming smell of poo in the air!

A lot of superior sneering going on here. Of course some people move into small villages and get a shock when they realise they local shop closes at 5, tractors are a regular occurrence on the roads and cows often moo during the night.
But likewise a lot of country folk move up to towns and get a shock when they realise that they have to change lanes pretty damn quick in rush hour traffic, yes they will have street lights outside their bedroom window during the night and no their kids can't run wild and free around their garden at all hours in a narrow terrace.

@Ontheclifftop I agree with you, a young couple new to our village got absolutely slammed for politely asking if there was any way the bell ringing practice could finish earlier than 10pm. They have young children, the practice is twice a week and the bells are extremely loud. Yes if you buy a house next to a church you should be prepared for bells but not necessarily at 10pm on weeknights.

I find the smell of human poo on the fields overwhelming and I would really appreciate some advance notice so I can go away for a day or two while it is at its worst.

I had a relative who moved from a country village to a city suburb. She bought a house right beside a parade of shops and was then amazed to discover that delivery vans arrive very early in the morning and that people chat and talk outside the chipper late at night.

I'd be tempted to wind them up by asking why they don't like the village opera house, sports bar or comedy club, then giving very confusing directions to the venue of their choice.

Your neighbouring farmer uses human poo?

😕

I also knew someone who was upset and indignant when she got an earful for just double parking her car in the high street while she ran into a shop. Apparently 'everyone did it' in her village.
Everyone has to learn to adapt when they move from an urban to a rural area, or vice versa.

It’s most likely bio-solids. Treated human poo. It’ll only smell for a few days, good for waste management and a cheap fertiliser for crops. Your poo needs to go somewhere!

I live in a rural village and almost every week we have someone complaining on the village online group about one thing or another… mostly over things that pretty much come along with rural village life.

As someone who grew up in a village and then lived in another one for a good few years, it strikes me that complaining about random trivial aspects of village life is, and always has been, an inherent part of village life. So are you not perhaps doing the same thing?

It's like finding a common enemy to bond over it. Like complaining about the weather, the potholes, pints are so expensive nowadays, kids used to play in the street, etc. I think it's a way of feeling they understand each other, that they are feeling and experiencing the same stuff, they belong to the same group. I do also think it can create a toxic culture, though, where people stop appreciating the good things that happen and focus only on the not so good ones. They need to turn the criticism into something constructive and positive. Like complaining about the state of the parks and making a Park Group to keep it clean, creating a newsletter or blog where the manure weeks are advertised, getting the local shop to offer a 20% off candles and room essences during those weeks, invest in some internet booster in the local cafés... Get initiatives rolling!

I think it could make a great sitcom. Like a British Schitt Creek.

Human poo makes very good fertilizer, apparently, if properly treated. Just as well otherwise places like North Korea with hardly any livestock animals would be even hungrier than they are at the moment...

I do think bonging bells at 10pm is a bit much. You'd think they'd want to ensure the farm workers are able to get a good night's sleep at least?

In America, large parts of the country are becoming uninsurable due to climate change amplifying the forest fire risk, yet people continue to push the envelope in terms of living in remote areas surrounded by huge, beautiful yet very very burnable forests.

I think a big mistake is when "introverts" decide they want to move to the countryside to practice their introversion and avoid being around people (since introversion became such a commonly acclaimed lifestyle statement in the last few years).

Bad idea. In a village, you need to get on with your neighbors because you may rely on them at times of need, and the more remote it is, the greater the need! Think of utility lines conking out, getting snowed in/flooded, fires and other disasters, when you are a long way from government help and state services. Or breaking your legs/having your car break down when there are no or very few bus services where you are - you'll need a friendly person to take you to essential stuff like hospital appointments.

The self-described introverts would be better off living in a bed town at the edge of a city, where buses and government help is always there when disaster strikes.

It really isn't a myth that the Tories are stopping housing being built; the UK builds very few houses indeed.

As I mentioned in a previous thread, you can insist on building on brownfield-only in towns if you like, BUT don't be fooled into thinking that it's a case of "Oh good, out of sight is out of mind, just bung them into the cities instead." Building large amounts of housing in urban areas and developing dense urban cores within cities has numerous advantages, but it will change the nature of cities in ways you may not be comfortable with, and rural dwellers will need to be prepared for this if that is what they choose.

Keeping the countryside expensive and exclusive will also cause a number of other issues, especially as countrydwellers continue to age and require more services and support.