Row over church bells in North Somerset takes its toll
A COUPLE whose complaint silenced the church clock in a North Somerset village say they are "maintaining a dignified silence" over the matter.
A complaint made by Wrington residents Jonathan Apps and his partner Christina Hallett led to the chimes being disabled on the timepiece at nearby All Saints Church. They complained the chimes – which rang every 15 minutes around the clock – were disturbing them at night. Yesterday the Post revealed that North Somerset Council had served an abatement notice on the church's rector Nicholas Maddock, asking him to stop the clock bell chiming between 11pm and 7am.
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All Saints Church in Wrington
Because the chimes are run on an automated system and cannot be turned off at night, church leaders had no choice but to silence them altogether.
Last night, Mr Apps said: "We are in touch with the church authorities and other than that we are maintaining a dignified silence."
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Church officials now have until May 11 to lodge an appeal against the notice at North Somerset Magistrates' Court.
John Ledbury, churchwarden at All Saints Church, said: "An appeal is to be lodged against the noise abatement notice.
"We have held discussions which have centred on the correct way of going about this."
We have been asked to make it clear that it was not the bell which was silenced but in fact the church clock chimes. At the time of our story, it had not been possible to turn off the chimes for specific hours but a few days later this was done so the clock now chimes during the day but not at night. The complainants say others had complained directly to the church before they did, and that they themselves raised the matter with the church before the council issued the abatement order. We are happy to clarify these points.




Comments
by Excalibur12
Friday, May 04 2012, 11:11AM
“still no answer to the question.. just petty name calling.
I have just been on the wrington website to see the bells are back on, it seems like it was possible to switch them off between 11-7 after all... there's a surprise!
My guess is being as it is a new mechanism/software the church knew this all along, but switching them off completely gave the church and the warden it's nationwide 'victim' mentality and 5 minutes of fame.
Time to move on. i'm scanning the internet for the next Daily Mail readership instance of over reactionary comment. Power to the little man.”
by mr_b_collins
Monday, April 30 2012, 10:05PM
“@excalibur12
"this is after all an anonymous faceless response board of which you take full advantage of"
and thats the name you were born with it? You preach about faceless response board which you say i take full advantage of, and yet you hide behind some different name. And here i am using my real name.
Now, who's hiding? Dont try to be clever, you will need the brain cells for another time.
@commenter42
""You can always tell when someone has lost an argument by the way they can only insult anyone with a different point of view."
nice to see you admit you lost any argument you ever had. You wrote something and didnt read the article, and made yourself looks stupid not me. I merely pointed that fact out.”
by Excalibur12
Monday, April 30 2012, 7:09PM
“@roly1234&5.
You can imply I am something or someone that I clearly am not, you can make up your nonsensical paradoxes as much as you like in trying to detract from your very limp argument.
So, one more time just for you, even though it has been asked a few times by other posters and ignored, here goes..
Church bells, 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am etc.. Every 15 minutes etc.. Simple question.. Why?”
by CurtisHewitt
Monday, April 30 2012, 4:48PM
“@Excalibur12 "For all any of us know, these people maybe more 'village' than the villagers."
In Wrington? Unlikely.”
by roly12345
Monday, April 30 2012, 4:43PM
“stop it moose my sides are splitting, oh I think I might have wet myself, you really are the funniest little creature I have had the pleasure of.
Pleases ignore my comments from earlier as I never realised this forum was for amusement purposes only.”
by smoosername
Monday, April 30 2012, 4:35PM
“No apology needed roly12345, but that might explain why people were so keen to get out of YOUR village so quick.”
by roly12345
Monday, April 30 2012, 4:32PM
“Sorry moose, if all my friends and neighbours clubbed together, we would still spend the money on a statue to your great self.
After all when the local toilets got closed we had nowhere to go.”
by roly12345
Monday, April 30 2012, 4:13PM
“@Excalibur12
Suggesting there may be more to this story than is being told, tends to imply you know more and therefore are closer to the story.
If on the other hand you are just making facile points about things that are completely unsubstantiated, then you are just trolling.
So they lived and worked in London, but they could originally be from a small village that banned church bells back in the forties and forced everyone into the labour camps of London to toil until they had enough money to go and visit death by retirement on all English villages.
Utter twaddle.
and besides, after several years of living and working in London, I'd say they were from London, unless they would prefer to cling to their faded roots in which case, what are they doing in someone else's green and pleasant bit of England?
Just because I can afford to buy something, it doesn't give me the right to set about destroying it.”
by smoosername
Monday, April 30 2012, 3:51PM
“@roly12345 - "But no, that is just fantasy, the property will sell to ignorant city folk"
Maybe you should have a word with your friends/relatives/neighbours and ask them to stop cashing in on owning a village property?”
by Morrissey9
Monday, April 30 2012, 3:49PM
“The funny thing is, the Church aren't being very Christian, welcoming and neighbourly in all this!”