House Noises
Posted: Wed 9 January, 2008 Filed under: Domestic 2 Comments »When we moved here, part of the reasoning was about reducing the noise levels around us. In Bracknell, we had constant background noise from overhead planes (the joys of being close to the Heathrow flightpath) as well as all the faff when it came to fireworks and the like.
In particular, the noise from the Jumbos going overhead used to stress out Hound – and the fireworks obviously did the same – but I like living in a quieter environment too.
In general, the place we moved to fulfils our requirements for it to be quieter. However, the thing we didn’t take into account (which I’m sure I’ve said about before) was the proximity of the village to the Stanford Training Area (STANTA) as well as the dual joys of USAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall airbases.
This week, for example, we appear to have an exercise going on at STANTA, which means theres been audible artillery fire during the day. This is the bit that is annoying – and admittedly it doesn’t happen often, but then nor is it super-rare – because while it doesn’t annoy me, it does stress Hound. It’s not quite at fireworks level, but she most certainly isn’t happy when the artillery sessions are going on.
Aircraft-wise, I again have no real issues with the regular overflights of the F-15 fighters from the USAF bases – and usually, neither does Hound. The difference in noise between the high-pitched whine of the Jumbos from Heathrow and the sheer roar of the F-15s is significant, because we notice more and more that Hound reacts to high-pitched noises, but not to lower ones. Weird, but true. We’d always thought it was about the noise reaching her before she could see the planes, but in the case of the F-15s the same is true. (or alternatively they’re going so damn fast that they’ve gone past before the sound hits – but that’s the same thing when it comes to being able to see what’s making the noise)
Mind you, with the artillery and the F-15 overflights, Hound is a bit stressed this week. It’s making life interesting. But then, when I look back at what life was like in Bracknell, the current place is still a massive improvement.
We are in the flightpath for Glasgow Airport, quite a few miles away (around 25) but it’s bang on where they start the airbrake flaps things, you know the big whoosh you get as the plane starts to slow for final descent.
It’s not that bad but took some getting used to at first, particularly as we didn’t know what it was at first!
Ollie is slowly getting used to the creaks and groans of our house, but aside from that there isn’t too much noise. Mind you, gale force winds last night probably gave him something to think about!
Animals, like humans, get used to things eventually.