Less cowbell

For some of Aarwangen's new residents, the din proved too much.

Oh dear,how traumatic for them.
I would recommend that their neighbours adopt some chickens and a very noisy Cockerell ,just so they can experience the full 'living in the countryside' vibe. Possibly, with an Ass braying in the distance, to complete the set. 😆 🤣 😂

It is just an hour from Bern, Zurich, and Basel and is a lovely place to live for city workers who want some peace after the day job. Now, a growing number of new houses and apartments extend out from the village's original centre.

Oh, how lovely! Not much different to rural communities in my part of the world. Townies who moved into cottages near Castle Combe then started to throw their weight, and their money and lawyers around to get Castle Combe race circuit closed down. The fact that it had been there since just after WW2 was irrelevant, they moved to a nice, quiet corner of England, a major tourist attraction, and by God they were going to get their peace and quiet!
Sodding snobby townies didn’t get their way, the circuit owners just built a big dirt bund around it, which served two purposes - it cut back a lot of the noise, and gave spectators a wonderful view all around the circuit which they’d never had before!
The thing is, the whole area is full of well-off, horsey types as well, you don’t live in and around Castle Combe and local villages unless you either inherited a cottage, or bought one years ago when they were cheap, and many locals earn money from visitors to the circuit and the surrounding countryside, not the sort of people you want to piss off, ‘cos they’ve got good lawyers too! A close friend of mine has an 18th century farmhouse which is a restaurant, tearoom and hotel, and she gets guests staying for the race circuit, for Badminton horse trials, and lots of Japanese visitors as well, partly because of the association with Castle Combe and its history of films being made there as well as tv, but her own house featured in a Japanese animé - anyone threatening the livelihood of a great many locals is going to get a kicking. The other fact is that the area is largely farmland, and all that entails - lots of agriculture equipment everywhere, mud on the roads, noise, smells… They might as well stay in the cities, at least there’s lots of local shops and public transport…

In Birmingham, we also get a lot of the same behaviour from residents who live near to a long established music venue in a new development.  Some have even got them closed down or get their licences changed to remove live entertainment.

I honestly cannot understand the behaviour.  Move to a location with noise - e.g. a sporting venue or local music venue and then complain about the noise levels.

Happens everywhere. Had the same issue with the Night & Day in Manchester.

Really it should be down to the developers to ensure adequate soundproofing…

Friend of the family is a big noise at the local Rugby Club.
Some arse moved opposite the ground then started moaning about the match day crowds, noise and light pollution.
You’d think that this
would be an indication of what happened on several weekends throughout the year.

Seem to recall from a friend connected with the watersports centre in Liverpool docks that someone moved into the apartments next to the marina and complained to the dock master about the noise of halyards clanking against masts. 

On the other hand, should noise pollution be allowed to continue just because its traditional, from the article it does sound like the bells no longer provide any useful purpose. 

Rules change, other forms of pollution are legislated against, I am not sure "hating" on townies is a sensible reaction to actually improving the living environment. Sometimes it takes an outsider with "big city ways" to point out that marrying your sister really shouldn't be acceptable.

I've always thought it was a bit cruel on the cows.  I know they aren't that bright but they are living, feeling creatures and having their entire life dominated by continuous clanging must impact on their ability to interact with their environment.  They can't have much hearing left.
As a way of keeping tabs on the herd when there were no other options, I think it could be justified, but just to provide some ambiance seems a bit out of order.

When I lived in North Bristol , London money started infiltrating the local area. Soon the No Airport at Filton started appearing in windows .
They also complained about the noise Concorde made when it came in and out.
Well, they got their way in the end 😞

I’ve always thought it was a bit cruel on the cows.

I was wondering about this while sitting on the chairlift, enjoying the tinkling from the alpine meadow below me a month or two ago.

Wikipedia suggests the cows may be suffering to some extent:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowbell#Animal_welfare_concerns

On one of my first Alps trips, I left my Gopro running on my handlebars as my bike took the empty chairlift in front of us. 

The soundtrack is quite evocative. 

It starts with lift queue boasts and bravado.  As we get to the front of the queue the music from the operator's radio gets louder. It's the chorus of - In the Army Now by Status Quo.  Slowly add in lift noises, the spin of a free hub and the scratch of the bike being loaded.  A muffled full face helmet "mercy mesure, cheers mate". Wind. GET out of BED..... tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. Almost silence. Just the swoosh of the air and a beautiful distant cow bell melody. 

I get why its iconic, but I do think it's cruel. The cows can't run away or put their fingers in their ears. They were stuck listening to all 47 minutes of that album.