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AIBU

Noise on a Sunday

(75 Posts)
Grammaretto Mon 05-Oct-20 08:01:59

It turned into a gorgeous sunny day yesterday but by 10am the peace was shattered by the noise of garden machinery. Not just the neighbours mowing the lawn which is acceptable, but commercial "landscapers" and builders at work.
AIBU to want Sunday to be a bit different to the rest of the week?

NotSpaghetti Mon 05-Oct-20 08:04:30

I have given up on this Grammaretto. Sunday trading was a turning point in my area.

LullyDully Mon 05-Oct-20 08:12:38

No noise here in Hampshire yesterday. Just the ceaseless rain.

Puzzler61 Mon 05-Oct-20 08:14:01

We live one mile from a Shooting Club and the whole weekend can be spent hearing gun shots. There is no chance of it staying closed on Sundays unfortunately.

MamaCaz Mon 05-Oct-20 08:16:41

As a child, I didn't like Sundays, so personally I am happy for them to be more like other days of the week, regardless of the extra noise.

Bellasnana Mon 05-Oct-20 08:17:47

Same here in Malta, although construction noise is only permitted until noon. I’m used to it now!

Maggiemaybe Mon 05-Oct-20 08:18:08

I haven’t noticed any noisy businesses working round here on a Sunday, unless it’s essential work. As you say, younger neighbours have to do their lawns, etc, at the weekend, so they’re rarely peaceful. I’m just so grateful that we can have our quiet times when they’re all out at work. smile

Grammaretto Mon 05-Oct-20 08:20:28

I have just learned that in some apartment blocks in Switzerland it is illegal to flush the toilet after 10pm! OK I guess that is extreme but one of the best things about lockdown at the start was the lack of noise. Otters have come back to our city centre ponds and waterways, and not having the drone of aeroplanes was a bonus.
Now we have even more traffic as nobody can car share and many are still avoiding public transport.

Grandma70s Mon 05-Oct-20 08:20:46

I do sympathise about the noise of garden machinery. Do people really need to do so much strimming? Lawn mowers I accept, but nothing else is really necessary. My father cut hedges with garden shears.

sodapop Mon 05-Oct-20 08:26:36

MamaCaz wonder if your childhood Sundays were as regulated as mine. Chapel morning and evening and Sunday school in the afternoon. No playing inside or out but I was allowed to read or go for a walk. Best clothes and always gloves for chapel.
Sorry to digress Grammaretto its usually quiet in our village most days, Sundays families often go for a walk round the village and lanes, very sedate here.

YorkLady Mon 05-Oct-20 08:59:42

We often joke that our neighbours have a lawn mower tag team competition on Sundays. Just as one finishes, the next one starts up!!

JackyB Mon 05-Oct-20 09:08:02

It's illegal here in Germany. I'm not sure I'd want to move back to the UK unless to a very rural area. I wouldn't even dare vacuum on a Sunday with the windows open.

And, talking of windows, you aren't supposed to clean them on Sundays either. At least not to be seen doing it. It's not just making noise that is not allowed, it is work of any kind. They don't go as far as Denmark though, where even the Police have the weekends off. (Allegedly)

trustgone4sure Mon 05-Oct-20 09:18:26

Same here MamaCaz.
Iv`e never liked Sundays and with Covid everyday feels like a Sunday.

Hetty58 Mon 05-Oct-20 09:24:50

Grammaretto, people have to get their gardens done. Unfortunately, not many use a push mower like me! So, there are mowers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and power washers all making a racket.

Builders shouldn't work on Sundays but they often do. DIYers can work anytime, though. Environmental Health at our local council seem unconcerned about noise nuisances.

Gone are the days of quiet Sundays, with no traffic, shopping or people about - except for church or a stroll!

felice Mon 05-Oct-20 09:26:50

Same here JackyB, in fact a British friend commented yesterday how quiet it was on a Sunday.
Shops closed too and it always takes Brits a long time to understand that they cannot do their supermarket shopping on a Sunday.

Teetime Mon 05-Oct-20 09:35:44

Sunday morning pressure washers here and collective car cleaning. Drives DH mad he likes a quiet Sunday but I dont in fact I dread winter Sundays.

MrsRochester Mon 05-Oct-20 09:39:55

Much prefer the sound of garden machinery to the smell of BBQs, which pop up all around us after 10 minutes of sunshine. Yuk.

BlueBelle Mon 05-Oct-20 09:41:09

Oh crikey I like a bit of noise lets me know there’s still some life around me
Blimey I didnt realise Germany was that strict, very draconian I couldn’t bear to be told that I couldn’t mow my garden or vacuum my house on a Sunday that’s incredible

OceanMama Mon 05-Oct-20 09:57:28

I guess for those forced to work 6 days a week to make ends meet, Sunday might be the only chance they get to maintain their property.

My neighbours always disliked that I allowed my kids outside to play at 9.30am on Sunday. I thought that was a reasonable time.

MamaCaz Mon 05-Oct-20 10:02:55

sodapop
To be honest, no, my Sundays were not very regulated at all, but there was always something in the quietness that made me uneasy.
Also, once I was old enough to think ahead, I would get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach every time it occurred to me that I had to go to school (and later, work) the next day.
Just me, I know! sad

Like anyone else, I don't like excessive noise, but it doesn't bother me any more on a Sunday than it does on any other day.

Craftycat Mon 05-Oct-20 10:14:31

To be fair the weekend is the only time people working get to do their garden.
Now I am retired I can mow the lawn any time I like but I did do it at weekends when I was working. I don't see a difference between Saturday & Sunday. It has to be done sometime- at least they are not just leaving it.

Alioop Mon 05-Oct-20 10:19:28

I think with the weather now getting colder and wetter you have to grab any dry spell you can to get the garden sorted. Second day in N.Ireland of pouring rain, so another day stuck indoors. Give me lawnmower noise any day.

Phloembundle Mon 05-Oct-20 10:21:34

Hated Sundays all my life. Used to work them before retiring. Don't mind noise.

Maggiemaybe Mon 05-Oct-20 10:23:03

I wouldn't even dare vacuum on a Sunday with the windows open. And, talking of windows, you aren't supposed to clean them on Sundays either.

I’m reminiscing about my time in Germany now. Being ticked off by neighbours or having notes pushed under the door if you hung out your washing on a Sunday or flushed the toilet at 10pm or got the vac out during Ruhezeit (between 1pm and 3pm), whether the window was open or not. Once being woken up by a passer-by knocking at 8am because the rules said that we should have cleared the overnight snow from outside our door by then.

In those days the shops all closed for the weekend at noon sharp on Saturday, so they were absolutely heaving on a Saturday morning.

Bumpsy Mon 05-Oct-20 10:33:28

I think for those working, the only time they have is the weekends. But I remember as a child the lovely sound of a push lawnmower and shears - very English! Oh and smell of freshly cut grass!