Why???????

I want to light a bonfire to dispose of old papers....and one neighbour's washing has been out there for three days.....

I don't like my own washing smoked up so I am waiting!
BBQs stink.

We have had three weeks of next doors roof being replaced,struggling to get out through vans and skips and yesterday a pile of tiles appeared in the other neighbours front path. The first lot at least phoned and said the men had been told to park so we had access but on this side she is a thoroughly unpleasant piece of work. And no scaffolding! They are scrambling over the roof in a very third world way. Last summer houses below us were being built and because they were building on sand over an old river course it was the summer of the pile drivers. You couldn't just hear it you could feel it. I pity the people in London where they excavate basements.

sunseeker I understand you just wanted your bit of peace. hopefully next time you are out in the garden it will be a peaceful relaxing experience

Gosh I didn't realise how grumpy I've become

I would have an open fire given half a chance. They're worth the work.

It's very quiet around here and tbh the main problem is probably our chiminea which can be a bit smokey until it gets going.

I hate BBQs. People never have quiet ones. They invite guests....well I suppose I can't be that mean but then they all stand or sit around in the garden talking too loudly. Then the music starts. It's always rubbish. These outdoor parties then go on far into the night. So give me a bonfire any day. Unlike a BBQ it's quiet and doesn't last forever.

My doggie and me christened our garden yesterday with sitting out in if for the first time since landing here. Nice and bonny, radio on, tea in hand, doggie on chair with me, and then . . . smoke, billowing from a chimney! I thought when I open the window that I can smell smoke but I wasn't sure where it was coming from. Who on earth has an open fire these days, and the chimney seems like it is in the kitchen on the terraced houses further up???

I agree re the motorbike, why on earth start it 15 minutes before you leave?

We have a guy who keeps chickens and geese in an orchard at the back of our houses, and occasionally, he will light a hell of a bonfire - no warning, no consideration as to which way the wind is blowing, any time of day or evening. One or two if the neighbours have complained, but he seems oblivious to it. What really gets my goat, however, is the guy across the road who starts up his motorbike and then leaves it running seemingly forever, with the attendant noise and smell, before he actually goes anywhere on it. We don't argue with him though - he has a small tank (yes, I did say a tank ) under a tarpaulin outside his house!! If there is ever another war, we are all going to be especially nice to him - and his motorbike!

Whenever I smell a bonfire I get a pleasant feeling as it was one of my dear late Mum's favourite pastimes to make and light up a Bonny, as she called it. She did warn the neighbours so they could take in their washing.

I agree about BBQs that are lit with what smells like lighter fuel - disgusting.

Today, our neighbours decided to light a very smoky bonfire as well!An old Easter custom?!Luckily, by the time we wanted to sit outside, it had subsided, but it was a really hot day today, and one where friends often drop round, so a bit anti-social really to light a garden bonfire.

Sunseeker
Next time, ring me and come and sit in my peaceful courtyard, or the cooler back garden.

Any garden noise or building work is banned here on Sundays and holidays, so you are guaranteed one day of peace a week, unfortunately it doesn't stop the students next door and their truly awful guitar playing.!!!!

I don't think BBQs are just 'a fire' Grannyknot, at least not those ones you can get from garages etc.!

Ana they need to learn to chuck a handful of fresh rosemary on the fire, twigs and all. And who uses fuel to start a fire!?

We pinched a few blocks of peat when we went on holiday in Scotland last year (I know!) - I love the smell. We burn it in our chiminea.

I love making fires.

Bonfires are one thing, but I find the wafting smell of next door's barbeque horrible! I think it's the fuel rather than the food, but even so I'd rather a pleasant afternoon/evening in the garden wasn't spoilt by it. I have to go indoors and shut all the windows sometimes.

Mea culpa. We have a large garden at the bottom of a long very steep hill and do have bonfires, as do all our neighbours. We don't complain about theirs and they don't complain about ours. The council collects garden waste but we would have to get a wheely bin to the top road (as we do with rubbish bags). We try to do it when the wind is away from the houses but wind can change.

A bonfire has just appeared nearby and is wafting in through the open conservatory doors! Bit of bad luck really as there are only a couple of houses near us.

Consider yourselves lucky! The builders next door are not working this bank holiday. ( large extension doubling house size) How lovely we thought, a little bit of quiet.

Oh no! The people across the road have had jack hammers and diggers working since Friday demolishing their garage! I suppose their builders are working over a bank holiday to make extra cash!

It would have been nice to have been forewarned about it. I pity the immediate neighbours on each side.

Oh for a quite bonfire x

Grump away sunseeker
I'm the same about ruddy trampolines-they're ok in moderation but 6 hours of nonstop boing-ing and I could scream!
I'm hoping next door's teenagers have grown out of it....or I'll be a very grumpy old git this summer, the garden's too small to go and sit anywhere else.

Be as grumpy as you wish - you have good reason!

Generally there are few restrictions on the occasional bonfire. Having a bonfire in the evening will mean that the smoke does not rise and may cause more nuisance (this is due to the inversion layer)
Common sense should prevail, lighting a fire when the neighbors washing is out is not friendly.

Isn't it illegal to light garden fires before 7pm?