Those who live in the country will often claim that they could not stand to stay in London because of 'all that noise'. But for a town mouse, the cockerel crowing at dawn, the cacophony of the dogs every time someone comes to the door, the roar of the combine harvester and the incessant chirruping of birds before breakfast is more disruptive than a collective of emergency vehicles responding to a call.
So I was delighted to hear about a £1 million, three-year research project to build a database of noises that improve the environment, to help architects create cities that will be music to the inhabitants' ears. Good noise, apparently, includes the obvious (a baby laughing) and the far out (skateboarders in underground car parks). I have always found the swish of cars passing in the night rather comforting, and the music of ice-cream vans makes me feel wonderfully grown-up now that I no longer need to rush out and buy a '99' every time I hear it. At least in town you expect to hear noise, so it's never particularly disturbing; but in the country, one is all too alert to things that go bump in the night. Boo!
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You can’t always rely on the Great British summer — but you can rely on its watchesBritish watchmakers have excelled themselves in recent months — releasing bright and beautiful timepieces that you'll want on your wrist through summer, and beyond.
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Simon Jenkins: 50 years of saving Britain's buildings, from triumphs and disasters to the great country house we bought for £1In 1975, a new organisation was set up with the express aim of saving Britain's most beautiful and historic buildings from the wrecking ball. How has SAVE fared in the 50 years since then far? Simon Jenkins — who was involved as a trustee right from the very start — looks back on half a century of successes... and one or two painful failures.
