Latest news with #churchbells
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
How the debate about Islam in Britain is playing out in planning rows over mosques
The joyful peal of church bells is cascading down from St Mary's belfry across the little Cumbrian town of Dalton-in-Furness. Pedestrians smile as the chimes resonate, filling the summer air. Whether they are regular churchgoers or not, to the locals it's a comforting sound, a familiar sound that represents continuity, constancy, community. 'The bells are tradition, they are part of what makes us British. If they start calling from that new mosque, it would be unacceptable,' says one elderly parishioner with a frown. 'I'm not racist, but everybody else round here feels the same.' And in truth, everybody in the town does say the same. The phrase 'I'm not racist, but…' is repeated like a mantra. From: 'I'm not racist, but I don't see why we need a mosque,' to 'I'm not racist, but why couldn't they just convert an existing building?', there is genuine puzzlement and unease over the construction of a three-storey mosque outside a town of some 7,000 souls without any large Muslim population. There has also been anger, much of it perpetrated online by outsiders. Last month, police attended protests and counter protests as opposing sides engaged in heated exchanges. It has been alleged that far-Right activists waving Union Jack [and Knights Templar] flags were bussed in for the occasion, lending credence to suggestions that Islamophobia was a major driver in the demonstration. At issue is the construction of the £2.5 million South Lakes Islamic Centre in Crooklands Brow, paid for by Muslim doctors at the General Hospital in Barrow-in-Furness who wanted to have a place for worship, the nearest mosque currently being 50 miles away in Lancaster. Westmorland and Furness council's Conservative deputy leader Matt Brereton has defended the decision, pointing out said there is a 'sizeable Islamic faith community' in the wider Furness area. 'I don't really see there should be an issue in terms of them having somewhere they can celebrate their faith,' he told the media. He may not have wanted to acknowledge it, but the truth is that Durton-in-Furness is not the only flashpoint. News headlines tell the same story. In Leicester: 'Beloved former pub to be converted into mosque despite local opposition.' In Essex: 'Fury in Romford over new mosque plans ('We already have one, we don't need one on every corner'), and in North Yorkshire ('Anonymous letters sent to residents to oppose plans for the first mosque in Harrogate'). It's hard to escape the conclusion that these rows over bricks and mortar are fast becoming a proxy for debate about the growth of Islam and the expansion of multiculturalism in modern Britain. Official figures from the website show there are 1,884 mosques in the UK, up from 1,640 in 2015. Although there's evidence of a Muslim presence in Britain as far back as the 16th century, the first purpose-built mosque in Britain was opened in 1889; earlier Muslim communities worshipped more informally. There's a long tradition of remodelling disused churches and other buildings. As the number of Muslims increases it seems likely there will be greater demand for additional, dedicated places of worship. According to the 2021 census, there were 3.8 million Muslims living in England, or 6.7 per cent of the population, up from 4.9 per cent in 2011. 'I don't think it's reasonable to object to the building of a new mosque,' is the verdict of Lord Goodman of Wycombe, Conservative peer and former MP for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has a sizeable ethnic minority population, rising as high as 50 per cent in some areas. 'What is reasonable is to be concerned about what happens in a tiny minority of existing mosques.' His words raise a crucial question: is it fair or even accurate to denounce anyone who raises objections as a racist? According to Shahed Saleem, senior lecturer in the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster, and author of The British Mosque: An Architectural and Social History, the answer is a resounding 'no'. 'There's nothing inherently racist about local people in the Lake District voicing their opposition to proposals for a new mosque,' says Saleem, who co-curated the V&A Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2021. 'But the emphasis is very much on 'local'. If someone in Wolverhampton starts saying 'I don't want a mosque in the Lake District', that is racism.' Saleem points to 'myriad reasons' why anyone might be unhappy about a new mosque in their area. 'It could be parking, the fact they don't want a religious building of any sort, or the potential noise,' he says. 'People are always going to be concerned about change in their neighbourhood and how anything new will impact them, be it a mosque or a supermarket, and you have to give them the benefit of the doubt that this is where their concerns are coming from.' Certainly everyone I spoke to in Dalton-in-Furness seemed far more exercised about parking than anything else, and despite one woman's consternation at the prospect of an imam calling his congregation to prayer, the planned mosque doesn't have a minaret. But misinformation goes hand in hand with campaigns orchestrated elsewhere. 'Unfortunately, planning permission for mosques have become a lightning rod around which racist and far-Right activists coalesce,' says Saleem. 'People already resistant to the building for practical reasons can get manipulated into joining forces with Islamophobes.' Objections to building Islamic places of worship in Britain, Europe and beyond are now so commonplace that the emerging phenomenon has been dubbed 'mosquephobia'. It was first identified by visiting academic Professor Ali Alraouf at an event held in University College London. He defined it as 'a rejection and resistance… to the dominating image of the mosque' in British towns and cities. In short, local objections are primarily against the building itself rather than its congregation. Follow-up research shows that once the mosque is up and running, public antipathy fizzles out. But not everyone agrees that there's an even playing field in the first place. I spoke to several dissenting expert voices who aired very different opinions – on condition they remained anonymous. 'There is two-tier engagement at work in Britain among the local authorities,' one told me. 'The police and councils go to great lengths to engage with Muslim community leaders,' another said. 'Christian churches aren't viewed in the same way. There is a distinct bias at work.' That is certainly a topic touched upon by local people. 'I worry about this country,' says Carol Lacey, 71, a grandmother of three. 'I'm really not a racist, but seeing mosques being built I think sends out the wrong message to illegal immigrants in small boats. What sort of a Britain will my grandchildren grow up in?' Another expert I spoke to claimed that double standards have also been adopted by planning departments across the country. 'When any sort of planning proposal is submitted for a mosque, it feels very much as though the council will bend over backwards to accommodate them,' this expert told me. 'As a result, local people are looking at their community and seeing changes they didn't ask for and didn't vote for and weren't properly consulted over, yet they are afraid to speak out for fear of being branded Islamophobic.' On the face of it, it's understandable why Islamic buildings, and most specifically minarets, would arouse strong feelings in a nation of cathedral spires and church towers. The acceptance of minorities who have other religious practices is largely predicated on them not altering the physical landscape. 'When I moved [here], one of my reasons for selecting the area was that it was a pleasant, quiet, typically turn-of-the-century residential area. Architecturally, the locality, including the church… forms a consistent whole, with buildings of characteristic and pleasing proportions. I feel that the introduction of a minaret would be completely out of character as to be a serious detriment to the area. 'I can believe, and accept freely, that there is a need for a place of worship such as the mosque in this area, but feel that a minaret is not an essential adjunct to such worship.' When was this objection lodged to a mosque in Wimbledon, in south London? Way back in 1977, almost five decades ago. No figures are available from that period, but in 1983 the British Social Attitudes Survey indicated that around 68 per cent of the population identified as Christian. But can Britain really consider itself Christian in the 21st century? Looking at the data from the Office for National Statistics, the 2021 census revealed that Christians now account for less than half of England and Wales' population. Just 46.2 per cent of the population (27.5 million people) described themselves as 'Christian' in 2021, marking a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3 per cent (33.3 million people) in 2011. 'People in Britain are resigned to the slow decline of our traditional religion into irrelevance – young people just aren't interested,' says an unnamed expert on inter-faith relations. 'By comparison, Islam is a very confident and youthful faith, growing in size and importance. That is a worry to parts of the population, and unless we discuss it openly, the far-Right can take advantage.' The consequences are already being seen. All too frequently the fear that ordinary citizens have of being branded racists stymies healthy, legitimate debate. Instead, public discourse ends up being dominated by extremists, who are racist. For Qari Asim, the imam at Leeds Makkah Masjid and chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, openness is the way forward. His mosque is unofficially twinned with All Hallows Church in the city, and they both contribute to the local food bank. In Birmingham, there are interfaith environmental projects underway. 'Many large mosques now have multiple use spaces, so all community groups can use them,' says Asim. 'Some have cafés, and even gyms. If more non-Muslims can see that these aren't mysterious, exclusive places, it will reduce resistance and lead to better relations.' He acknowledges that since the terrible attacks of 7/7 in 2005, which were solemnly commemorated this month, the suspicion arose that mosques were 'bomb-making factories where people were brainwashed and radicalised'. He avers the very opposite is true. 'If there's a need but no central place for worship, people will meet in each other's houses or hire spaces where they will not be subject to safeguarding issues,' he emphasises. 'There's always the potential for people abusing the faith for their own political or personal agenda, so it's much better that there are regulated places of worship where there will be official oversight into all the activities going on there.' It is a radical new argument; namely that mosques should be viewed as a robust way of countering radicalisation. For all our cosy nostalgia when it comes to church bells and evocative spires, could it be that the presence of Islamic architecture in suburbia will provide a sense of security rather than provoking unease? Maybe not today, but tomorrow. The demographics speak for themselves, concludes Lord Goodman. 'If you look at population trends,' he says, 'Islam is going to play a much bigger role in the life of Britain, and it's something we all have to try to negotiate successfully.'
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Add to playlist: Jake Muir's church bell soundscapes, plus the week's best new tracks
From Berlin via Los AngelesRecommended if you like Philip Jeck, Félicia Atkinson, Sarah DavachiUp next New album Campana Sonans has just been released Some of the loveliest ambient music – in that term's truest sense – available to us is the sound of church bells. The cascading notes heralding a wedding are the aural equivalent of the scent of freshly cut grass, in how they evoke British summer time. But played on a large, sombre bell, the monophonic tolling that announces the time seems almost nihilist: a reminder of the ticking clock of our own lives. All this splendid drama has been heightened by found-sound artist Jake Muir, an American living in Berlin. He has long been an inventive manipulator of sound – 2020's The Hum of Your Veiled Voice pricked its ears up at night-time Berlin, while 2023's Bathhouse Blues blended gay porn soundtracks into rudderless soundscapes – and his latest album, Campana Sonans (available on Bandcamp) is a deeply immersive pair of 20-minute works, built from recordings he made of church bells around Europe. He then applies effects to those recordings, chiefly a shedload of reverb. This article includes content provided by Bandcamp. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. The first piece, Erzklang, focuses on the rather stern, even malevolent sound of church bells in Berlin, drawn out into long drones. The city's club scene seems to throb like a memory of Saturday night on Sunday morning: there's no pulse here, but Erzklang shudders with the reverberation of dub and the metallic beat of techno. For the second piece, Changes, Muir travelled to the UK and recorded at three churches: St Oswald's in Oswestry, St Bartholomew's in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare is buried. English bells are often performed through 'change ringing': bells of different notes attached to a giant wheels, which are hauled around by rope-tugging players. This epic instrumentation allows for far more melody than the Berlin piece and, in the way Muir presents the bells, they're almost like Steve Reich-style overlapping phases. In both pieces, the reverb makes the bells sound otherworldly, and yet Muir tempers this by including the chatter of tourists or the sound of footsteps. To listen to Muir's work is to be lifted into a bardo, a between-space, looking back at our lives through soot-coated stained glass. BXKS – Zagga DatA subtle yet insinuating digidub bassline powers this sensual club cut from the UK rapper, as she gives dance instructions with the imperious calm of a long-reigning ballroom announcer. Margo Price – Don't Let the Bastards Get You DownWhat an absolute delight: at a perky trotting tempo, the country singer rails at the stiffs, suits and stuffed shirts in her industry: 'Those tone deaf sons-a-bitches / don't know your rags to riches!' Drain – Nights Like TheseNinety-odd seconds of funky, pit-shaking hardcore punk from the returning Santa Cruz band, flexing on the balls of their feet until an almighty head-banging breakdown in the final seconds. Salute – Gbesoke (ft Peter Xan)The speed garage revival continues to rev its engines and hare off down a dual carriageway in a hot hatch, and Salute's latest has a beat like a funkily stuttering exhaust. Skream and Benga – Good Things Come to Those Who WaitThe dubstep legends serve up early-10s nostalgia on a heavily vibrating silver platter: a Pariah-like note of penetrating digital bass gives way to a gleefully corny trance breakdown. Nuovo Testamento – Picture PerfectEarly 90s piano house-pop done so faithfully you can feel the coloured disco lights warming your face. The verses are like enormous choruses, making the actual enormous chorus positively gargantuan. The New Eves – Cow SongOver a glam-rock beat done in folk instrumentation, the Brighton quartet's latest single is inspired by female cow herders in Sweden who use loud calls to communicate across the hills. Subscribe to the Guardian's rolling Add to Playlist selections on Spotify.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Don't let a vocal minority silence Britain's ancient church bells
There used to be a tradition that ringing church bells would drive out evil spirits. Now it's the bells that are being driven out. The latest set of chimes to fall foul of complainers are in Mytholmroyd. It's a small West Yorkshire village, best known as the birthplace of Ted Hughes. Perhaps it was the bells of St Michael's Church that inspired the late Poet Laureate to write in one of his rhymes for children about a bell's 'clang of mumbling boom'. But that clang was far from mumbling for three residents who said they were being kept awake all night by the chimes, ringing every 15 minutes. A noise abatement order imposed on the bells means they now can't be rung at all, so for the first time in 100 years they have fallen silent. There have been similar ding dongs over church bells elsewhere in the past few years: in both Witheridge and Kenton in Devon, in Helpringham in Lincolnshire, and in Beith in Ayrshire, usually by people saying that chimes through the night in these rural neighbourhoods are ruining their sleep. As someone who lives in a city, used to police helicopters overhead, ice cream vans blaring their tinny tunes, trains rattling past, and crowds of students staggering home at night under the influence of numerous intoxicants, I have to say I do find the noise of the countryside rather disturbing. Here in the city, these noises are part of a constant soundscape. In the country, there is an enveloping silence, but then you will be jolted into wakefulness by a cockerel's piercing crow, or a huge piece of farm machinery rattling past, or a herd of cattle lowing their way to milking. But a church bell chime, surely, is in a minor key compared to these other rural interruptions? For me the sound of bells is, well, music to my ears. Despite the planes flying into Heathrow over my head and the police sirens blaring outside my door, I can still hear the sound of a bell nearby, which rings regularly to mark Divine Office being said in a local monastery as well as the Angelus at noon. On Sundays, a peal of bells sounds out at a nearby church, and on weekday evenings too you can hear the ringing, as the tower captain and his team practise Plain Bob Major or Grandsire Triples or one of those other extraordinary mathematical formulas, known as changes, that make up bell-ringing. But the kind of change we don't want is something so quintessentially English as bell-ringing to disappear because after a few people make a fuss, officialdom steps in. The bells of Mytholmroyd were silenced when just three people objected – but the 1,200 residents who wanted the chimes to continue had their petition ignored. It's a growing pattern: a few complaints put an end to chimes that had been loved by communities for generations. Yet there's more at stake here than bells. It sounds a death-knell for our tradition of going with what the majority want.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Ding-dong in the village as church bell silenced for first time in 177 years
A village church has been forced to silence its chiming bells for the first time in nearly 180 years. St Michael's in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, was given a notice by the council to silence chiming between 11pm and 7am in April because of a series of complaints submitted by three disgruntled residents. The clock, which has been a village fixture for 177 years, does the full Westminster chimes with bells that chime on the quarter hour and another that strikes on the hour. It is not possible to pause the chiming at night until a costly device is fitted, so the bells have fallen silent in order to comply with the Calderdale council order. Many villagers were appalled by the decision and have set up an online petition to reinstate the bells, which they described as 'the soundtrack of our community's daily life'. Calderdale council said it had received complaints from three households about the chiming overnight. Roy Wrathall, who has been a church warden at St Michael's for nine years, said: 'We don't have the facilities to silence overnight. 'There's very much two sides to it. There's 'I'm awake in the night, there goes the clock that reassures me' and 'I can't get to sleep because I keep hearing that clock every 15 minutes'. It's not an easy one to resolve. 'Wearing the church hat – we're there for everybody so we'll do what the law says we have to do and do our best to try and please as many people as we can. 'The only way we can comply between 11pm and 7am is to stop the chimes. The clock's still going but the chimes have stopped.' 'A symbol of continuity and community' Villagers have set up a petition to reinstate the bells, which has received 1,296 signatures. The petition states: 'These bells have chimed since 1848, long before any of us were here – a symbol of continuity and community for over a century. 'My family's roots run deep in this village, and for us, as for numerous other residents, the chimes are more than bells – they are the soundtrack of our community's daily life.' The petition urges the council to reconsider their decision and find a solution that satisfies both the individuals who raised the complaint and the majority of village residents. One suggestion is to soundproof the complainants' residences. Danielle Durrans, the Calderdale council's cabinet member for public services and communities, said: 'The Council received several complaints from local residents about the noise of the church clock chime overnight, and the substantial impact it was having on their quality of life. 'We understand how much local people value heritage and the tradition of the church clock. 'However, the evidence from our investigation showed that the regularity and volume of the bell chiming, at the time of night when people are sleeping, was causing a substantial impact, so we had no option but to determine a statutory nuisance and serve an abatement notice requiring the chimes not to operate between 11pm and 7am.'
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Villagers furious after church banned from ringing 'nuisance' 177-year-old bells following complaints from neighbour
A village church has been deemed a 'nuisance' and forced to silence its chiming clock after being slapped with a council order - following 'a ridiculous villager complaint'. St Michael's in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, was stunned to receive an abatement notice about its beloved clock bells. The church was ordered to silence the chiming between 11pm and 7am after being notified of a complaint from a disgruntled resident of the proud village. Traditionally the clock - a staple in the village for up to 177 years - has rung out the full Westminster chimes, with four quarter bells that chime every 15 minutes and a bell that strikes on the hour. A £2,500 device would be needed to limit the bells to only chiming at night - so in order to comply with the Calderdale Council order, the bells have temporarily fallen silent for the first time in more than a century. Now devastated residents of the village - birthplace of poet Ted Hughes - have slammed the decision and set up an online petition to reinstate the bells, claiming they're 'the soundtrack of our community's daily life'. Roy Wrathall, who's been a church warden at St Michael's for nine years, said the church was there 'for everybody' so they would comply with the notice. 'We don't have the facilities to silence overnight,' he said. An online petition calling for the church bells to be allowed to peal again has attracted 1,296 signatures 'There's very much two sides to it. 'There's "I'm awake in the night, there goes the clock, that reassures me" and "I can't get to sleep because I keep hearing that clock every 15 minutes". 'It's not an easy one to resolve. 'Wearing the church hat - we're there for everybody, so we'll do what the law says we have to do and do our best to try and please as many people as we can. 'The only way we can comply between 11pm and 7am is to stop the chimes. 'The clock's still going but the chimes have stopped.' The eerie silence has been a particular blow as many locals associated the return of the chimes with the village recovering from devastating floods which also inundated the church in 2015. 'There was several feet of water in there - right by the river and houses around the same,' Mr Wrathall said. 'There was no electricity, no street lights and there was no clock going in the church so there were no chimes, it was silent. 'One of the things that was a sign of recovery to a lot of people was when the clock started chiming again, things were getting back to what they viewed as the norm. 'There are people who still find the clock during the night reassuring, but equally there's someone down in the village who it doesn't work like that for.' Furious locals have set up a petition to reinstate the bells, which has racked up 1,296 signatures. The petition reads: 'Growing up in the heart of Mytholmroyd, the sound of St Michael's church bells ringing through the village has been a cherished part of my life. 'These bells have chimed since 1848, long before any of us were here - a symbol of continuity and community for over a century. 'My family's roots run deep in this village, and for us, as for numerous other residents, the chimes are more than bells - they are the soundtrack of our community's daily life. 'We propose that Calderdale council reconsider their decision and engage with the community to find a solution that satisfies both the individual who raised the complaint and the majority of village residents. 'Solutions such as soundproofing options for the complainant's residence. 'Preserving these bells means preserving our history and community. St Michael's Church says it has been left with no choice but to silence the chimes 'completely' following 'a complaint from a neighbour' 'Their sound is a legacy we must protect for future generations. 'Support our campaign to keep the bells of St Michael's ringing in Mytholmroyd.' One supporter wrote: 'Born and bred in Mytholmroyd, still my home in my heart. 'The bells of Saint Michael's need to be heard, not silenced.' Another commented: 'Growing up in the 'Royd those bells were my clarion call to get home for dinner. 'With the bells silenced I worry about the poor children who may starve for lack of eating dinner. 'I feel that 177 years of the bells ringing being silenced by one objector is ridiculous.' Calderdale Council says it has received 'several complaints from local residents about the noise of the church clock chime overnight, and the substantial impact it was having on their quality of life'. 'We investigated the complaints in line with our legal duty, and this involved identifying whether the noise was causing a substantial or unreasonable impact on the quality of life of those who had complained,' said Danielle Durrans, cabinet member for public services and communities. 'The noise from churches and other similar establishments is something that many councils across the country have had to investigate. 'We understand how much local people value heritage and the tradition of the church clock. 'However, the evidence from our investigation showed that the regularity and volume of the bell chiming, at the time of night when people are sleeping, was causing a substantial impact, so we had no option but to determine a statutory nuisance and serve an abatement notice requiring the chimes not to operate between 11pm and 7am. 'We have received no appeals against the abatement notice, and the decision to stop the chiming during the day as well as night-time was taken by the town council and Erringdon Benefice.'
