Sirens

Something I've really noticed since moving to SE1 is the persistent sound of emergency services sirens at night. There seems sometimes to be an almost relentless flow of them. I'm not suggesting emergency services vehicles should travel without sirens simply for my benefit (!), but I'm curious to know where they're all going. Last night, for instance, there just seemed to be one after another, for ages. Did anything particular happen last night? I sensed they were mainly heading west along Borough Road.

I don't hear them on Snowsfields but a friend of mine lives in Redman house, the tall block on Lant St and the sirens are very loud, even though he's on the 10th floor. There's the police station just down the road. Maybe ambulances prefer Borough Rd on the way to St. Thomas' A&E. It is quite a quiet road and wide.

I could not agree more with you Longlaner! The sirens here in SE1 seem much worse then anywhere else and it does my head in.

Longlanger

i asked a police driver once why it was necessary in Long Lane of a night to have their sirens on when so little traffic. Apparently it is due to the large number of side streets and entrance ways along the road so they can make sure they are heard and noticed.
not sure if the same can be said of Borough road as of a weekend when the university is quiet there is no one around there really!

I often look out from my terrace to see what it is THIS time, and of course we do have Thomas's and Guy's plus the fire stations and the Old Bill....here in the E&C roundabout the echo is incredible and since all these vehicles have to go at least part, if not all, the way around we get a real dose of wailing. Actually I've got so used to it I dont think I notice as much as I once did. It just seems we're the main thoroughfare on the way to everywhere!

LongLaner Did you mean Boroogh road or borough high street? Just guessing that as you live in long lane your more likely to notice sirens on the high street rather than borough road. I used to live on junction of Borough high street and brough road and the sirens where always turned on in order to go though the traffic lights. With guys hospital (it still had an emergency dept then) borough police station and The Fire Station in southwark bridge road it did mean they were used a lot of times. If you are near the junction of borough high street it could explain why you notice them so much as they try to get through the sequence of traffic lights and although guys dont take emrgencies anymore long lane borough high street are blue routes so used by all three emergency services as a main route to where ever they are going

The "dalston disco" as my pal calls it is especially loud around E&C at about 9-9.30pm, I think. Sirens don't bother me - it's car horns that really get my goat. Sounding them is usually unnecessary.

I have to say that I'm very lucky living on Alma Grove - have never been woken up by sirens.

I think the problem with Long Lane is that is a fairly main route, but, as was mentioned before, has lots of small turn outs/side streets which are likely accident spots if the police speed down the road without their sirens on. Have you considered ear plugs/secondary glazing? When I lived on Baker St., the secondary glazing made a huge difference and a friend of mine who lives on Pentonville Road used to sleep with ear plugs...

I work long hours and with the slightest opportunity of a proper bed time, I would sleep like a dead fish. My friend fell on top of me while trying to get over to the other side of the bed to go to the loo (otherwise she's next to a wall and the end of our bed was full of luggages). She said I was still asleep :_)

I live near the junction of Southwark Street/Blackfriars Road/Stamford Street and the sirens are horrendous. I've never known them as bad as they are now. One of the major culprits is those mysterious unmarked cars (with a blue light stuck on at a rather 'jaunty' angle) which seem programmed to drive at +70mph no matter how dangerous and always with a single occupant. I