Dear Editor
It seems we are no further forward on the vexed issue of the St Stephen's Church clock chime [Breaking news, 15.10.14].
At the latest meeting of the Stockbridge & Inverleith Community Council, it was announced that discussions are ongoing between City Council officials and the current owner of St Stephen’s about ways of reducing the decibel levels to something the tender souls in the immediate vicinity can tolerate.
It appears that this involves wrapping the bell’s clapper in a sort of leather sheath. To put it crudely, to carry on, you need to put a condom on your walloper.
Why this should be, is unclear. There are unresolved questions about the way the original measurements were carried out. I have raised these with Mark Lazarowicz MP and the City Council but have still to receive a reply.
Meantime, Leslie Benzies, who acquired St Stephen’s (and did the Stockbridge community an enormous favour in the process), is obliged to jump through silly hoops. I commend him for his patience and very much hope that this ridiculous episode does not totally scunner him with Stockbridge and the surrounding area.
Believe me, a few of us still have a sense of perspective.
John Ross
(Dundas Street)
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Rebecca Bridgland Lived beside this clock for 2 years - never a problem!! Ridiculous silencing it