The 1pm Siren in city centre

[Plain Talker 11]

Did it make you jump?

 

It always manages to make me jump, if I am in the vicinity, even when I am expecting to hear it.

[spilldig 189]

I'm suprised someone hasn't sued them for damage to their hearing. I dread to think what the decibal level is.

[Disco.Magnet 10]

I've said it before and i'll say it again...

 

there is a huge clock on the town hall opposite which chimes the time!

 

So why would people need to hear a siren to remind them when its 1pm?

[mumkin 10]

I've said it before and i'll say it again...

 

there is a huge clock on the town hall opposite which chimes the time!

 

So why would people need to hear a siren to remind them when its 1pm?

 

Why not? It's part of Sheffield and has been for decades.

[TeaFan 10]

It's too loud. I don't mind a bit of tradition but why does it have to be a distressingly loud siren rather than a nice bell or summat? It does my nut in.

[gremlin_mick 10]

I've said it before and i'll say it again...

 

there is a huge clock on the town hall opposite which chimes the time!

 

So why would people need to hear a siren to remind them when its 1pm?

 

Because the clock is mechanical, and subject to errors.

 

The Time Signal is sounded at exactly 1pm, according to Greenwich, and is the "right" time, and so you know its definately 1pm. Don't forget, this has been there since 1870-odd, when people barely owned clocks, never mind smart phones and radio controlled watches!

[lazarus 68]

does anybody know what the siren was for today at the top of fargate about 1 o clock this afters??

 

The siren enabled everyone to check their pocket watches, clocks etc to make sure they were correct, H.L.Brown had the same set up in Doncaster.

You have to remember not all clocks & watches were good timekeepers so the one o`clock signal helped. Many factories in Town used this siren as a reminder of the correct time. I cant understand why people cannot work this out for themselves.

[Hessian32 10]

Lately there seems to be a very loud, high pitched noise like some kind of alarm occurring regularly in the city centre. I hear it several times on most lunch breaks. Does anyone know what this might be? Thanks.

[Locksley 10]

That would be the 1 o'clock Siren

 

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/the-1pm-siren-since-1874-1-3182476

[Hessian32 10]

I have lived in Sheffield for 10 years and I've never heard of this before, or noticed it until I recently started working in the city centre. Clearly I have been hearing it only once on each lunch break then, though I could have sworn it goes off more often...

 

Many thanks.

[Happ Hazzard 10]

What is the point of the siren? Is it something from the olden days that is continued due to tradition?

[SevenRivers 10]

I think it is a hideous noise. Up Fargate at 1pm you just start to hear the nice sound of bells coming from the Town Hall I think or maybe it's from the Roman Catholic Cathederal, and then the siren completely ruins the moment, not to mention always nearly gives me a heart attack.