For the past few weeks, the weather has been absolutely glorious in the Yorkshire Dales. Beautiful sunrises, and glowing sunsets in the longer evenings now that we’re past the Spring equinox and we have more day than night. It’s lambing time and the fields near my house are full of young lambs gradually finding their feet and confidence. 

They’ll soon be charging around together jumping and tussling at one end of the field amongst the curlews and oyster catchers, whilst their mums call out for them at the other end. The bleating and bird calls it can get quite noisy, but for me it’s a good sort of noise that stirs the spirit and brings a feeling of contentment.

The fine weather has also brought another sort of noise. That of motorcycles. The Yorkshire Dales attracts many visitors, most of whom travel quietly, if sometimes rather slowly, on the narrow roads winding through the valleys and fells. I imagine there are quiet motorcycles too, but some of the engines appear to have been manufactured with the aim of producing as much noise as possible.

They roar along the road and the noise carries for miles. If you’re driving quietly in your car then then come up close behind and overtake with a great cacophony. I suppose it’s simple mathematics that you won’t encounter the quiet motorcyclists who are travelling more slowly and enjoying the weather and wonderful views as they’ll be moving at the same speed as you and so won’t be overtaking. It’s more likely you’ll encounter the speeding, bellowing motorcyclists with their snarling engines as they race along the road, so there are probably fewer of them than there appears to be.

I suppose they gain some joy from it otherwise they wouldn’t have spent a lot of money on a machine deliberately designed for noise and capable of travelling at speeds that are illegal except on a racing track. They also dedicate their time on sunny days to race around the quiet narrow dales roads, with their marvellous inspiring views, at speeds that mean they can’t possibly see anything but a narrow corridor of road ahead as they try to avoid oncoming traffic when overtaking.

This is of course a personal perspective and a bit of a rant. I’d rather hear the sounds of lambs bleating and curlews and oyster catchers calling than racing motorcycles. There must be many others who find engine noise exhilarating. For example motor racing tracks attract large crowds, commercial sponsorship and a lot television and news coverage.

What are your thoughts on different types of noise? It’s not only motorcycles that seem to cause upset, for example there was article in the Guardian recently about noise on public transport:

“Why do so many people on public transport or in public places now have the sound on their phones coming through the speakers instead of headphones? Do they think it’s acceptable or do they know it’s unacceptable and do it anyway? Is that the point?”

So please let rip on noise in general! What types of noise do you prefer and perhaps you’re not bothered by it at all.

Rowan on the Moor

A Moodscope member

Here's the link to the Guardian article if you'd like to read the full story:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/09/where-have-all-the-headphones-gone-on-public-transport-the-noise-is-eating-into-my-soul