Siren Sounds
Okay. Hands up – who heard that bloomin’ siren again this morning? The one that sounds like a WWII air-raid claxon?
I did – and so did Dan. Thing is, Dan lives in POINT HILL – nowhere near Charlton or Woolwich, which is where most people hear it.
It was at exactly 7.00am. Anyone else hear it? Strange that after all these months, and all the theories, we still don’t know what it actually is.
Could it be that there are several sirens in various places and they are randomly tested ?
My parents live near Broadmoor Mental Hospital and they test their siren (Broadmoor not my parents) at 10.00 every Monday. Throughout the town there are repeaters, so it can be heard for miles and miles. Could it be Belmarsh?
Now that’s a new suggestion. No idea. Maybe, I guess. Though aren’t sirens supposed to warn the general public? If we don’t know what the hell the emergency/practice drill is, we’re not going to know whether to duck our heads for incoming shiploads of sand, get ready to swim as the Thames floods or look out for suspicious characters in orange boiler suits…
I heard it about a week ago. I’ve also heard it at the top of Greenwich park so I think the sound travels quite a bit.
I’d assume that it’s a warning siren for an industrial company or some such. Don’t they use sirens to alert staff that something potentially hazardous is about to happen, such as blasting?
I was at the QEII pier at 7am catching the Clipper and it was very very loud.
I was told that it was the Thames Barrier testing their systems.
Yes, it’s the Flood Warning test, will be every Monday at 7
I Live at GMV, and apparently it’s the aggregates factory – an alarm before the machinery starts moving for the day, loading onto boats etc. Will go down one morning and check!
Jamie says: “Yes, it’s the Flood Warning test, will be every Monday at 7″
Why not make it at, say, noon instead of early in the morning, if that’s the case?
I feel sorry for the inhabitants of the blocks overlooking the barrier if this the source!
I have submitted an FOIA request to the EA – so hopefully they will give me an answer which I will then share:
“On Monday 12th March 2012 at 7am, a loud siren was heard in the vicinity of the Thames Barrier at Woolwich. Please state whether the Environment Agency was responsible. This is a request for information pursuant to FOIA. You have 20 working days to respond.”
It was my wallet alarm.
I’ve heard the siren in the evening, I was at the tapas place underneath Greenwich Picturehouse – pretty sure it was between Thursday and Saturday, but a while ago. So, not 7am on a Monday – although I like the floodwarning test theory nonetheless.
The Thames Barrier alarm had been ruled out in the previous post..? http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2011/12/that-siren-again/
Heard this morning at 7am from the top of Hyde Vale.
It definitely is not the Thames Barrier – response to FOI request:
Thank you for your enquiry about a siren which you heard on March 12th at 7am.
I have done some investigating and whilst we had our monthly test closure on Monday 12 March operations, and therefore any noise, did not start until 09:30. On a normal day operations do not commence here until 08:00 at the earliest.
We do not have any “sirens” as such on the Thames Barrier. We have a public address system and local “klaxon” type, “two tone” alarms on each pier. The latter are more of a “die dee die dee..” sound than an air-raid type siren noise. They are also very local, directional and are used to alert staff that equipment close to them is about to move.
I can categorically state that the siren you heard was not generated by the Thames Barrier.
I note from your address that you live to the south west of the Thames Barrier. Our shift workers commented that they too have heard a loud siren coming from the wharfs and works along the south bank of the river to the west of the Thames Barrier early in the morning. They have not been able to pin-point exactly where it comes from but suspect the gravel transfer stations at Angersteins or Christies wharves, one of the riverside works or from within the Meridian or Lombard trading estates.
I hope that this information is of use to you.
Martin Earlam
C.Eng M.Eng B.Eng (Hons) MIMechE
Thames Barrier & Associated Gates Asset Management Team Leader
Kent & South London/Flood & Coastal Risk Management
South East