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Noises In My Lane: Audible Strangeness In Ammanford

Tribble

Killjoy Boffin
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Apr 21, 2015
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Bizarre flyers about 'screaming' noises and a 'beeping machine' coming from an 'illicit underground drug factory' have been posted all over Gloucestershire.

The strange notice is titled 'please help' and has been stuck to lampposts and in some areas posted through people's doors. It has been spotted in Gloucester, Cheltenham, Lydney and numerous other parts of the county.
The poster makes a series of claims about an underground drug manufacturing factory 'running somewhere underneath our house' and goes on to explain that 'secret audio recordings' have captured the sound of 'women screaming, two foreign men talking and an automated machine running and flushing'.


Several people commenting on social media posts about the posters think it's a hoax, although the website it links to suggests the author genuinely believes they have made a startling discovery.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co....ws/spoke-people-behind-bizarre-noises-2748785

http://noisesinmylane.co.uk/

So it could be : 1) Genuine, 2) A hoax that'll turn out to be advertising something, 3) Weird acoustics in pipes/tunnels causing sound from elsewhere to travel, 4) Mental illness, 5) An Alternate Reality Game, 6) Unexplained High Weirdness.
 
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It could be a combo of 1 + 3 + 4, perhaps. Sounds of pumps and 'flushing' could be a Saniflo-type system used for small-bore toilet pipes which certainly make very odd noises.

On the other hand, a house near us was discovered to have been a cannabis farm, it had been rented out and when the lease was up the landlord made an inspection (after the tenants had left) and found it full of all kinds of paraphernalia: foil ducting, gallon containers of plant food, scores of plant pots, compost etc etc. We never ever saw anyone go in or come out of it, the only clue to be gained (in hindsight) was the east Asian red charm/window decoration that hung in the front window (maybe a Vietnamese gang connection?). This was in a village location, but next to a main A-road.

I knew of a couple of small 'venues' used for 'alternative parties' [all between consenting adults in a BDSM scene] - both in the urban south-east of England. One was in a tiny basement below an Edwardian terraced house. Nothing sinister as such, but may have led to some reports of very strange noises if eavesdropped upon . The other was in a light industrial complex and sign-posted on the exterior as a bland commercial studio. Behind the door was a multi-level adult's club space with about 11-12 different spaces at least.

Strange stuff can happen in very unlikely places!
 
I knew of a couple of small 'venues' used for 'alternative parties' [all between consenting adults in a BDSM scene] - both in the urban south-east of England. One was in a tiny basement below an Edwardian terraced house. Nothing sinister as such, but may have led to some reports of very strange noises if eavesdropped upon . The other was in a light industrial complex and sign-posted on the exterior as a bland commercial studio. Behind the door was a multi-level adult's club space with about 11-12 different spaces at least.

Strange stuff can happen in very unlikely places!

Oh yes, I've been to quite a few of those myself, though not in the South East. There's some fantastic places about, a lot of time, effort and money spent on making the most amazing play-spaces inside the most mundane buildings.
 
4) Mental illness.

My first thought was that this is the Air Loom Gang de nos jours.

AnonyJoolz said:
...a cannabis farm...east Asian red charm/window decoration that hung in the front window (maybe a Vietnamese gang connection?)

A large majority of cannabis farms in the UK are run by Vietnamese; mainly - IIRC - of Chinese descent.

maximus otter
 
The posters appeared in Gloucester apparently (didn't see one myself, so I cannot confirm) but the linked site's contact page gives an address in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Perhaps the title of this thread should have Ammanford and/or Carmarthenshire added.
 
Have these posters only just appeared? The website claims the sounds started in June 2018 though the web domain itself was registered in Dec 2018.

So they first hear the noises last June and start recording them. In December they put the recordings up on their new website. And by April 2019 they're living in a van travelling around putting posters up.

The recordings themselves sound as if they've been made through the external mic of a cheap digital recorder. They're definitely of something tangible, but nothing you couldn't fake easily enough if you wanted to. The beeping one for example just sounds like a smoke detector, and the grinding sounds could be created with a digital synth then played over a loudspeaker.

All very intriguing.
 
I knew of a couple of small 'venues' used for 'alternative parties' [all between consenting adults in a BDSM scene] - both in the urban south-east of England. One was in a tiny basement below an Edwardian terraced house. Nothing sinister as such, but may have led to some reports of very strange noises if eavesdropped upon . The other was in a light industrial complex and sign-posted on the exterior as a bland commercial studio. Behind the door was a multi-level adult's club space with about 11-12 different spaces at least.

Strange stuff can happen in very unlikely places!
I’ve been to such a place that was made up of the basement and ground floor flats of a very respectable Edinburgh tenement which, as you say, you’d never guess from the outside. I did wonder to myself what the neighbours upstairs thought of it all....
 
This report in the latest FT caught my eye:
Notice news

In Gloucester last April, a couple put up notices around the town saying they had been forced out of their home by an underground drug factory directly beneath them. They could hear "women and children screaming" and "foreign men talking". The above report interviewed them (now living in a van) and they say it sounds ridiculous, but it really happened. There's more to it, as you can read. The police say there's no evidence of any wrongdoing. So... folie a deux?
 
This report in the latest FT caught my eye:
Notice news

In Gloucester last April, a couple put up notices around the town saying they had been forced out of their home by an underground drug factory directly beneath them. They could hear "women and children screaming" and "foreign men talking". The above report interviewed them (now living in a van) and they say it sounds ridiculous, but it really happened. There's more to it, as you can read. The police say there's no evidence of any wrongdoing. So... folie a deux?

Already covered here.

maximus otter
 
Ammanford is in Carmarthenshire. No local significance as far as I am aware, though there are quite a lot of people of Welsh origin or descent in Gloucester, myself included. Gloucester is very near Wales, of course.
 
That house is in such a poor condition, I can see why they moved out.
It is entirely feasible that somebody has dug underneath the houses and created a subterranean hellhole (for reasons best known to themselves).
 
Dunno about this story, but I'm reminded of my friend's grandmother, who - in the early stages of dementia - was convinced that someone was manufacturing drugs underground. She believed the fumes were emanating into her apartment through the drains.
 
Dunno about this story, but I'm reminded of my friend's grandmother, who - in the early stages of dementia - was convinced that someone was manufacturing drugs underground. She believed the fumes were emanating into her apartment through the drains.

As far as I can tell this couple don't have dementia, but that's a really curious connection. Anyone know if believing "things" are happening underground is a common delusion? Anyone heard of anyone else with this? I doubt drug manufacturing really happens in underground caverns below houses (though Breaking Bad had one below an industrial laundry).
 
As far as I can tell this couple don't have dementia, but that's a really curious connection. Anyone know if believing "things" are happening underground is a common delusion? Anyone heard of anyone else with this? I doubt drug manufacturing really happens in underground caverns below houses (though Breaking Bad had one below an industrial laundry).
I'm not sure about it being a common delusion, but I did come across a similar situation years ago. I had to visit an elderly chap who believed his house was subsiding. There were indeed large cracks in the structure, which he put down to the Police tunnelling under his house to "spy" on him and they were there now. He had large signs in his car windows proclaiming this. The surveyor I was with attempted to convince him that couldn't be the case, but it was obvious to me that this was a lost cause and I had to wind up the meeting.
When I did some voluntary work for a charity I received a call from an elderly gentleman alleging that there were intruders in the cellar and they wouldn't come out. I got the local community copper to visit and afterwards he told me that the chap didn't actually have a cellar but he had "cleared" the intruders out to the owners satisfaction. Social services subsequently visited the chap and he was full of praise for the Police.
 
This is a house in a terrace. Why haven't they considered the obvious - noisy neighbours watching TV? The motorbike noise (for instance) couldn't come from underground- there is a doppler effect as it goes past.
 
Oh yes, I've been to quite a few of those myself, though not in the South East. There's some fantastic places about, a lot of time, effort and money spent on making the most amazing play-spaces inside the most mundane buildings.

I went to Exodus in the East Midlands a few years ago, realy quite an impressive setup.

Not familiar with the South East.
 
I'm reminded of the infamous tome Crook Frightfulness, which detailed how these "crooks" were making the writer's life a misery with sound projections among other things.
 
When I did some voluntary work for a charity I received a call from an elderly gentleman alleging that there were intruders in the cellar and they wouldn't come out. I got the local community copper to visit and afterwards he told me that the chap didn't actually have a cellar but he had "cleared" the intruders out to the owners satisfaction. Social services subsequently visited the chap and he was full of praise for the Police.

lt seems to be a common theme in this kind of incident that the “victim” is suffering attacks via a medium that’s perceptible only to him.

l’m aware of at least two or three similar cases. We once had a woman in the cells who claimed that someone was introducing radioactive snakes into her house via the letterbox. l seem to remember that a bobby had deemed her for violent or intrusive behaviour towards neighbours or passers-by. This was doubly outrageous as she “was the daughter of the Peruvian (?) Ambassador”!
We called out a shrink to examine her, but he declared that she wasn’t mental enough to section. l hope that her current nabes are enjoying her company...

The one l particularly associate with this thread was a nice old gent who used to come into my first nick, accompanied by his embarrassed-looking wife. His thing was to compile lists of the atrocities inflicted on him by sly, invisible assailants, and to record them in cheap A6 notebooks. He would hand them to whichever bobby was on duty at the desk. Said bobby would earnestly assure him that the matters therein would be drawn immediately to the attention of the Chief Constable. The old chap would then leave, quite satisfied. Until the next time. I never found out anything about him, though the story in the factory was that he’d been a Spitfire pilot in the last lot, and had copped a shell splinter in the head. True? UL? No idea.

One of his idées fixe was that unknown malefactors were beaming opium into his house, using an aerial made from bean cans. l kept one of his old red Lion Brand notebooks for years as a curiosity. l might even still have it, tucked away in the attic somewhere.

maximus otter
 
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It must actually be quite frightening to be delusional. I remember years ago a programme on the tellybox, on this issue. One particular guy stood out- amongst other issues he was convinced he was the son of the queen, because he had green hair (even though he hadn't). Showed him later after a course of medication and he was totally different. It transpired that he had been born in a former British colony and had a strict upbringing, being taught that the queen was head of the family. The green bit came in because his family had a greenish tint to their eye colour (not hair). He was clearly embarrassed at what he had been maintaining, but saw the funny side of it.
 
it would be terrifying in direct proportion to your own awareness of it i imagine, but scary regardless to those around
 
it would be terrifying in direct proportion to your own awareness of it i imagine, but scary regardless to those around

We have threads on conditions such as Charles Bonnet Syndrome, where sufferers (usually with sight problems) have hallucinations.
Some people with CBS soon become used to their visions and might even enjoy them. Didn't we have an account on'ere of an elderly gent who used to settle down in his armchair each evening to await the arrival of a naked young woman, visible only to him, who'd glide alluringly across the room?
 
elderly gent who used to settle down in his armchair each evening to await the arrival of a naked young woman, visible only to him, who'd glide alluringly across the room?
Wait.. what was he on and where can I get some? (says I in whispering mode)
 
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