The Bristol Hum came to prominence in the mid 1970s when Mr Stan Lovell aroused interest in the matter with his letters to the Bristol Evening Post, this resulted in a flood of letters from other sufferers who then formed a committee to investigate the matter
This committee had a connection with the London University, where by coincidence, an investigation into the phenomena was already being carried out, and the newly formed committee travelled to London University Department of Physics at Chelsea to meet the team of investigators.
After a preliminary discussion, each member of the committee took turns to enter a sound proof chamber where sounds at various frequencies were fed into headphones, the subjects asked to indicate the sound which most closely matched the Hum and they all chose the same frequency of 36 cycles per second.
On their return to Bristol, the committee contacted Bristol City Council with the results of the scientific investigation and the important 36 cps frequency, but City Officers claimed that the results must be false for the human ear was incapable of detecting sound at such a low frequency and they refused to investigate the matter.
Some of the sufferers were constituents of Arthur Palmer, Member of Parliament for Bristol, who took up their case and persuaded the City Council to carry out an investigation. Mr. Palmer, together with City Officers, toured the city at night and claimed to have found the cause which then is reported to have stopped.
When questioned as to the cause the City Council refused to reveal the source or any details and simply stated, We have had it stopped be satisfied with that.
Shortly after the visit of the Hum committee to Chelsea College the British Government stopped the grant for the investigation and the team were forced to abandon their work.
In 1979 senior Environmental Health Officer Mr Robert Enticott admitted to a national newspaper that health officials in Bristol had been investigating the noise for the past eight years but are no nearer an answer, we are completely baffled he confessed.
It should be noted the Bristol Hum has not stopped, in the period from 1978 to the present day, 2014, there has been a continuous stream of Hum complaints made to Bristol City Council, which is a matter of public record.
The Bristol Hum claimed two suicides, in 1997 Mr James Hall of Horfield and in 1998 Mrs Joyce Durbin ofToterdown
A request was made to Avon Coroner Dr. Paul Forrest to re-open the inquest on Mrs Durbin and to call for an investigation into the Hum responsible for her death but the request was refused. quote
my powers only arise on death as to the identity of the deceased, the circumstances of the death, and the particulars for registration. They do not arise now in any shape or form relating to investigation of the noise.
In 2009 Dr. Forrest was suspended from duty and subject to a criminal investigation concerning his handling of another suicide case.. Simon Caplan, a spokesman for Bristol City council stated, A coroner is officially responsible for investigating deaths - particularly those which happened in unusual circumstances - as well as determining the causes of death.
In 1999 Hum campaigner and secretary of the Low Frequency Noise Sufferers Association, Bob Lewis, made a map showing the locations of over 100 Hum sufferers who had responded to letters written to the Bristol Evening Post.
His map revealed that the majority lived on the high ground and hills that surround the City of Bristol, very few sufferers lived in the city centre and no replies came from areas which in the distant past had been marsh land.. The majority of sufferers lived in the Clifton area. Both suicides lived at elevated parts of the city
Over the years there have been many attempts by individuals and groups of Hum sufferers to force the UK Government to acknowledge the serious consequences of the Hum but they have all failed, and by the media ridiculing those affected, the problem has been controlled.
