How do I stop my toilet making a terrific noise when re-filling?

When we flush the toilet it works fine, but makes a terrible noise with pipes banging and sounds like an aircraft taking off as the tank re-fills. This noise can be modified by turning the cold tap on quite forcefully, but then it takes forever to re-fill. I am sure our neighbours are reaching the limit of their tolerance when we may flush the toilet a couple of times around bedtime, first thing in the morning or even in the middle of the night!!! Any help would be gratefully received