Friday 20 March 2009

Meet the neighbours

This is the lane down which I live. The last paragraph of this post explains why I have included the photograph. This post was planned but the events of Wednesday have spiced it up.

So you have moved house and are getting settled in. What sort of neighbours do you have? Are they your cup of tea? Your sort of people or are they the neighbours from hell? Since I first hung a mortgage round my neck I have had problems with the neighbours at four of the five properties that I have lived in. I am not sure if I/we are attracted to them or if they are attracted to me/us.

My first purchase was a conversion flat. It was the first floor of a Victorian terraced house. The ground floor flat had the same lay out which meant that my bedroom was directly above that of the ground floor flat, in which lived a couple in late middle age. He was overweight and snored loudly enough to wake the whole street. After a few too many sleepless night I decided that I had had enough and moved to a small modern semi-detached house. Initially it was fine, then the neighbour married and let the house to a girl friend who had the television on full volume until 1 am. I could hear every word through the cardboard walls.

By the time that we got married I had had enough of noisy neighbours and insisted that we bought a detached house and we had no problems with the neighbours at our first marital home. Our second house was also fine initially but after two or three years the neighbours' trees grew to the point where they put the whole of our garden in the shade. We politely asked for the trees to be pruned. They were rude and unreasonable about the whole issue. Eventually we managed to get a sympathetic tree surgeon to prune the trees at our cost! The whole fiasco left a nasty taste in my mouth and I was glad to move.

Now we move on to our cottage. The neighbours on one side are no problem but we have the neighbours from hell living on the other side. When we first moved here the people that lived next door spent most of their time away so we got used to it being quiet. Then they moved away. For nearly two years the house was empty and for sale until Del Boy and his WAG moved in with their two children and two dogs. The first thing that they did was to build a big extension which blocks our view of the surrounding fields. We objected to their application for planning application, but it still got approval. I have previously written about them going away and leaving the dog alone. But probably the incident which alone marks then out as the neighbours from hell happened in April last year when he had a fight with the local farmer. The farmer's leg was badly cut and he had to go to hospital to have it stitched up, which resulted in Del Boy being charged with assault. My husband had the misfortune to see part of the fight. He had to give a statement to the police and agree to go to court as a witness if necessary. As it happened out my husband did not need to appear as a witness when the case went to court. Del Boy now has a criminal record and a two year suspended sentence hanging over his head.

On Wednesday afternoon I managed to take the above photograph which I had been intending to take for some time to put on the side bar of my blog. Del Boy saw me taking the photo. About an hour later the neighbour who lives in the house on the left in the photo came round to see me. He was clearly very upset. Del Boy had phoned him to say that I had being taking photos of his garden and I was going to write to the council to complain about his untidy garden. I assured him that I was only taking photos of daffodils in the lane and offered to show them to him. We have had enough problems with Del Boy without him stirring up and inventing any more. Incidentally can you see the garden of the house on the left of the photo? I can't.

36 comments:

Maggie May said...

I had no idea, looking at this beautiful country road that there could possibly be a neighbour problem!
No I cannot see the garden at all. Maybe he has a guilty conscience!
No I could wrote a book about my neighbour, but I must resist that temptation!

Gilly said...

Oh poor you! No,of course no one can see the garden! It looks a lovely quiet lane!! But you do seem to attract dreadful neighbours! Lets hope Del Boy and his WAG move on. Perhaps hde won't be able to afford the mortgage and will have to go. (Not a very Christian thought!! :( )

French Fancy... said...

Blimey, your Del boy does indeed sound like the neighbour from hell. I couldn't click on the link about the dog because I would have become too upset and might have had to force his address out of you so that I could bombard him with hate mail.

Let's hope they don't plan on this being their forever home

Tim Atkinson said...

Oh, I know about neighbours with dogs - especially dogs that get next-to-no attention and spend all day in the garden, barking. Mind you, I live in the middle of a town; you expect some problems with so many neighbours at close quarters. But your lane look idyllic! Maybe we should both move to a Scottish island?

cheshire wife said...

MM - you are stronger willed than I am where you neighbour is concerned.

Gilly & FF - we are hoping that they soon move.

The Dotterel - yes, it would be idyllic if it weren't for the neighbours. I'm not sure about the Scottish island. I didn't think that you wanted to move and I don't.

Jinksy said...

Just as well the garden remains invisible, I guess... Aren't some people too petty for words? How about blowing dandelion clocks in their direction as poetic, garden justice?! Oo, nasty! x

Anonymous said...

Crikey, I'm so glad I live where I do. No neighbours for miles!

CJ xx

Akelamalu said...

I thought it was just me had the neighbours from hell! I just want to win the lottery so I can buy a house miles away from anyone else. :(
BTW the lane looks lovely, shame about the neighbours.

Ladybird World Mother said...

The lane looks just lovely... daffodils and all. Can't see any garden at all! Hope the Del Boy situation improves miraculously...

cheshire wife said...

jinksy - thank you for the idea. It is a bit early for dandelions at the moment.

CJ - there are only six houses on the outskirts of our village and we have to have him next door!

Akelamalu - we would like to win the lottery too.

LWM - it will take a miracle!

Scriptor Senex said...

Commiserations - you make me realise how lucky I have always been. We've always had neighbours who appeared non-existent or who were very pleasant. The one exception was a couple who played very loud music but that was nothing to what you've had to put up with. Perhaps they'll move on soon...

Rob-bear said...

So sad to hear all the problems abuot the neighbours. We've had pretty good neighbours wherever we've been. Either friendly or virtually invisible. Currently we have rental properties on both sides of us. We've had a lot of neighbours, but they've been good folks. The closest we got a difficulty was a younger chap who was on one side. He was a party guy. He put it this way to me, "If it gets a bit noisy, come on over and party with us." Never did get too loud.

Hope thigs get better.

Troy said...

We generally have had very friendly neighbours but in every place we've lived there has always been one that irritated us for one reason or another.
That's good though because otherwise by a process of elimination that would have made us the neighbours from Hell.

cheshire wife said...

SS - we are hoping that they move.

Rob - I think that things can only get better.

Troy - I am sure that you are not the neighbour from Hell.

Reasons said...

What a total pain! We have been quite lucky with neighbours, but as a kid I remember moving because we had awful neighbours. We are renting at the moment and it is something I worry about when we do come to buy. I wish you well and hope to goodness that they move, and soon.

Maddy said...

We're fortunate out here to have very good neighbours which is just as well as it's all open plan suburbia.
Best wishes

Maddy said...

We're fortunate out here to have very good neighbours which is just as well as it's all open plan suburbia.
Best wishes

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

The lane looks so pretty CW - and not a garden in sight! Agree with Maggie - perhaps he has a guilty conscience! Sorry about your difficult neighbours, they can indeed make life hell. Had that experience once. A x

Suburbia said...

I can't either but it is a very pretty lane to live down!

CG said...

I just love the way you write and your posts are always so interesting. You deserve better neighbours!!

cheshire wife said...

Reasons - hope that you manage to find some nice neighbours when you buy.

Maddy - you are very lucky.

SJA - once is enough.

Suburbia - things coud be better.

CG - thank you for your kind comment.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

What a beautiful place with such a horrible neighbor!! So sorry for your trouble...You have conducted yourself with such grace; given the circumstances, I'm not sure what I would have done!!! Bravo, to you! Thank you for stopping by, and honoring me by reading my post! Your kind remarks are so very appreciated! Cheers!!!! And best wishes for a very soon moving day for your naughty neighbor :-)

Sandi McBride said...

Our neighbors from hell live in front of us. Lucky for us there are quite a few trees between us and they...and we like it that way...dirt bikes and pit bulls do not good neighbors make..fences however make wonderful neighbors!
Great post...and lovely daffodils!
Sandi

cheshire wife said...

Sniffles - it would be good if they moved and someone nice moved in.

Sandi - I am glad that we are not alone.

david mcmahon said...

I wish him peace. That is the kindest thing I can say. It won't take him long to realise that you are a good neighbour.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

The moment people possess property the fun starts. Our last two arguments were both concerning boundries. I bet there's no boundries in the next world!

Sniffles and Smiles said...

YES,YES,YES! Everything is RIGHT with this world!!!! YOU so deserve your mention in POTD...Bravo! Bravo! Now, if we could just persuade that neighbor of yours to move...

Cheffie-Mom said...

The lane is lovely. I hope the "not so nice" neighbor has a change of heart. Congrats on POTD.

Eddie Bluelights said...

Came over from David to congtaulate you on POTD. However I was shocked to hear you have had such problems with neighbours. That is really such bad luck. Usually bad neighbours are unhappy beings abd even if they get their way they remain unhappy and entirely selfish. Perhaps some of us should come and be your friendly neighbours.

Frog in the Field said...

Bloody nightmare!!
I think my Mother may live next door to you, she lives with Del Boy..whotcha!!

cheshire wife said...

David - we would like some peace.

GOK - bounderies are not a problem here.

Sniffles - he has had the house for sale but houses aren't selling right now.

Cheffie-Mom - he isn't going to change.

Eddie - would be good to have some nice new neighbours.

Frog - pop in next time you come to see your mother.

Frog in the Field said...

You think I'll visit her?
Have you seen their gnomes and little plaques with 'funny' things on?
I shant be calling in, sorry.

cheshire wife said...

Frog - they don't have gnomes next door. It must be a different Del Boy.

Cynthia L. H. said...

It's one of those "good news --- bad news" scenarios...
At least you have a "good" neighbor on the one side!
Focus on those daffodils! Ahhhh! Beauty! And peaceful, too! Thanks for sharing!
Cynthia

Jo said...

no, you can't see the garden.
Our neighbours, they are great(in a sarcastic tone of voice) on one side, my son was assaulted by a drunken woman who has also threatened 'to smash my f****** head in" and on the other, she has only spoke once, last year (we have lived here 2 and half years), she snarled at me and hubby when we were trimming the joint privet, complaining it was falling on her decking, yet they also mutter when they are in the garden about the privet being overgrown!
Josie x

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