[robert waddell]

with the recent posts about this thorny subject i though i would give my views
at one time we had 18 neighbours some good some not so good farmers are the worst shites to have as neighbours townies coming to live the good life are a close second
farmers    two of them thought if we had more grass than them they had the right to graze it one even stripping a stone wall to gain access  the thick idiot placed the stones on the high side of the field  but anyway went to court it cost him £12000 and he does not speak to us now  another used to get winterers on with the owner coming on our land to check the sheep
another does not own the access to his fields (we do) and that also caused problems
the house next door to us was converted into a nursing home and despite protestations to the planners that it was land locked by us and could not have a suitable drainage outlet we had to have his raw shite coming onto our land this resulted in what the chief constable described as a feud a very funny one at that he had 59 complaints to plod about us  and all the dirty tricks that could be used were used
gates open both internally and onto the highway
fires started
metal shavings (drill swarf) put in a tractor
his final attempt was to accuse me of trying to run him over in armadale main street with his son as a witness while he was on holiday i was a lot younger then and thought it quite funny all his ways of getting his own back every year on his birthday there would be new charges brought against us  one thing i did learn in these situations give them enough rope the bastards will hang themselves as he did at the court appearance for attempting to run him over every thing was going his way describing the events leading up to his near death experience there was a recess for lunch our lawyer  researched a previous case and on returning  asked a specific question  he lied in court  case dismissed and no further incidents he also does not speak to me 
now one thing that people come to the country side for is the open spaces and the freedom  the freedom to let there dogs run wild and s**t all over the place we have been very lucky we have not been bothered with dogs running amok but i have seen some idiot nearly getting killed by stampeding cattle chasing his out of control Alsatian i must admit it was funny to watch from a distance as the dog came back to him for protection and him  exclaiming  O s**t !!!! as he and his dog legged it  he never did admit to that incident
dogs once they get the taste of blood there is only one solution for them  that momentary lapse of attention and they are back at it again yes it is the dogs that suffer because of bad training but what if it is a child that is in there jaws  your neighbours think it fun that tiddles is playing with you poultry or sheep any thing else while you are jumping up and down like buster blood vessel  and the neighbour smirking at you sends you into killer mode
neighbours a commodity you can do without but unfortunately cannot get away from unless you buy an island

[Sylvia]

I have neighbours. Lots of them. 99% I get on well with(well some are family ) It's only "her next door" I don't. She is one of those folk who think you must have her permission to do anything. My ducks quack=complaints, my dogs bark(she has a pack of Westies and works all day!) =complaints. I ignore them if I can but the crunch came when I heard her say to her husband that I neglect my dogs (this came about because she complained that when I disinfect my yard the disinfectant was running under her fence, so I didn't hose there. Then she said, very loudly, that I neglect my dogs because she could smell dog p***)
This, and you will understand this Dogandjo, made me snap and I threatened, amongst other things to knock her head off. It surprised the OH, it surprised her and it also surprised me   I am not normally aggressive and wouldn't recognise an insult if it came gift-wrapped.
The upshot is that we now fail to register each other's existence, if she comes out as I'm going in etc. you would think we were both blind and deaf. Suits me and, apparently, her
So, Robert, best if your awful neighbours don't talk to you,that way you can pretend they're not there

[ellisr]

Sylvia do you live in my village as you have described my neighbour to a T.

My latest is that my other neighbour has got a cockeral or 2 and I have had the council round already with complaints about my cockeral, after all of the fuss last year that ended up in my cockerals being destroyed.

I was fizzing, I stomped over with a picture of a cockeral and a hen and asked him if he knew the difference when he said 'yes' so I pointed out that I only now have hens (waving the picture of a hen at him) I told him to stop making false accusations or I would take him to court for defermation of character. I have also reported him to the village council for this so that they now have a record of his stupidity. I have confronted him with the photographic evidence of him watching me on my land and told him if he doesn't stop I will be reporting this all to the police along with the diary I have kept of events for the last year.

Needless to say he has been as quiet as a church mouse for a while and life is good and quiet.

[plumseverywhere]

I am so so lucky. we have a row of cottages that back onto our field and they love seeing my children playing, the sheep, the goats even love hearing the cockerel crow.  I've had horrible neighbours, really horrible ones that threatened to kill my husband as he held our then 4 week old daughter in his arms but I'm so glad we've moved to where we are now. I really feel for anyone who feels uncomfortable in their own homes, its one of the worst feelings - almost like stalking when someone is watching your every move waiting to trip you up 

And "OI Robert Waddell!!!" I was born in London and moved to the country for smallholding so I guess I'm an ex-townie - although I did move out of London aged 7 

[sellickbhoy]

well, my irritant neighbour must be having kittens this week

she sold a strip of her land - as she was broke - to someone who wanted to build a bistro and some self catering chalets

after dragging it out for nearly 3 years, the sale went through last year (it was the receipt of this cash that meant she no longer had to talk to me, as she was hoping I would buy her flat - leaving her the land for her horses - if the sale fell through)

well, after a year, work started this monday - she has been out moving the boundary line and complaining to the builders who have had to park near her house and on the public highway (she hates this)

then the farmers on the other side finally got the combine in to cut the barley down, so they've been out all day.

I've stacked a load of firewood up behind her fence - higher than the fence, so that is also annoying her

i've also just ordered 50 leylandii to put up around the bottom of my garden........in about 3 years, her bog of a "garden" will be in constant shade. but on the plus side, i won't have to look at the s***hole!!!! if she gets an order to have it cut back, then i'll just have to have another bonfire :-)

[doganjo]

Chris, don't forget it costs money to take trees down - I have leylands too and they are now 40feet high.  I can't afford to take them down.

My neighbours up north were interfering busybodys as well as tree huggers in the worst sense of the name.  I love trees but not when they are in a  bad condition and I can replace them with indigenous saplings - they have got the council on their side (in their pockets too probably) and put TPOs on my trees so I am finding it difficult to get planning on my own land!

[robert waddell]

annie there was a planning aplication for a house in airdrie   the site had overgrown trees that had self seeded the trees got a TPO  on them no house built 

[northfifeduckling]

I feel like you, plums, ever so lucky! After 10 years with difficult neighbours (sending the hunt through our garden to prove a point - that we are worthless sh*&s being one) and butting in about everything we did with their veto right to any build in our deeds...they sadly perished in a tragic car accident - nothing I would wish to anyone, however nasty! The youngsters are lovely and friendly and we all can keep to ourselves - the only visits are now from their freeranging hens who seems to want to get to know our boy  . My other neighbour turned good friend after the tragedy next door, gifted us her greenhouse in exchange for fresh salads for life and she grew up on a farm, so does not mind the crowing each morning - she actually told us that we had a cockerel 
I hope that all the difficult situations resolve themselves for all of you poor sufferers! 

[princesspiggy]

wev had bad neighbours in the past, we were forever having police, council and dog warden visits for no reason at all. and had our beautiful wensleydale lamb poisoned by weedkiller, all while a family member was fighting cancer.
thankfully the worst have moved away, and the rest i follow the philosophy - keep ur friends close and ur enemies closer!
when uv had bad neighbours, u do appreciate the good ones!