To let path become unusable

[ALiensAbductedMe]

I live in a terraced property, I am at the end. The other properties have access to their homes from the front and via a path across the back of my garden, which when I moved in was only separated from my garden by an ankle height flimsy picket fence. The path is separate to my garden and I do not use it or have rights to it according to the deeds. When we bought the house 2 years ago we were told my the previous owner that it is hardly ever used by the neighbours.

Even so I didn't like the idea of the neighbours being able to walk past our private garden and see in whenever they fancied so I erected fencing to shut it off. Since then it has become overgrown and virtually unusable.

The other day one of the neighbours had a sofa devivered and needed it taken round the back, obviously when they tried this wasn't possible due to waist height growth of brambles. The neighbour knocked on the door rather irate asking why I hadn't told them about the path not being usable. I explained I fenced the path off two years ago and it is nothing to do with me.

He started demanding that I let the sofa people climb over into my garden and take the sofa in that way, which I would have happily allowed if he hadn't muttered that I was a stupid tart. When I asked him to repeat he said that before I moved in the previous occupant had maintained the pathway and kept it clear in return for being able to use it to have a bigger garden most of the time and that I should have told him I was going to fence it off like that as he would have done it himself and that it was dangerous as firemen etc wouldn't be able to get round. I see his point, but it's not my path, now is fenced off from my garden and if he wanted it maintained he should have done it himself or at least spoken to me to see what I wanted to do.

So was I unreasonable not to maintain the path, not tell the other neighbours I wasn't maintaining it, and fencing it off?

DH thinks I was unreasonable not letting the sofa delivery guys have access, as in the end they couldn't deliver as it wouldn't go through the front door, but I was so angry he called me a stupid tart and was shouting in front of my kids...

I don't see how getting the sofa into your garden would help him anyway, since there's another neighbours garden in between. How high are the fences?!

I love how this your DH has been dragged into this pantomime's list of villains! Next you'll be told to LTB for not protecting your honour!

I lived in a set-up like this (house on end no access rest of houses shared access). We were the only people who ever used it so we cleared it and went round and got permission from everyone for a lock and generally behaved like adults and didn’t think it was our Neighbours’ duty to do things for us. I suppose we could have insisted that everyone do their but but it never crossed my mind to make all the neighbors hate me!

If you have no access rights i don't see how you could maintain it anyway, after all that would be trespassing

Id have let him use my garden for his sofa until he made the silly tart comment, he would have blown it then too. You played it well

Nosey, you had no access but you were the only people who accessed it..? Confused.

YANBU!! I’d want my dh to go around , make sure his wife (if he has one) was there to hear and say clear your own path and don’t expect favours from women you have called stupid tarts. Also, you may be happy for people to treat your wife like that but don’t call my wife a stupid tart again.

I'm a fan of your diagram.

Not your property = not your problem.