Neighbours Indiana Jones-ing their way into our garden

[Dadfromthesea]

This is making me seethe and chuckle in equal measure.

At the end of our garden are some big old fir trees, then the boundary fence. After that there’s a little stream, and if you kept going you’d find the fence of the people who live in the house behind (let’s call them Mr and Mrs Jones), then their back garden.

The Joneseseses have just bought a big seating unit thing and plonked it at the back end of their garden (the bit nearest us). It’s about 10ft from my boundary fence and a good 70ft from the back of my house - we’re lucky to have a big garden - and there’s the fir trees as well which make it a pretty thick barrier.

But they decided they want some privacy and put up a big canvass barrier. Fair enough, I don’t care.

Except…

They’ve tied it to our fir trees!

They’ve clambered over their own fence, slung a ladder (an actual LADDER) over the stream, scrambled up the bank, and cable tied the bloody thing to our trees! Without so much as a word!

They did it in the dead of night! Came down the other day to discover the bloody Shroud of Turin cable tied to my trees! The ladder was still there on the bank of the stream.

So obviously, being British and terrified of confrontation, I did the natural thing of not mentioning it to them but instead cutting the fucker down. It’s now in my garage.

And they’ve replaced it with another!! It arrived overnight this morning!

Just to be clear - I don’t care that they want to shield themselves from us. It’s a dark green thing so I can barely even see it. But I can see it, and I do care that they’ve gone on a bloody Navy SEAL Commando mission, twice, to my garden to put the bloody thing up!

Yes I could go and talk to them but a) I’ve never said a word to them before b) they might kill me and c) this is funnier.

But tell me I ANBU please.

That was what I originally thought, but the OP actually says:
At the end of our garden are some big old fir trees, then the boundary fence. After that there’s a little stream, and if you kept going you’d find the fence of the people who live in the house behind (let’s call them Mr and Mrs Jones), then their back garden.
So now I agree with @Coatscoatscoast and I think the wire fence is OP's boundary fence. NDN does have a fence.

Do they know for sure that you're the owner of that garden? Just a thought. They might have asked permission (and been granted it) by some other neighbours. Just think of the poor Smithses, sitting there saying "so when are the Joneseseseses going to put their shroud up in our fir trees?" to each other for the past 3 days.

I live next door to a privately owned field that used to be a popular spot for dog walkers, but the owners closed it to the general public a few years ago over lockdown because the livestock (and local houses ) was endangered by people setting fires in the long, dry grass. Ever since we've been receiving unpleasant letters telling us we have 'no right' to stop people walking there. I wish people would get their facts straight before acting.

The Surry council link I put in earlier - you could be house b in their explanation pic- fence your side but still owning half of stream behind the fence -or they could own both banks and stream goes though their land.

They still shouldn't be attaching stuff to your trees but may be less trespassing depending on where the boundary is.

If you do own half the stream - crocodile heads your side of steam and if there is more of a bank your side than appear in photo - could throw some deck chairs over your fence and past your trees - all possibilities - but it would probably need a conversation with them and a check of your deeds - not sure if you can check other people's deeds on HM land registry but may need to do that as well.

Maybe they work all day? Or it takes two people to put them up and late at night is the only time they are both there, or the only time their helpful friend can come round?

I've dealt with a case - two properties both had long gardens. At some point, decades ago, one of the gardens fenced off the bottom section to use as a chicken run. Both properties changed hands - both new purchasers thought that the section enclosed by the former chicken run was theirs, and that the fence furthest from them was their boundary.

The title deeds confirmed that chicken run area belonged to Property A. The owners of Property B were not happy - they'd bought on the understanding that the back garden was large enough to get planning permission to build a second property on, but without the final chicken-run area, it wasn't.

Moral of the tale - check the title deeds.

I know it’s boring and may possibly destroy the fun of this thread, but a glance at your house deeds or the land registry website really is in order here. Could they have bought the bit of land - and the stream - between your gardens?

Just go and talk to them and hand back the sheets, and find out what they're thinking!

The house I lived in before had a long garden with a stream at the bottom. On the other side of the stream was a steep hill and then the fence belonging to the neighbour behind me at the top of the hill-quite far from the stream.

One day I saw the neighbour children had climbed over the fence, down the hill and playing in the stream and the bank on my side-so in my garden. I spoke to the Mum and she said it was her stream. It wasn't but I did ask that she not let them climb the fence as I had a dog loose/toddlers etc and felt uncomfortable. Obviously not a Mumsnetter as she apologised and agreed her children were basically playing in my garden and it never happened again. 😂

Even if your neighbour think the stream is their's they surely can't think they own the trees on the other side of your fence?
So the stream isn't the issue-it is the shroud actually tied to your trees!!!

I'd write a note from the trees and stick it up where they are cable tying saying hi , now just cos I'm a fir does not mean I consent to bondage. Have some respect . You didn't even ask my if I liked being tied up first - I can tell you I do not . Please leave me hanging free as nature intended. Trees have feeling too you know .
Yours faithfully
Teresa green

except in one of the posts she states the WIRE FENCE IS NOT OUR BOUNDARY, she has 2 fences,

I remember that story!!! Fucking excellent….

if accuse OP of being Douglas Addams but I think he’s dead……i mean the OP might be to now intelligence have kicked in 😉

This is how I read it - and if the wire fence is the only boundary fence i can sort of understand their thinking in trying to block it off, especially if it’s slightly higher. The shroud itself is in no man’s land but it’s been attached to the trees

Loving your work @Coatscoatscoast , especially OP as an Ikea scissor wielding Ninja. That looks about right, from what he has said, except the Indiana-Joneses' fence is not as tall.

Ah good point! So OP does have two fences, but the neighbour also has a fence.

from a previous post

"The photos don’t really do the situation justice though. And bear in mind that although you can see their seating thing quite clearly, I am deep inside my own fir trees at this point. It’s basically invisible to us from our garden. The wire fence you can see is also not the real fence. That’s the other side of their new Berlin Wall. "

It’s time to stop being passive aggressive and actually speak to the neighbours or this is going to carry on back and forth forever…

This is absolutely crazy. I think you need to erect larger than life plastic (for rain protection) pictures of your family's heads on 6 foot poles looking towards their garden area.

Ok I’m that case I’m baffled 😂

OP we have questions that need answering! why the Fuq do you have 2 fences? where did the wire fence come from? who put it up? what does it achieve?

@Dadfromthesea

Now I've seen your photo I definitely think that cutting windows x 4 with 4 squares per window would be spectacular - like c hild's house drawing.

These people are mad.

Unfortunately though, I think once the Poles are involved that means war in Europe.

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1058467/view/child-s-drawing-of-a-house

Please keep cutting it down this is so funny 🤣 wonder if they know it’s you cutting it down

No doubt its been mentioned but you'll probably find that you own the laaaaaand right down the riverbank until it hits the water. We've trees like like as well. You need to bring a couple of deckchairs down and sit out all night with your scissors🤣

We have two fences, a chainlink one put in by the housebuilder and then just inside that a wooden one that we put up ourselves.

I am so massively territorial that I would have to actually cut down my trees and build my own patio area staring straight at them

This is golden. Please continue to take down EVERYTHING they put up (under cover of darkness obvs) and see how long their English Reserve lasts.

Maybe they think they're just blowing away in the hefty nighttime breeze? Hence the poles...

YANBU but you are being just as passive aggressive, have a conversation