I.P. Boundaries

Boundaries are tricky things. Personal boundaries and land boundaries.

My friends Pete and Emma Fotheringay know all about that. They live in a little cottage on the outskirts of town, with a paddock at the back. They bought the paddock after moving in and it’s right behind their garden. The problem is that there’s a strip of land between them and the paddock that stops them getting to it directly, part of the next door neighbour’s garden. It used to be a farm track until the other end was blocked by new housing in the 30s, and the neighbour bought the land from the farmer.

Mr Jackson, the neighbour, had done nothing with the land, apart from let it become overgrown. There are even a couple of sizeable trees on it now. Pete and Emma have tried to buy it several times without success. In fact a lot of animosity grew up because Mr Jackson wouldn’t even let them walk across his land to get to their paddock. Instead, they have to go several hundred yards round to get there, although the paddock’s so close they could throw stones into it from their garden. It’s been a real frustration and a big bone of contention, although they do get plenty of exercise seeing to the horses!

Anyway, that was the situation until Mr Jackson died recently. A young couple, Geoff and Jane Hill, bought the house next door and started to renovate it. Pete and Emma went round to welcome them and inevitably, the strip of land was discussed. It turned out that Geoff and Jane were struggling a bit with the mortgage and were only too happy to sell off the land to Pete and Emma. Of course, my friends were delighted, and with that, they took to the Hills.