Do you get on well with your neighbours? Would you want to live next to them for 96 years? That is the extraordinary record of Alex Baker who has never left the two-up, two-down terraced house in Portsmouth where he was born.
Being on bad terms with your neighbour must be extremely stressful and upsetting, with most disputes about loud music, car parking and leylandi. There certainly doesn’t seem to be as much neighbourly love about today, with complaints soaring. I am fortunate not to have that problem, I couldn’t bear a fallout with Tina next door, we help each other out a lot.
Alex’s wife Edith fondly remembers the good old days:
“It was always very friendly. Our key was always in the door and anybody who wanted to come in and have a cup of tea and a biscuit was welcome.
“You could go out and find somebody to talk to – not like now. You can go for a week and not see any neighbours.”
Wonder if such could be today – key in the door, cuppa tea and the like? I’d love it to be possible.
James, I wonder who your neighbours are in the Russian Federation? Do you live in a concrete apartment bloc or a dacha? Maybe you could invite them round for a glass of vodka! From what I remember of my brief days in Russia, they had very sweet teeth and would place sugar lumps on their tongue and then drink the tea, often mint tea.
Yes, if only it were possible now! I had both worlds in Cardiff – excellent neighbours on the one side and “Mrs-Eyes-and-Ears-of-the-World” on the other. But it was a street where we all looked out for each other.
The only place I have known it to be like that is Shetland. In fact you usually got the feeling of giving insult if you passed a croft and didn’t walk in (half bottle of whisky in your back pocket, of course…).
For most of my life I’ve been blessed with good neighbours. To have the opposite would be horrible.
Ian
I think I would really like to have Welshcakes as a neighbour as she always has some great food cooking.
What a lovely story. I’m afraid those places where the key can be left in the door are almost impossible to find.
i tired to be freindly with my neighbours and they just are not interested. ah well, what can you do!
There are moments when as in Cheers, or in the idyllic English Village
“It’s nice where everyone knows your name”
But at other times it is nice to have the anonymity City Life can offer – after all would I want to ‘live in each others pockets’ if that meant living anywhere near the Queen Vic.
We can’t choose our parents (or relatives), but it is comforting to know we can choose our friends (and neighbours). Still, having a neighbour from hell must be a nightmare, if one does not want to move or is ‘unable’ to move.
And unless we build flats (or apartments) with better sound proofing, we are accumulating yet more karma for the next generation. Just as we build houses (streets) with ever smaller gardens & space, and too few parking spaces.