Britons 'should know their neighbours' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40811530

I find it highly unlikely Ulster and Scottish folk aren't talking to their neighbours. We'll chat to anyone.

My new neighbours are great, they put the bins out and take in my parcels. Even offered me their WiFi password.

I've donated some excess toys to their kids, taken in parcels for them, exchanged sweety gifts etc.

I'd say I'm extremely lucky in that sense!

I haven't spoken to one set of neighbours for many years. Long story, but he's a tawt. Having said that, I always took in parcels for them, but since the basterd refused to accept a parcel for me a few weeks ago, that won't happen again.

Haven't really spoken to the neighbours on the other side. Don't know them well enough to say anything but the woman is very shouty and sweary, and they just seem.. a bit strange.

Oi. What's wrong with shouty and sweary?
Actually, I'm not so shouty, but I am sweary.
As for neighbours ... the house to one side of us is empty and up for rent, so nobody there to be friends with, and the ones on the other side seem nice enough.
When we moved in I had a chat with the bloke and even though me and blokes wife haven't properly met yet, we always say hello to each other when we pass (usually when I'm taking the bin in and she's arriving home from work).
It's a bit difficult being social with neighbours when you work night-shift.

Mark

Absolutely nothing. I am both shouty and sweary.

We are politely cordial with neighbours on one side, although their weed smoking d!ck of a son is more of a challenge - gaps in the wall under the floor allow the smoke to flood into our lounge, and he smokes a sh!tload of it. Until recently, we were very friendly with the old lady on the other side but, over the last year she has become increasingly erratic, cranky and, well.. just frikkin nuts.

We get on very well with some who live directly opposite and we are on simple "smile and greet" terms with several others in the street.

I talk to all of our neighbours.

My wife breakfasts with one of the neighbours every couple of months.

They are a very close knit community, they party a lot together - every month or so they have a party at one of the houses, we aren't part people, so we don't fit in as well as we could, but we do talk to them.

One neighbour is pyschologically disturbed and shouts at herself and others, around the clock!

Keys in a bowl, David?

Mark

They don't call him big_D for nuthin'...

Neighbour on one side is an elderly lady. She has carers several times a day. I don't really say much to her because she never goes out of the house. Neighbour on the other side we call "psycho lady". I don't know if she's really crazy but the neighbour next to her is a nice chap and we wave and say hello in passing. He's the one who referred to this neighbour as crazy and has had. A lot of dealings with her in the past. Neighbour across the road is retired and often takes in our parcels. I don't know anyone else.

That was the 70s, there's an app for that these days.

Seriously, no idea, I don't think so though... But my other half would kill me if I tried to find out!

I recognise my neighbours and try to be friendly and unoffensive where possible and I've never really had any problems.
Thing is, a large number of houses on my street are rented including mine and the ones either side I think so it can be a bit of a revolving door.

My parents seem to know half the village where they live (near Glasgow), although some of that is to do with mum being a Guider so she knows a lot of parents. Plus they've lived there for nearly 40 years which probably helps.

Yes, and, err, no. Both sets of neighbours are cause for concern in one way or another. One lot royally pissed me off last year when my cat was very ill - about a week from dying - and really I’m still uncomfortable talking to him because of that. Basically, he was putting in thin wires into his fences and gates to act as a barrier. They look more like snares and a simple obstacle for a cat to avoid. I know I shouldn’t hold a grudge, but that really did cut me to the bone at a time when I least needed to hear that, and they are still there.

The other lot are insane, and I do have a question about them which I think I’ll be asking in a separate thread as I do not want to hijack this one.

We live in a small village and I'm on speaking terms with most of the village, I'm known in the area as 'she's the one who's a paramedic' which is nice, if not strictly accurate yet Most people also know Red by sight, although the fact that he's only here at the weekends means he's not well-known yet!

We only have people-neighbours on one side and they are lovely, they know Red is away during the week and that I work shifts so they keep an eye on things around here when my car is gone. Our postman also does the same incidentally The other side and the back are all horses and I'm on speaking terms with all the close owners and waving terms with the rest.

Part of it is no doubt down to me being part of the bell-ringing community, I'm quite well known in 3 different areas because of community work with the bell-ringers and choir. I quite like it, there's an elderly gentlemen down the street who was a bomber pilot in WW2 and has brilliant stories, I take him duck eggs when I have a surplus, I also supply the local community centre when they do baking days for the elderly and kiddies although I haven't actually stayed to take part yet. We're part of our community heating oil syndicate and I like the feel of people looking out for each other.

It's one of the things I think I would hate about living in a city, so easy to become an anonymous island, who would notice if something happened to you? Equally, we have the ability to keep ourselves to ourselves when we're both at home, our village is nice and concerned, but not meddlesome, Spencer down the road quite often brings my bin back up the drive if I'm on shift so the house doesn't look empty, it's nice things rather than nosey things!

We have some small village/rural houses. Whilst some patients know each other quite well and looked after each other, equally there are patients who don't have anyone to talk to, have no friends or family, and no one to check up on them. Often the first time we know about a problem is when distant family visit around christmas/new year and suddenly everyone's really upset/angry that nothing's been done for their relative who they've ignored for the past twelve months.

On one side we have a muslim family who are the nicest neighbours I've ever lived next to. The father is a real character and has shown me photos of his life in Pakistan when he was doing military service and rode horses for ceremonial duties and was a pilot. I haven't asked him how he comes to be living here in Kent and working for the local council. If they have a family get together, they often bring us round food which is always gratefully received and hastily devoured. Mind you, some of it has been ferociously hot.

On the other side we have people who have never spoken to us in the year since we moved here. To tell the truth they seem a little pompous to me but they are probably OK.

Incidentally, Christmas before last I took a temp job with UPS as a driver's assistant. Due to the sheer volume of parcels at that time of the year they often take on extra help. Our postcodes covered a wide range of neighbourhoods from very wealthy gated estates to slightly run-down tower blocks. I was surprised at how many people actively disliked (or loathed) their neighbours. Both rich and poor, many have a real grudge to bear, often along the lines of: 'They keep ordering stuff and expecting us to take it in, but they wouldn't do it for us!'

And some people are just mad.