I think you are missing my point Andy! The problem is that there are all
sorts of things that are subject to the words if, and, but and maybe in
connection with boundaries and the law. Your statements were without much
qualification particularly your assertion that "Conventionally, but not
always, as you look down your garden, you are responsible for the fence on
the left" without any qualification is simply wrong. It is seldom possible
to set out "rules" that apply to every situation. The garden law site has
quite a bit more detail than either you or I quoted. Even so it is not an
exhaustive statement of all the possibilities. Unfortunately with ever
higher housing density, and therefore smaller gardens, people become ever
more possessive over a few square feet of land that they perceive as theirs.
This has been exacerbated by the fact that the Land Registry plans often
don't show enough detail, or are not of large enough scale to be quite sure
to within a few inches, or even a foot, of the precise position. Enormous
sums of money are wasted every year by people arguing over tiny strips of
land that are worth much less than the legal fees spent on them. Having
recently had to deal with a problem about my own boundary I learnt quite a
lot than I already knew. My property and the adjoining one had been conveyed
four times by the same firm of solicitors (A large nationally known firm
with many employees) by four different individuals who all missed the same
error! Luckily the error was so large it was relatively easy to sort out
with the help of the Land Registry who sent a surveyor to check out the
whole thing. Even so I suspect that my chainlink fence is some six inches
over the actual legal boundary. Fortunately it borders a three acre orchard
so in practical terms it makes no difference particularly as it has been
there for more than twenty years without any query from the neighbour. Teh
only "rule" is to try and stay on good terms with your neighbour and if
possible get any changes recorded in writing and with photographs.