There's a large villa situated on a corner plot near to where I live, the occupiers of which have I think vacated the house, which may or may not be a factor in pointing towards an answer to my question.
A very long high wall surrounds the property and I've recently noticed that a blue string or cord has been positioned along the top of the wall and spanning two large gates. At about 1 metre intervals, 'eyelets' (?) have been screwed into the top of the wall and the string passes through these and along the top of the whole boundary wall.
I've never some across this before and I'm thinking it's some form of (home made?) alarm system which will sound if anyone climbs over the wall and touches the string.
Anyone seen this done before? I'm just curious.

Do the parts of the eyelets that the "string" runs through appear to be insulated, (made of plastic or similar) ?

Most electric fence wire as used for livestock appears to be string or cord at first sight but has a fine strand of copper wire or similar running through it which is not necessarily visible at first sight.

Possibly such wire as this, which normally runs from a fairly low voltage supply, could be utilised as a deterent against either 2 legged or 4 legged intruders ?

Thanks Dick. I'd never thought of an electric 'fence'. So as not to post an even longer message I omitted to mention that the 'string' doesn't pass cleanly through the eyelets but appears to have been threaded through, looped back and through the eyelet again and then on to the next one. That's what puzzled me as I couldn't see how it would be easily 'triggered' if it wasn't entirely free to move through each eyelet. Also I thought surely a cat would set an alarm off.
If it's electrified though you may just have solved it. I will investigate next time I'm passing.
Much obliged.

Hi

There is a part of a jewish faith that "extends a boundry during a religous fesival" if there is an artifical boundry set up. I don´t remember the details but do remember it was in a leafy Surry suburb - residents object to the wire which was at a very high level.

Googled it and found

Shabbat is a day set apart from all others, differentiating between the sacred (kodesh) and the mundane (hol), between the work week and the day designated for rest, family, and spirituality. On Shabbat all activities associated with work are prohibited, and according to traditional Jewish law include formal employment as well as traveling, spending money, and carrying items outside the home, in the public domain.

The prohibition against carrying includes house keys, prayer books, canes or walkers, and even children who cannot walk on their own. Recognizing the difficulties this rule imposes, the sages of the Talmud devised a way to allow for carrying in public without breaking the rule. Through this means, called an eruv, communities are able to turn a large area into one that is considered, for Jewish law purposes, a large private domain, in which items may be carried.

What It Is

The term eruv refers to the act of mixing or combining, and is shorthand for eruv hazerot--the mixing of domains, in this case, the private (rashut hayahid) and the public (rashut harabim). An eruv does not allow for carrying items otherwise prohibited by Jewish law on Shabbat, such as money or cell phones.

Having an eruv does not mean that a city or neighborhood is enclosed entirely by a wall. Rather, the eruv can be comprised of a series of pre-existing structures (walls, fences, electrical poles and wires) and/or structures created expressly for the eruv, often a wire mounted on poles. In practice, then, the eruv is a symbolic demarcation of the private sphere, one that communities come together to create.


Davexf

So if we don't hear from you again, we'll know it was electrified.

The fact that the cable is looped back through the eyelets makes the electric fence theory look a little doubtful and the theory of Dxf more likely,.... unless someone else comes up with other ideas ?

I have added a codicil to my will to ensure the circumstances of my demise are posted on this thread.
Also, DFX's theory may be correct, but it's been in place for quite a few weeks

I've heard of the rather strange Jewish practice before. I think part of London is de marked in this way.

From reading Dfx's post the activities mentioned are not allowed 'outside the home - in the public domain'.

Therefore unless this string encloses more than just one property this is not likely to be the explanation.

An aside; aren't religious beliefs weird?

I have no idea what it may be.

An aside; aren't religious beliefs weird? 100% yes

another aside hahah I laughed at how many got 'Dxf' wrong.