Once upon a time about 7 onths ago just as we had moved here i noticed the outside tap had a slight drip so decided to change the tap for a new one , turned the stopcock off in the house and drained the water off at its lowest point then went to the outside tap and low and behold still got full presure water so went to the mains before the meter in the drive way and switched that off water stoped allowing the tap change but had me thinking where is the branch from the mains situated . Now the fun started yesterday wifey was laying some new weed barrier below our palm trees and asked could I cut off the triangle created at the bottom edge and re lay the kerb stones to create an irregular oblong area , And yes you have guessed it i found the feed pipe with the pick axe about 7inches below ground level 1/2 inch copper pipe with no protection and curved round to where the stand pipe is . Luckly i remembered it was connected to the mains in so dived to meter access point and turned off the tap worked to late last evening repairing the pipe but if i had nt changed tap early doors i would of wasted time turning off house stop **** and had a flood in my workshop . So i guess the moral of this tale is never take for granted that past owners of houses used common sence or best practice solutions just another job added to list of male hen ups that need sorting and what a fun bankholiday weekend .