Stiles, kissing gates and what they are for
Stiles, kissing gates and footbridges are the furniture of a British path. Using them well keeps you and the stock safer.
Between the lane and the open hill there is usually a piece of carpentry. A step stile, a ladder, a stone squeeze, a kissing gate, a narrow plank over a ditch: these are the joints of the path network. They look quaint in a photograph. In use they hold stock, keep feet out of a bog, and ask a little of your knees. Using them as they were built makes the day kinder for you and for the field.
The several kinds of stile
A step stile is the familiar pair of wooden or stone treads over a fence or wall. A ladder stile is taller, with a rail, and it appears where the boundary itself is high. In stone country a narrow gap in a wall, often called a squeeze stile, lets a person through and keeps a sheep on the proper side. All of them want a free hand. Pass poles, a dog or a bulky sack over first, then follow.
Try the wood before you give it your weight. A loose tread is common after a wet winter. Come down facing the structure, so you can see the landing. If the stile is rotten, do not tear a new hole in the hedge. Return to a sound crossing if you can, and report the break later with a grid reference. A smashed fence helps neither the next walker nor the animals.
What the kissing gate is doing
A kissing gate is a small pen with a hinged gate that swings inside a frame. A person can pass. A flock, if the gate is hung properly, cannot. The name is old and slightly comic. The job is plain stock control. Swing it the way it was made to swing. Climbing the frame because the hinge sticks bends the iron and teaches animals a gap.
Rucksacks catch. So do people with a stiff hip, and so does anyone with a child in a carrier. Some newer gates are built wider for that reason, and a parish that swaps a stile for a gate has made the path usable for more of the people who pay for it. If your party cannot climb, read the route for stiles before you promise an easy afternoon. The wider courtesy of gates and fields sits in the Countryside Code.
Footbridges, wet timber and one at a time
A footbridge exists because the ground on either side is not the path. It may be two planks over a ditch or a longer span above a burn in spate. If the deck moves, cross singly and keep to the middle. Wet timber, especially where moss has taken hold, is slick, and a handrail is there to be held.
After heavy rain, look at the water before you look at the view. If the boards are awash or the bank has dropped away, that bridge is no longer the crossing you wanted. Turn back or use a line the map still supports. Hopping to a midstream boulder feels bold for a moment and then becomes somebody else's problem. A sole that grips, of the kind discussed in choosing walking boots, matters more on green planks than on a dry lane.
Dogs, poles and the queue
A dog lifted over a stile and then sent ahead has missed the point of the barrier. Where there are sheep, cattle or birds on the ground, the lead goes on before the crossing. The detail of that courtesy is in walking with a dog. Poles are better collapsed or handed across, so they do not meet the person coming the other way at eye height.
At a busy stile, patience is the whole skill. The person already on the step, or the one coming uphill, has the harder move. A short queue on a sunny ridge is normal. It is also a chance to glance at the map while you wait.
Leave the furniture working
A gate beside a stile is for farm work and for people who need the level way. If you open it, shut it. If a sign says the gate is the route while the stile is falling to pieces, use the gate. When you are home, a plain report with a grid reference is a real help. The next person may be older, smaller, or leading an animal that is none of your business and every reason the latch must still catch.
Frequently asked questions
Can I climb a locked gate when the stile has collapsed?
Climbing a gate is a good way to break the hinge and to meet whatever the gate was holding. Look for the proper line, go back to the last sound crossing, or follow a signed diversion. Report the damage when you are off the hill.
Why do some paths have stiles and others only gates?
Age, local custom and replacement work all show in the woodwork. A stile can be simpler to keep in a hedge. A modern gate often means someone has tried to let more people through without a climb.
Are stone stiles slippery?
In rain, frost and polished hollows, yes. Take them slowly, keep your weight over your feet, and use a sound wall as a handhold. The time you save by rushing a stone step is not time you will remember.