By: Blonde Two
I wonder if stiles are a peculiarly British form of boundary crossing. I don’t remember seeing many in New Zealand but then, in New Zealand, you aren’t allowed to roam around over farmers’ land in the same way that you are here.
I find stiles a mixed blessing. If you have ever tried to climb a Dartmoor wall in the rain and dark, whilst hiding from the traffic and giggling hysterically with your fellow Blonde, you will know that wall climbing can be exceedingly tricky. So tricky, in fact, that you are really not allowed to do it at all. We Blondes do try very hard to stick to the rules (and indeed write a lot of them) but just occasionally, our Blondicity can leave us with very few choices. Stiles remove the necessity of wall climbing but are much more annoying than gates (I am sure our gatekeeper Gatey will agree).
The stile below is not a favourite of mine as it really is quite high. It is, however, not at all wobbly, nor is it covered in slippery green slime and it does have a rather sturdy handrail. I suspect it might be a very busy stile for one particular fast approaching weekend. Does anybody know where it is?
I think you’re right, gates are a more civil way of crossing a boundary. However stiles can offer great entertainment when slippery (as long as it’s someone else is using them) 😉
They can cause you to drop your map in a muddy puddle in the middle of an important navigation test too!
Its in the wall of the lane leading down the from the Dartmoor Inn – approx. SX 526 854 – I think ?
Absolutely right, well done Tim. We have past it many times and used it a few.
These stiles are great except when with a dog! In Snowdonia, these seeem to be the only form of stiles they have and our doggie, well a puppy at the time, became quite expert at navigating them. However, he is far less keen to tackle the Dartmoor ladder styles and getting him across usually results in someone getting very dirty!!!
There are two very like it at Chapel Stile, Langdale. I had great difficulty getting 3 stone of soggy doggy over them. The way up is relatively easy, but coming down can be quite dangerous for dogs, who are inclined to leap wildly into space, in the hope of a safe landing. My other pet hate is kissing gates that have not been constructed to permit the wearing of a rucksack. Lots of those in Devon.
P.S. WHORTLE THE CUCKOO is safely back on Dartmoor, and little Chris has made it back to the UK for at least the third time – as he was 2 years old when caught and tagged, it is probably the fourth time he has migrated successfully!
Hooray for Whortle and Chris – what amazing adventurers!
We have had some very amusing “stuck in the kissing gate” moments – some of them in front of our youngsters! A few of our stiles have doggie exit holes. Not big enough for Blondes to crawl through …
Try explaining that to a K9! Brough-the-Scruff can’t see why I waste time going over the top. He puts it down to human dim-wittedness.