Upside-down gates 4: the final edition
Editor at Naturenet
Uncooperative crusty. Unofficial Isle of Wight cultural ambassador. Conservation, countryside and the environment, with extra stuff about spiders.
Latest posts by Matthew Chatfield (see all)
- Complaining about the Mainland - 17th August, 2024
- New island designation – is it just greenwash? - 26th April, 2024
- Police and Crime Commissioners – a solution or a problem? - 21st April, 2024
Not a bad idea for a thread, but the Ranger certainly learnt a thing or two from his wise readers – really all this should have been about ‘back-to-front gates’. They were never upside down. So to end, how about this for one by folk who really, really ought to know better. This gate featured on the ‘creature comforts’ animated cartoons that promoted the new Countryside Code for the Countryside Agency in 2004. Can anyone spot one other thing wrong with this gate? There might be two or possibly even three if you’re being hyper-critical.
Promotional card for the new Countryside Code
That’s enough about gate orientation for now… well, unless you find a real corker, then do take a photo and send it to the Ranger!
I reckon the ‘headboard’ is actually a set of three hurdles. Not unreasonable. The sheep do look a bit dumbstruck… then I suppose most sheep do.
PS I will never look at a gate the same way again! Thanks for the insight – I never would have known!
And what is that headboard looking thing behind the sheep? I’m guessing a bridge? For no river? Or even ditch? and right in the way of the entrance to the field?
Are the sheep in fact all tangled to it? They appear stuck to the spot!
Bless you both, you’re certainly right about the diagonal. Perhaps I’ve strung you along long enough, and you have been generous to indulge an old Ranger. Here’s my own list – feel free to add to it:
Oh, my. Perhaps I need to have a bit of a lie down now, and wipe the froth off my beard from all this ranting about gates. I could rest, and count sheep, jumping over a… argh!
Is it too obvious to point out the diagonal is incorrect? That has been the topic of almost all of your gate discussion. Anyone who takes even a passing glance at this series on gates would realize that, in the picture above, the diagonal piece is high on the hinge side to low on the open side side. This is incorrect. Your explanatory post shows that the diagonal piece should be high on the open side “pushing down” to the hinge side to support the weight of the gate. Is this the answer you are looking for?
Thank you. I seem to have hinges on my mind lately.
Well, I assumed the fact that the gate is upside-down (or back-to-front) was a given. Is that the obvious one?
That’s another one gone. I agree – these hinges look as though they are not even attached to the gatepost. BTW, I’m flattered to have such attention from a door-building expert – your own door hinges appear to be most impressively sturdy.
Now come on, get the obvious one. Someone else mentioned it in a comment on the post about the school gate.
The hinges seem to be on the wrong side of the gate. You shouldn’t see them in this picture.
Definitely – it’s also a good idea for gates to open inwards so when you draw up in a vehicle you can open the gate without having to back up. This is especially important when the gate is on the road. Any more?
The gate should open into the field with the livestock in it, it should close so there is little chance of the sheep or animals pushing the gate open, At the moment if they push, it could come open into what looks like a garden. The aim of a gate, when involved with stock is to keep the animals in. Sheep aren’t as stupid as you think, we have ones in the village where I live that can smell an open gate into a garden from miles off!
Good thinking, assuming the sheep are on the far side of the gate. I hadn’t even thought of that one! Actually, I was thinking of something else connected with those sheep…
Umm, I think the sign is on the wrong side, no one would see it in it’s present position because they would be walking away. Other than that I can’t say. I don’t know enough about gates.