Styles of Stiles
- ronniesramblings
- Apr 1
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 9
Stiles-yes, I mean Stiles to Style! Yes, I’m female but stiles not style is a concern of mine. I have climbed oh how many? Probably thousands some of them not once but many times. They intrigue me by their different styles of stile.
In the 1990’s I climbed hundreds of stiles on Glyndwr’s Way before it became a National Trail. I have since discovered that second “official” stiles had been put next to the originals! On Offa’s Dyke there were at least two stiles that were unnecessary, one you could walk around and the other took you right into a gorse bush! On the only part of the South West trail that I have walked, on the Cornish section the same two things happened again!
The Style of Stiles is purely local – a lot in Cornwall are granite. The best I have seen incorporates an early design of a “cattle grid” was between Zennor and St. Ives. Any stile which is made of stone is inclined to be “protected” take the Glamorgan section of the Welsh Coast Path.
Then I began to realise that stiles – locally and further afield are being replaced by gates-why?
On the latest Churchill ad he is sitting on a log and behind him, is a stile – the quintessential rural furniture of the great British Countryside!
Photos taken from Ronnie's collection. Undated piece written by Ronnie.
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