Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Kissing Gate


This kind of gate you find all over England on hiking trails. It's built between walls that divide a parcel of land form the next one, but in order to spare you from climbing over uneven walls you can walk right through this gate - it's called a kissing gate. You step into the gated area, turn the gate to the side you just walked in, thus closing it and opening up the other side at the same time. You can walk through, but the sheep have to stay where they are. Pretty nifty. It just belongs to the English countryside. Once, while I was hiking on a beautiful afternoon between two villages in the Cotswolds, a huge bull stood right next to the kissing gate. He appeared pretty angy and seemed to be just waiting for some innocent hiker, so I chose to walk further down the meadow and make the climb over the wall.

When the Geek and I spent a few weeks in England we of course took the chance to kiss whenever we met a kissing gate...

8 comments:

Micki Wilde said...

You know I've been through these kinds of gates a ton of times but I don't think I've ever kissed at one lol

I have met plenty a crazed bull though ;O)

Maria Ontiveros said...

This reminds me of the hiking Paul and I did last summer - thanks for the memory!
rinda

Sally H said...

What a fabulous photo! Very British. Your story of the bull reminds me of when Steve and I were first married and we found ourselves being followed down a steep field by some very inquisitive bullocks. Steve jumped over the gate and then videoed them chasing me!

Deborah Tisch said...

Ah! Such a logical action when approaching a kissing gate. I think my hubby and I would have done the same.

Lynn Cohen said...

Maybe if you kiss a bull it turns into a prince? Maybe?
I was going to ask if one must kiss the farmer to get admittance to the next part of the hiking trail. Guess not. Glad you kissed the Geek! Nice photo!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

I love the idea of a kissing gate and how convenient (except when there is an angry bull, that is). It says a lot that you and your favorite geek took advantage of those kissing opportunities ... life is good:)

Andrea @ From the Sol

Sherri B. said...

What a lovely photo, and how interesting to hear about this "kissing gate". So clever! I sure am glad you avoided that bull...! *scary* Thank you for sharing. :)

Willkommen auf meiner Kreativseite. said...

Wir haben bei unseren Wanderungen in England schon viele dieser Tore passiert, aber diese Geschichte kannte ich vorher nicht. Schade.

Liebe Grüße
Renate