A QUESTION OF STILES
Bagging peaks , islands , tarns or trails is too mainstream for Guild member Andrew McCloy . He gets his kicks from gates , gaps , ginnels and snecklifters – welcome to the wonderful world of the stile nerd .
It all began as a bit of a joke , with Kendalbased head teacher Mark Squires pausing on his daily runs from home to post photos of local stiles on Twitter . He admitted it was a lighthearted throwaway , a response to the irate and opinionated voices on social media ; but soon others began sharing their own photos of everyday stiles and gates . It intensi�ied further during successive lockdowns , as people sought escape , humour and harmless new hobbies .
Perhaps it ’ s also a celebration of local heritage and distinctiveness – and such variety , too ! From the ubiquitous wooden step-stile , with rails and posts , or stone steps abutting a wall ( including high ladder stiles ), through to wall gaps so familiar across northern England . These are variously known as squeeze stiles , squeezers , wedge stiles or vee stiles , plus there are zigzag stiles where upright stones or pillars form a barrier .
Where it starts to get seriously exciting for stile a�icionados ( and believe me it does ) is when you come across an unusual design , such as a mechanical version . These are often homemade affairs re�lecting the inventiveness of a particular landowner or farmer ; but some of the more elaborate historic metal designs date from the 1850s when you could order them readymade from estate catalogues . Older still are the so-called grid stiles that you can still �ind embedded in paths dotted around the parishes of west Cornwall , which were the forerunner of modern cattle grids .
There is no end to the variations of overstiles and through-stiles once you begin to look around the countryside . Before long you �ind yourself admiring well-made kissing gates or pondering over regional variations in farm gate patterns ( �ive bar , diagonal brace - must be Cumbrian ); and just wait till you come across a top-opening wooden stile with a lifting bar ! Some of these so-called clapper stiles are surprisingly old , with distinctive local names like falling stiles , tumbling stiles and even ladies ' stiles .
As more and more photos of stiles , wall gaps and other unusual pedestrian crossing points were shared on social media it culminated , perhaps inevitably , in a competition . The �irst stile ‘ world cup ’ was held in 2021 , with entrants submitting their favourite stile photo and the winner decided via a series of knock-out rounds of Twitter polls . The latest , # StileCup2022 held in January , attracted 164 entries , with the winner being a delightful stone stile-and-steps combination at Creswell Crags submitted by Nic Jones ( my Cornish stile entry was knocked out in the semi �inal ).
So , when you tire of ticking off the Munros or Wainwrights , slow down and look closer to home . At �irst sight the humble stile may appear as functional path furniture , perhaps a faintly annoying obstacle to be negotiated on a walk ; but for some of us that measured gap in the wall , or artfully contrived series of stones or wooden planks , is a thing of beauty , craftsmanship and ingenuity – something that never goes out of , well , style .
10 outdoor focus / spring 2022