The man went for a scenic countryside walk and came across a common detail many locals – and some tourists – will be all too familiar with, with some people praising the feature and others criticising it
A man has shared a common detail that’s all too familiar to the vast majority of Brits who’ve ventured on a countryside walk. The UK is home to many dramatic landscapes, made up of rolling hills, dense woodland and forests, tranquil lakes, and much more.
Those who live in the countryside, or who visit for a much needed staycation or getaway, often find themselves donning walking boots or wellies and going out to explore the surrounding flora and fauna. One detail that quickly becomes noticeable is the vast array of gates people have to contend with.
From swing gates to kissing gates, there’s no shortage of seemingly complicated or quirky openings that are a frequent feature of many country walks. A man named Danny filmed a compilation of gates while out walking and uploaded the footage to TikTok.
In the clip, taken from Danny’s point of view, there’s chain link gates, field gates and more, with many people particularly enamoured with the kissing gate.
This is a type of access gate which uses a swinging, self-close mechanism that lets people walk through without allowing wild or grazing animals to follow. It gets its name from the way the gate is said to “kiss” the frame to close.
Many people follow the tradition of lovers sharing a kiss as they pass through the gate. They’re very common in rural areas, and are constructed in wood and steel in a range of sizes.
In the caption accompanying the video, Danny simply penned: “Kissing gate nation”.
Fellow TikTok users flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. One person said: “Never seen the first one”.
Another said: “Yeah that first one is new to me too”.
A third said: “My favourite is the kissing gate ones”, to which, a fourth replied: “I thought my parents made that up”.
Someone else commented: “I never know if I’m actually allowed in or if I’m casually trespassing”.
Another shared: “Me when I’m trying to ride my bike and I reach a kissing gate or GOD FORBID ONE OF THE METAL CIRCLE GATES”.
And another said: “The multiple times I fell over doing that of the Duke of Edinburgh”.
One person said: “Makes me feel whimsical”.
While another commented: “It makes it adventurous” and another bemoaned: “Just to get Sainsbury’s”.
Someone else shared: “On DofE [Duke of Edinburgh’s Award], we came to a kissing gate so we all went one by one and blew kisses to each other as we went through”.
While another said: “Those wooden steps are a death sentence if it’s just rained, they turn into mini ice rinks”.
And another commented: “Literally average walk from village to village”.
One person became nostalgic and shared: “As a child these things were the peak of every walk I went on. Big up the kissing gates”.
And another agreed: “Always leads to a nice spot”.
