the.com/kissing gate
A gate so polite it makes you take turns, named for the peck of wood on wood.
means A small gate set in a U- or V-shaped enclosure that lets one person through at a time while keeping livestock penned, common on footpaths and country walks.
from English, from the way the swinging gate 'kisses'—touches lightly—each side of its enclosure rather than latching shut. The romantic tale that walkers must exchange a kiss to pass is charming folklore; the name really describes the gentle contact of gate against frame, the same sense of 'kiss' used for billiard balls that just graze each other.
- name origin
- Gate kisses the enclosure as it swings shut
- job
- Lets walkers through, keeps livestock fenced in
- design
- V or U enclosure traps the swinging gate
- tradition
- First through demands a kiss for passage
- accessibility
- Often too narrow for wheelchairs and prams
for instance
kissing gates cotswolds — multiple examples throughout cotswolds footpaths, england, traditional wooden kissing gates on rural walking routes