Goodbye to Kissing Gates on Prime Paths

Kissing gates have gone from forty two prime Lake District paths in a far-reaching mission to make routes more accessible. Eighteen of the difficult to negotiate structures have been replaced with wicket openings, while forty six stiles have given way to new easy to open gates.

Lake District National Park Authority's Miles without Stiles project provides routes for people with limited mobility. In the past twelve months, 222 improvements have been made to fixtures.

Access and recreation developer Dave Robinson welcomed 'important progress'.

He said:

We want to make sure England's biggest, and arguably most impressive national park, is open to as many people as possible.

Whether they are young children in pushchairs, wheelchair users, or have limited mobility, we want them to have the sense of freedom to explore this amazing place.

The main barriers to this are stiles and kissing gates. We have been replacing them on specific routes so irrespective of age or ability people can have easy access.

Dave said it was more complicated than it sounded as new gates also had to meet the needs of farmers and landowners.

"We've even designed our own latches so they can be opened easily," he added.

A new extension to a popular lakeshore route at Pooley Bridge has now been completed, giving magnificent views over Ullswater.

To find out more about the forty Miles without Stiles options, a booklet containing all the routes is available from all the LDNPA information centres.

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