The Greatest Gate Of All

By /
Gotta love those that bandy together around nothing/everything as important as "gates" before forming into a self proclaimed society, posting your loves which gets picked up by the Guardian.

Magnificent Celtic spirals … Dafydd Davies-Hughes’ gate on Ynys Llanddwyn. Photograph: Mark Little/Alamy

Another of the gatemaker’s creations nearby on the island. Photograph: Joan Gravell/Alamy

Name: The world’s best gate.

Location: Ynys Môn / Anglesey.

Appearance: Wooden, ornate, gorgeous.

What is this stupidity? A gate is a gate. This is where you’re wrong. The gate in question is an absolute thing of wondrous beauty. It’s hand-carved, you know.

Oh, that does actually sound quite nice. And the top of the gate has magnificent Celtic spirals etched into it, too.

I love Celtic spirals. Did I mention that it features a bespoke hand-forged spring fastener latch that has been designed to mimic the look of a shepherd’s crook?

I take it all back! I’m in love! Who made this gate? That would be Dafydd Davies-Hughes, a gatemaker whose unmistakable work can be seen throughout north Wales. According to his website, he once made an oak balcony designed to look like a human hand. It is unbelievably beautiful.

Balcony schmalcony! I only care about gates! Where is this beautiful gate? It guards Ynys Llanddwyn, a small tidal island just off the west coast of Anglesey. But maybe don’t go just yet. It’s bound to be busy.

Is it? Of course. Ynys Llanddwyn was already the No 1 attraction in that part of Anglesey, according to Tripadvisor (sorry to the Anglesey Transport and Agriculture Museum and cafe), but that was before the Gate Appreciation Society got involved.

The what? Oh, come on ...

LL61 6SG, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Be kind

Popular articles

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

Image
It's feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Make Your Public Event Calendar Usable To All

Image
If you run a sports club, this post is for you. If you are on a community committee, this post is also for you If you host events, this is for you. If you put on shows, this is for you. In fact, if you do anything that has a date/time component that you'd like to share with people, this is for you . Yep, probably for all of us. Sharing calendars can be both: an effective way of letting everyone know a complete and utter technical pain in the bottomly region If you've posted up an events page onto your website you know how difficult it is to keep up to date, how the readers have to keep coming back to get the latest changes and don't even think about integrating with somebody else's "events page". Ok, so we all know the problem. What's the solution? iCalendar (normally shortened to iCal) ... yep, it's a geek word that you will come to know and love just as much as RSS. In fact, think of it as RSS for calendars. But that's enough geekery, if you want

Call 159 To Stop Phone Scams

Image
Call 159 is an excellent idea from, and for, the UK which I would like to see spread to Aotearoa New Zealand some day soon. How it works 159 works in the same way as 101 for the police or 111 for the NHS. It’s the number you can trust to get you through to your bank safely and securely, every time. So if you think someone is trying to trick you into handing over money or personal details - stop, hang up and call 159 to speak directly to your bank. There's more here: https://stopscamsuk.org.uk/159 Also the BBC in 2023 had Be Scam Safe , a: .. joint effort between BBC programmes, Stop Scams UK, and major UK organisations, in an attempt to provide you with advice to spot, and avoid scams. We believe that empowering everybody with the tools to help identify scams, will help avoid the financial and emotional damage caused by this kind of fraud. Tonnes a useful links and info.

The Night Doris Stopped

Image
I went for an evening drive to take some shots of the sun setting. Night fell, the camera used up almost all the battery, and I called it a night. Doris (my car) refused to start.  I sat there for ages wondering WTF I could do. I was out in the back hills of Wellington and ... eek. One last call could be made. My housemate at the time was awesome, she drove all the way out, used her AA card to call for actual help and a lovely man came out and took Doris to my local garage.  She was fixed by 11am the next morning - $$$. Now, some of you may remember that I'd been commenting that Doris was having problems doing her car thing, especially at traffic lights if I recall. I mentioned it over the space of about 12 months. Oops. She now receives regular expensive servicing and I am a paid up AA member. I also never go driving without charging the phone.

Mates

Image
Mates, I assume, chatting on the Petone foreshore.