Near Patrixbourne, Kent – 4/10

One of the primary functions of a stile is to of course be able to navigate over a fence, but if the fence in question (especially in this case a quite lose fitting wire fence) is still by far the highest thing then that surely defeats the object? The solitary step is just about high enough to allow navigation over the slightly treacherous fence, but it is far more of laborious effort than it should be. The overall design is rather substandard, with a rather weak and less-than-sturdy construction. What adds insult to injury is the two slots at the top of the posts; this is a clear indication of where the top bar should be, but it is obvious to all that would then mean a second, higher step of which this particular landowner cannot be bothered to even attempt to place one through the wire fence. The exposed barbed wire on the two posts caps off what is quite a poor stile.