The disgusting graffiti aside (no, it does not add ‘character’!), the overall aesthetic approach of this stile does certainly a deserve a certain amount of credit, as there has been an attempt to keep it in line with the rest of the fence of which it forms part. Well, ‘line’ being one of the key words here, as whoever put this together obviously got a bit lazy and decided to just fit the top two bars where was most convenient – which is both a shame and a genuine let-down. Just the one bar in line with the third in the fence would have (and that bar appropriately cut so that it is actually in line with the other post) would have produced a very visually satisfying stile.
Alas there is very little craftmanship in the stile world anymore, and so marks have to be deducted for the overall untidiness. This is also a shame, as the structure of the stile and the single step are both solid and sturdy, so even though that crucial second step is missing (a depressingly common occurrence!) navigation is actually reasonably comfortable. This has to go down as wasted potential.
Stuart's Stile Guide 
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