Near Allington, Kent – 5/10

Railway crossings and stiles have been associated with one another for as long as we all care to remember, and as is very obvious from this photo, this stile almost serves as a barrier to stop someone from casually walking onto the railway line rather than perhaps actually being a stile in its very purist form.

Now, if a stile exits within this context for safety reasons, then we can all be for that, and it does admittedly make the decision of what mark to give it a little more difficult, as the stile is not there for the more traditional reason, but to almost provide some kind of barrier that makes you stop and think “ah, a railway line – extra caution needed!”

Strictly speaking from a design point of view, the stile itself is very basic, with a use of a single bar, of which one side is almost buried into the ground, but as the approach to the railway line is downhill the three barred structure of the stile and step pretty much in the ground may certainly not please the stile purists, but within the context of this stile, it does prove to be effective – if not particular pleasing from an aesthetic point of view. So, while this may well very much meet the definition of ‘stile’, it is essentially a barrier, but an admittedly effective one.