An appreciation society for people with gate expectations

“There’s something like a thousand posts on our Facebook site every day,” Mick told me, adding, “one bloke who has contributed the most joined five weeks ago and has put on 851 photos and comments so far.”

Mr Chester, a 57-year-old resident of the Isle of Wight, retired at 46 with severe physical disabilities, took up photography and started a number of appreciation societies for fans of architectural railings, metal boot scrapers and gargoyles.

His gate-lovers group evolved from his Plaque Appreciation Society (blue plaques on buildings, memorial stone plaques etc) which featured in American author Leland Carlson’s book ‘Dull Men of Great Britain’ in 2015.

“Plaques came before gates,” Mick explained, “they were mentioned in the Dull Men’s book which inspired me to go on to gates.”

On 4th December 2015 he photographed a large, double wooden gate in a field with a barn and a tractor.

“That’s the very first one,” he explained.

"It’s on the Isle of Wight, between Newport and Whippingham.”

Thus was Mick’s latest appreciation group instigated.

“Someone pointed out recently that the Cloud Appreciation Society had 200,000 members so we’re the second biggest appreciation group at the moment,” he told me confidently, adding, “but in a few months we’ll probably overtake them!”

Does he have a favourite gate?

“There are just too many,” Mick admitted.

“I can’t look at them all to be honest with you” but he likes one with a sign on it imploring ‘Please don’t let the dog out no matter what it tells you!’”

Many of the gates with their posted comments and quirky descriptions are funny, evocative, philosophical, often poignant.

Alison Fromont has captioned one of her photos “a gate in the sea wall at Ballyholme Bay.”

She posts regularly and is honoured with ‘a top contributor’ citation.

“I live in New Zealand but was born in Northern Ireland and have relatives in Bangor.” Alison told Roamer.

“I was over visiting just for a day as part of a two week UK trip and had a ‘memory lane’ walk around Ballyholme Bay where I spotted that gate,” she added.

“Wow! Amazing!” an American gate lover commented.

“What a banger,” remarked another!

One of local member Steve McDonagh’s gates is “on top of Benvan, on the cliffs above Murlough Bay...a memory of a gate across the daydream of a path.”

It’s a mysterious, evocative shot of two gateposts in an empty, gently undulating skyline.

But for Steve, it’s much more than that!

“I am, as I get older, less likely to run and more likely to walk,” he explained, adding “my explorations of the north coast over the past 20 years have taken me to places off the normal tourist trails in search of things seldom seen with their stories hidden by the mists of time.”

He describes the gate as “a ‘way point’ in the circular walk around Murlough.

The path is a bit of a ‘daydream’ - an echo of a time when Murlough, Fairhead and Ballycastle were active mining locations for shale coal, iron and lime.”

The area is boggy so the gate “acts as a way of finding the dry path, thus avoiding damp socks” says Steve.

He remembers “a five bar gate which was always padlocked.

The fence and now the gate have long gone, hence the ‘memory’ comment.”

He thinks the gate “is perhaps symbolic of the idea our French friends put forward ‘Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’ - the more things change the more they stay the same.

"A gate is a gate even when it has ceased its primary function to control access and has become a place at least I recognise as something that allows access.”

“Well said!” a society member commented.

Similarly evocative is Noel Elkin’s photo of “a gate to the land of Narnia in the Mourne Mountains” and most of the gates have equally intriguing stories to tell.

Full details on joining the society are on Facebook.

“Just Google Gate Appreciation Society,” Mick Chester advises.