VivaSync

If anyone knows what makes a good gate, it’s 118,000 enthusiasts who share their favourites on Facebook. And this wooden work of art in Anglesey has been liked by 42,000 members ...

Name: The world’s best gate.

Location: 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. Surely you’ve heard of the Gate Appreciation Society, a Facebook group with 118,000 members. The Ynys Llanddwyn gate has gone down so beautifully with the society that a photo of it has 42,000 likes.

Does it have a lot of competition? Very possibly. As the description of the group says, anyone can post a picture, “(AS LONG AS ITS ABOUT GATES) FROM YOUR OWN GATE TO GATES YOU SEE OUT AND ABOUT”. Which is, by definition, every single gate that has ever been made.

Is the category of world’s best gate limited to wooden gates? No, judging by the group, it can also include industrial gates, wrought iron gates, stone gates, etc. Gates that look like trees. Gates that look like flowers. The gateway to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, in upstate New York.

That’s not a gate, though. That’s a gateway. I know, and that might explain why the Gate Appreciation Society has shunned it, offering only a meagre smattering of likes.

Out of interest, what’s the world’s second best gate? I’m afraid the Ynys Llanddwyn gate’s title is unofficial, offered simply as a breathless description by a society member. Really any gate that manages to elevate humdrum functionality by means of individualism and artistry could have won. As such, the world’s second best gate should be the gate that you personally happen to cherish the most. You definitely have one.

Do say: “The world’s best gate is a thing of Celtic majesty.”

Don’t say: “I’ve always been a door guy myself.”

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