"Please Close The Gate" (but in a moment!)

I met Brenda today, and learned something new. I had to re-appraise some of my past assumptions about Good and Bad behaviour in the countryside.

Benda uses a mobility scooter to get herself out and about in Snowdonia, single-handed. We had a great chat about what makes a route suitable for "walkers" with restricted mobility.

Here's Brenda:

And here is her most useful tool for disabled access to the countryside:



Think about it.  When a mobility scooter arrives at a gate on a footpath, and pulls or pushes it open, how does the scooter-user get back onto the scooter and then travel through the gate without it self-closing upon them?

That's where the elastic bungee cord comes in. In this case, someone's kindly provided a simple loop of baler twine, to achieve the same.



So, once again, here it is - a simple solution to a not-so obvious problem to able-bodied walkers.



Please don't abuse this though.  Please DO close the gate after you pass through. It's there to keep the livestock in.  Follow the Countryside Code!