[turnipsock (OP)]

I have noticed on two occasions on the Drink For Britain program on the BBC, hosted by James May (motoring expert) and Oz Clark (wine ponce), that May always climbs over gates wrongly. He is supposed to be the one who is technically minded in the Top Gear team, but twice he has climbed over gates wrongly...even by the law of averages he would get it right once.


A gate.


May...a townie?

[John Chapman]

Go on then. What's the correct way to climb over a gate?

Surely if pre-climb you are on one side of the gate and post-climb you are on the other then it's mission accomplished. Job well done!

Clever old James May! He'll be learning how to brush his hair next.

[John Chapman]

Come to that, what's the wrong way to climb a gate?

[Chemistry4me]

Don't squash your bits.

[dentstudent]

Is he talking about climbing it hinge-end, so there is less leverage imparted?

[Chemistry4me]

Why is he climbing gates in the first place? [][][]
Are they not meant to be opened?

[Don_1]

Why is he climbing gates in the first place? [][][]
Are they not meant to be opened?

So that's what the hinges are for! Would this apply to my front door? I must admit to being a tad pee'd off squeezing through the letter box every time I want to go out or come in.

[Chemistry4me]

I suppose he climbs them to make himself look athletic/fit?

[blakestyger]

We used the gate vault when younger but if you have to climb the thing make sure it's on the end with the hinges - this puts less strain on it.

[Chemistry4me]

Get a pole and vault over the gate!

[John Chapman]

So that's what the hinges are for! Would this apply to my front door? I must admit to being a tad pee'd off squeezing through the letter box every time I want to go out or come in.

With a skill like that have you ever thought about becoming a gynecologist!

[Don_1]

Jeepers, what a good idea!!!

[Make it Lady]

My friend is a gynecologist. He decorates his hall through the letterbox!

[turnipsock (OP)]

last episode tonight and he did it again! Its as bad as all these TV chefs that stir everything anticlockwise (therefore invoking the devil).

[Chemistry4me]

Well since you keep saying that he is doing it wrong, how it is meant to be done?

[John Chapman]

Hi turnipsock

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. Surely you are aware that the BBC only chose the name of James May's TV program, Top Gear, because it is an anagram of 'Gate Pro'. Everyone knows that. You have to be an expert gate climber just to appear on the program.

[Chemistry4me]

'Gate Pro' []!?!? Really? [][] Heehee....

[John-S]

As with most things, when you pass through or over someone else's gate, do it with courtesy. So if the gate's unlocked and openable, go through it and if it was shut when you arrived, shut it behind you. If you have to climb over (e.g. because it's locked - and that doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't allowed in, it may just be easier to climb over than to go and get the key) then climb over at the hinge end because that puts far less leverage on the hinges which are sized for the weight of the gate, not for the extra weight of you on the far end!

[rosalind dna]

Not only that Turnipsock the way that we see things on the TV such
as the program you're talking about is a mirror image.

Same for the anti-clockwise stirring actions of a TV chef.

[Bored chemist]

Anyone who designs a gate and its hinges so that they won't take the weight of some fool climbing over it (at either end) isn't a competent designer.
However in a couple of instances during the series one or other of the pair of presenters has climed over the gate, then been followed by the other one who had the brains to open it. I think May was the climber in both cases.