Friend Pete introduced me to a Facebook Group called The Gate Appreciation Society (takes all sorts to make a world).
I explained The Orkney Gate to them, as follows,
“Do you know about….The Orkney Gate? It’s when wire is attached to a gate post, then the wire is stretched across to a piece of wood.
This ‘gate’ can then be easily moved across a gap, and pulled back again as needed.
The pic. shows an open Orkney Gate, which gives a good idea of….the idea….”
I got lots of responses from people – it looks like a similar contraption is used all over the world
‘What us in Dorset called a Hampshire gate.’
‘Called a Limousin gate here in the Limousin’
‘Called a ‘prairie’ gate in New York’
‘In South Africa my husband calls it a concertina gate’
‘In Texas, it’s called a “gap.”’
‘Lot of them in France.
My gd-mother had some in her farm in Normandie, and most were still there 20 yrs ago’
‘Wow! I assumed this was in Orkney but is it? Looks like where I grew up on the Canadian prairies…’
‘Called a ‘Tramoya’ in Venezuela . Named after the mechanism that raises and lowers scenery on a theatre stage!!!’
‘And it’s a Queensland gate in Australia.’
….but it’ll always be an Orkney Gate to me.