Stiles and Signpost off Streat lane

A stile, southwest of Streat Church had “lost” its lifting bar and its dog paddle. We took along some replacement parts and fitted them. The dog gate is a little small, but there is a perfectly good hole on the north side which a big dog could squeeze through. It is down to the landowner to fix the fence, but they have obviously decided to use an electric fence; the big lambs in the field may be able to hop over a stile anyway! (No photo available)

A second stile at TQ34673 15945, just by Hayleigh Wood Cottage, where WSM 15/1 meets STR 19/1 and crosses Bridleway WSM 11/6, was reported as having been bandaged with duct tape. We investigated and found this to be true but without knowing why the tape had been applied (it didn’t seem to be a structural problem and could ahve been because a small chunk of wood had come out of an upright and left a sharp edge?) we left it alone. Removing the duct tape without having anything to replace it with seemed counterproductive, (picture)

On the opposite side of Streat Lane at TQ35531 16286 on Path STR/14/1  a (very old) signpost was lying on the ground. It had obviously rotted away in the ground AND been repaired with a, now rotted, extension once already. We removed the previous repair, attached a new extension and re-erected the old post (pictures).