St Ishmaels farm gate goes viral after walker fails to work latch

At first glance, said gate looks like thousands of others scattered around the countryside - but this gate has already attracted a staggering 500,000 views on Facebook.

Last week a group of walkers, led by former police chief superintendent Ian John, were pictured posing at the iconic structure for a group selfie.

The gate’s notoriety is all down to proud owner, namely St Ishmaels farmer and local publican Philip Stoddart.

Earlier this summer Mr Stoddart received a call from a Pembrokeshire Coast National Park warden informing him that a female walker had encountered a slight setback upon reaching the iconic gate.

“In a nutshell, she couldn’t open it,” says Philip.

“She’d walked along the footpath and when she reached the little side gate, she couldn’t work out how to open the latch.

“I couldnt believe it.  This is the first time in a lifetime’s farming that I’ve come across someone who didn’t know how to open a gate.”

So Philip, who also owns 'The Brook Inn' at St Ishmaels, decided to record a little video which explains to the uninitiated how gates and their latches operate.

Philip points to the latch on his Facebook video (Image: Philip Stoddart)

And since being posted onto his Facebook page, the video has gained over 500,000 likes. 

It is now becoming an infamous beacon for anyone walking the public footpath that leads across Philip's land at Monkhill Farm in St Ishmaels towards the village church.

“What amazed me was that this woman - who is obviously not a country person at heart as all country people know how to open gates – rang the National Park warden to tell them about my gate. And the warden then had to travel all the way to St Ishmaels from Dinas to show the lady how to open it.

“And this costs the Park time and money.”

According to Philip, this isn’t the first time that walkers have reported everyday rural issues to National Park wardens.

“They’ve previously been called out by a person complaining about a slight sag in a barbed wire fence and another time, they were called out to fill a hole that had been made by a digging badger," he said.

“The walkers claimed both these things were dangerous but they’re just everyday occurrences that happen in the country all the time.”

Meanwhile Phil’s video is continuing to attract new followers who are tuning in to his Facebook page to view it.

“The video has turned my gate into something of a tourist attraction,” he laughs.

“It’s best seen after a few pints in the Brook and then people can have a go at opening the gate for themselves.

“It’s never been easier.”