Beyond the Cockey’s Gate

“One of the things I almost always like in framing the photos I base my paintings on, is some element of human artefact, either being overgrown by nature or, as in this case, of a temporary rough and ready nature. In this view, we are looking over a cockey’s gate into a well-treeed paddock. The green weeds sticking up in the front make a nice contrast to the grass and the dark trees silhouetted against the grey winter sky.

A cockey’s (a cockey being slang for an Australian farmer) gate is a rural term for a jury-rigged gate made by having part of the fencing end in an unanchored pole which is just hooked, usually top and bottom, to an adjacent fence post in an easy way to open up by pulling it back against the fence line beyond the anchored end. It is a cheap and easy way to get stock or equipment between paddocks without the time and expense of installing a proper gate.”