Nothing here but a bothy

Once frequented by farm labourers and shepherds, lone bothies–often located amid some of Scotland’s most remote countryside –offer a welcome (and sometimes secret) refuge for wanderers, reveals Freda Lewis-Stempel

- Freda Lewis-Stempel

IN the same way as the astronomer watches for the North Star, the ‘bothyer’ watches for a chimney. The grey stone stack stretching up over the rise of the glen is the guiding sight that the long walking day is coming to an end. There, through snow-flicked conifers, across valleys of ice and far-away mountains, beyond the charcoal line of a freezing stream, lies Scotland’s most perfect secret: the lone bothy.

Indeed, Britain’s northernmost country is the homeplace of the bothy. These small wooden huts or stone cottages, once farm buildings used for labourers, are now remote refuges for any hardy traveller, to be entered free of charge. Of the 100 bothies across the UK, 83 can be found within the Scottish borders, all cared for by the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA). This charity, which has won The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK), was established in 1965 and credits the post-First World War and 1930s mountaineering and hill-walking trend for creating the modern bothying pastime.

Now, 50 years on, the MBA continues to maintain the bothy network for the benefit of all those people who love these beguiling places. Bothies are challenging to reach at best and dangerous to reach at worst. They are also expensive to repair and restore, as well as to keep in good order. The Scottish weather has no mercy and the physical toll on the buildings means the MBA is constantly having to drain its pockets to fix windows and doors, rebuild chimneys and mend failing roofs. It is a feat of communal effort overseen by an ageing group of people, many of whom have been part of the organisation for 30-odd years. The MBA survives on membership fees, donations and by the labour of volunteer work parties. Only with much-needed young volunteer help can the existing team of caretakers continue to keep this unique tradition alive.