Favourite Scottish Bothies

[waafisher]

No so remote this one but lovely all the same. Its just up the Gameshope Burn from Talla. The day I visited there was a great gentleman from the MBA doing some repairs. He travelled in a fantastic vehicle the likes of which I had not seen before (a Pinzgauer).[attachimg=1][attachimg=2]

[Buanán]

My favorite Bothy will always be Jean's hut in the northern corries, gone, but not forgotten.

[Inchlaggan]

Gleneagles, Dunrobin, Three Chimneys, Altnaharra- the list is endless.

[Allan Crawford]

I cant find those Ken, they most be remote  :lol:

[fergie]

James  ?

[fergie]

No, I never lived there. :lol:

I missed the "home " bit i thought he meant CRASHED OOT.. :sleep4; :sleep4; :biglaugh;

[fergie]

Got it in one Fergie



Taigh Seumais a' Ghlinne - the house of James Stewart aka 'James of the Glens', tried, rather framed by a Campbell jury for the 'Appin Murder'and thereafter judicially murdered.

Dirty Rotten Feckers  :x




No offence to any Campbells looking in  :shock:




Just in case face  :wall2

[ddp712]

This might be a silly question but do you book these in advance?? Thanks

[Buanán]

This might be a silly question but do you book these in advance?? Thanks

Not so silly a question. Simple answer is; No. You just turn up and hope there's room. These are Open Bothies, in that they are not locked and open to all. The MBA run & maintain most of our bothies in cooperation with the owners, ownership is usually in the hands of the landowner, quango's private individuals or companies. More info on MBA here: http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/

Many estates also have non MBA open bothies that can be used in the same way. Open bothies are usually marked as such on OS maps as; bothy, emergency shelter etc, if the map just shows a building then best to assume that the marked building is locked. 

Bothies can vary in standard from tethered tin boxes, spaces under boulders, to multi room cottages or houses. There are also several privately owned/run bothies belonging to climbing clubs, universities etc about the place, one or two are or were open but generally not.     

[tomcatin]

What are your most and least favourites and why?

As a rule I treat bothies like wild trout waters ......... refer generally rather than specifically; however thanks to the internet and the general alcohol/drug/Tesco fuelled decline of western civilisation I am content to refer specifically to what were my two favourite bothies.

Both in Galloway; the Backhill of Bush on the edge of the Silver Flowe at the bottom of the western slopes of the Rhinns of Kells (and spiritual birthplace of the Mountain Bothies Association) and Shiel of Castlemaddy tucked in a forest corrie on the eastern slopes between Corerine and Meaul of the Rhinns of Kells.

Both have been abandoned by the MBA and sealed by the Forestry Commission after over a decade of vandalism, excessive alcohol consumption, drug taking and burning of the building fixtures.

Frankly a bloody tragedy 

Back in the 80's when this neck of the woods was my playground, Backhill of Bush, Shiel of Castlemaddy and a few other bothies were regular stop offs. In winter you were guaranteed to get the place to yourself, but from May onwards you never knew who you might meet in these two and the other Galloway bothies. Sometimes it was organised groups of walkers,  the occasional gang of rock climbers heading to the granite of the Mullwharcar, Dungeon Hill or Craignow, the rare angler exploring the "lanes" of the Silver Flowe or students of the Coventeers looking for the memorial stones of the victims of the Mosstroopers. Most summers I would also routinely meet at Galloway bothies a few lost souls, mostly ex-military, that spent much of their summers between signing on, touring these bothies and various howffs (below erratic boulders mostly) saving their brew money for drink and thereafter living off the land.

The pleasure of staying at Backhill of Bush or Shiel of Castlemaddy, quite apart being on the edge of some of Scotland's best landscape was the confidence that if you had company it would at worst be entertaining!

That's all history now    I am just glad that I am old enough to have enjoyed the experience but am frustrated that I will never be able to share that bothy experience with my nephews

If you have a favourite bothy or howff, my advice is keep it yourself ......... otherwise some f*~#whits will ruin it for you