In early MBA journals and newsletters, Bernard uses the wonderful phrase ‘rough-stuffing’ to describe the act of hiking across the Highlands in hope rather than expectation of sleep under cover ‘rough-stuffians’ being the cognomen for people mad enough to undertake such ventures.Īt present the MBA has 3,800 subscription-paying members, whose cash goes towards upkeep and furtherance of the organisation’s constellation of huts. But his original trailblazing idea was less about infrastructure and more about the promotion of a fraternal and, above all, simple way of life. When Bernard Heath died earlier this year at the grand age of 93, a year after Betty’s death at 89, he left a wonderful legacy in the form of a thriving network of remote outposts. Such buildings had long been used as shelters and dosses by hill-walkers: after the First World War, the number of estate workers had dwindled, and beginning in the 1930s hiking had become more popular. Today, Camban is one of more than 100 cabins overseen by the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA), an organisation whose founding forces in 1965 included the aptly named Bernard and Betty Heath, in an effort to save abandoned crofts in the wilder parts of Scotland from ruin. Should all go badly, we’ll be doing exactly the same thing but for longer and with less cheer.
Should all go well, we will spend the next four hours tramping a section of the old drove road from Skye to Inverness – through Glen Licht, past the waterfall below Ben Attow, over the watershed at Cnoc Biodaig, and into the stark, lonely sweep of Glen Affric, then on to Camban Bothy, the wilderness hut where we plan to sleep. Welcome to bothying in Scotland in the summer. Shortly after we set out, the heavens open. The day is muggy, the air damp, the light dim. Perching on the tailgate of the Land Rover, Nick, the photographer, and I change into our waterproofs and boots. All around us, green slopes rear up and then disappear into woolly murk. Low cloud fills the valley so the head of Sgùrr na Mòraich is obscured. Gimme ShelterĪfter a long drive north, we park beside the Mountain Rescue post at Morvich on the road to Skye. Devotee Dan Richards takes to the Highlands to visit the quintessential example – if he can find it, that is.
#We need to go deeper sleeping giant free
But thanks to the passion of a handful of 20th-century pioneers, there exists a network of basic huts, always unlocked and free to use. For walkers and adventurers seeking enlightenment in Britain’s wilder reaches, only a stay in a bothy will do.īe warned: these outposts, situated in remote spots, may not offer a bed, running water or electricity.
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