9th December, 9pm

BBC2 to show Mountain Bothy documentary

Nice one. What’s all this about bothies not been shown on maps?

Cheers Matt.

Tubs,it was to protect them,if they became party sites they often burnt down and the owners left them empty. Internet means they can’t be hidden. Enjoy,they will all be gone in 30 years and have changed out of all recognition in the 30 I have been using them.

In what ways duckman ? I have to confess I last used one 30 years ago.

Just gone back to this Jam. There was a notion that landowners allowed them with the unspoken agreement that they would not be publicised. You now get folk dossing in Bob’s Scotts or Uni groups carrying out a takeover with a group of 15-20 (this happened in the Cairngorms whith St Andrews 2 years ago who stowed out a bothy and refused other people entry)..Apparently it took HOURS to get somebody to replace the missing tyre valves in the bus with “St Andrews University” in the car park 5 miles away.
They are becoming more popular with folk who have no sense of responsibility,(see above) and who crap and leave litter everywhere. The popularity of Munro bagging is also putting strain on them

Yeah… This surely can’t end well, I wonder if the MBA weighed up the additional pressures of increased footfall against the possibility of increased membership? Or if they thought that the majority of people who might be interested in using bothies were already using them?

Guess they are just too good a secret to keep at the end of day 🙁

They have been available as grid refs for a long time (years) IIRC.

I suspect the thinking being it was an uphill battle anyway, they were on maps already, and there may have been some element of perceived safety.

It’s an awkward one. Last used a bothy possibly 30 years ago too. Past many since then. Happy memories (mostly).

My apologies,it was Embra,but this is far from an isolated example of misuse of them. If you look at some of the pics on this site,you will also see that the folk who maintain and traditionaly care for them are getting older. I used to be a plasterer and have been on two work parties,I was the youngest at 47.

Bothy forum

Now.

Alright, what user on the stooge?

Watching it just now-dying for the summer!

Ha, I once went riding with Pete at Innerleithen, he was wearing cricket pads for body armour 8)

Yes, summer seems an age away…

That’s Jenny Graham on the Stooge. Famous from last years HTR

No sure what relevance that little skiing segment was. The rest has been great though.

Ha! Loving this, my girlfriend has gotten bored of me playing ‘guess the bothy’ and name dropping the people in the work parties (a fluke, I’ve only attended one at Kearvaig).

Edit: Good point on the skiing segment, all I noticed was the guy saying how great bothies were because you didn’t need to take a tent, I’d always thought that was kind of bad form…

We commented on the lack of skiing bothy as well…

All the rest is good.

Great show, thanks for posting. Played the same game as 13thfloormonk. Good to see them well lit and in good order for the camera, or as the OH commented: “how come these never look like the bothies we end up at”.

No sure what relevance that little skiing segment was. The rest has been great though.

+1 Looked like some footage from Pete Mackenzie’s invitational comp last year (?). Made a good contrast with the archive footage earlier on though.

I was wondering what bothy the skier would end up at. Ben Alder Cottage perhaps?

I don’t think this will increase footfall too much as they were at pains to say how far the bothies are from the road. I’ve added Kearvaig to the list though so now need to build a trip around that…

I was wondering what bothy the skier would end up at. Ben Alder Cottage perhaps?

I know folks that have skied from there but it’s closed just now because of asbestos. Let’s just say PM has a talent for putting himself front and centre.

Loved the old geezers at the end and the old geezers in general. A nice gentle documentary about what is, let’s face it, a classic bit of British eccentricity.

I know folks that have skied from there but it’s closed just now because of asbestos. Let’s just say PM has a talent for putting himself front and centre.

I may be wrong but I think thats Culra, not Ben Alder.

Oops, yes, you’re quite right.

I was actually thinking it might be Duinish for the skiers – looked like Dalnaspidal area they were skiing…

It was Drumochter. Edit: which isn’t a kick in the teeth from Dalnaspidal.

We are having our Christmas bothy trip in Mid Wales this weekend. Coincides with the meteor shower but I somehow doubt that the weather will be good enough to see them.

I missed it last night so will watch on catch up. I sued to go on work parties with my dad when I was younger and he’s was doing work parties up until the last few years after changes to his health. We had some great times staying in bothies, I’ll have to dig out the photos again! We had a brand new MSR stove and it managed to set fire to the table due to leaking and the first thing my dad grabbed to put it out was my fleece! So on a windswept Jura in April I was lacking some sensible clothing! (Glengarissdale Bothy).

The most picturesque would have to be An cladach on the Sound of Islay. That’s a hell of a spot for a bothy, watching the boats come in!

The bothy I’ve perhaps visited the most would be Penrhos Isaf at Coed Y Brennin. Both me and my dad did a fair amount of work parties there back in the nineties and noughties including building the stairs and doing the pointing! Happy days!

Repeat tonight at 23:45, I think.

Sky channel 970 for non Scots.

Is it on I player? I am a muddier and don’t understand uk telly but randomly in the UK tonight unusually. ..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06s1762/bothy-life

Oh wow. That’s awesome thank you so much ScotRoutes. You’ve made my Thursday night sat in a hotel room by my tod complete. Cheers!

Enjoyed it! Some good stuff on iplayer at the moment, Julia Bradbury walking, Grand Tours of the Scottish islands, Shock and Awe with Jim Al-Khalili, Empire of the Sea, Boats That Built Britain and Ireland with Simon Reeve to name a few.

Hahahaha Julia Bradbury’s dad is wry old dog isn’t he.

Steady!!

And Countryfile http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s0njg

I want to now retire and help maintain bothies and drink whisky. Another planned trip to Northern Scotland next easter not going to try the bike ride to Craig again though 🙂
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rZuajR]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/s2dM3q]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
Will hopefully stay here not just pass through!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/s2eieu]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

not going to try the bike ride to Craig again though

Did you ride from Diabaig?

I did, must admit it was not awful and would probably do it again with company and not in fading light!

tagged for future reference!