href="#ulink_9ef3c02e-5709-53f6-8412-c9099188cf6b">Lowther Hills
Dalwhinnie
Ben Alder Cottage
Great Glen
Blackburn of Corrieyairack
East Highlands
Ruigh Aiteachain
Balmoral
Gelder Shiel Stable
Cairngorms
Bob Scott’s
Hutchison Memorial Hut
Ryvoan
Easan Dorcha (The Teahouse)
Shenavall
The Lookout
Craig
The Schoolhouse
Glencoul
Strathchailleach (Sandy’s Bothy)
Wales
Grwyne Fawr
Nant Syddion
Arenig Fawr
Dulyn
England
Warnscale Head
Mosedale Cottage
Greg’s Hut
Kershopehead
Appendix A
Further information and reading
Approaching The Schoolhouse bothy, Sutherland
Glencoul bothy, Sutherland
Preface
From sea to forest, beach to mountain, this assortment of 26 bothies represents a snapshot of what’s out there in some of Britain’s wildest areas – hopefully enough to whet your appetite and make you want to go and check them out for yourself. It was never my intention to produce a catalogue of all the bothies out there, instead I wanted to provide a big enough selection for everyone to find a bothy that was not too far away, so that you could actually go and stay there. Conversely, I didn’t want too large a spread so that there were no new ones for you to discover yourself – that is, after all, the joy of bothying.
The initial basis of the selection was geographical – I don’t think anyone would have wanted to read about 26 bothies all within the same mountain range. But within that, it was a personal choice – bothies, much like mountain summits or waterproof jackets, are subjective. One that I might rate highly, others may never want to stay at. The result is a selection in which each bothy offers something slightly different, be it back-story, structure, size or views from the window.
Some bothies described here set the scene for some of the most memorable nights of my life and, as such, are just too good to keep to myself. Other bothies are included because I want more eyes on them – more good people looking out for them so that they remain for years to come. So I share them here, hoping that, like me, you’ll discover the magic that bothies can create.
You may disagree with my selection – but that’s half the fun. So go forth, find your favourite bothy, share your own adventure in the book you find inside it, and then tell me which bothy you would have included. You can get in touch through Cicerone’s Facebook and twitter. I can’t wait to hear from you all...
Phoebe Smith, 2015
Strathchailleach (aka Sandy’s Bothy) nestles in the hills beyond Sandwood Bay
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the wonderful world of bothying
Something I love about this bothy, and every bothy, is how a network of adventurers and travellers is created through these pages. We may never meet. David, Owen and their friends who stayed here on the 5th October may never meet the famous Izzy and Rose who stayed here from 1–3 October, but there’s a connection there... something happened between them, even though separated by time, they are united by place.
Entry in Grwyne Fawr bothy book, by ’Hannah’, 2013
My face appeared orange in the light of the flame. The flickering glow of a dying candle fizzed and spat as I leafed through the pages of a bothy book – the visitors’ log that’s placed in each and every shelter from the far north of Scotland to the forested valley of mid-Wales which makes up the bothy network. I was, at the particular moment, not really aware of my surroundings. Wasn’t taking in the view of the creeping valley at my window as a thin sliver of a river hewed its way through the undergrowth and tipped into the dam below it. Didn’t register the shrill hoot of a brown owl on the hunt in the clear sky above my little slate roof. Instead I was lost among the pages of this tome, caught in a space between time by Hannah’s words, meeting new people in the ink within the lines of paper. This is the power of the bothy book, and of the bothy itself – this ability for visitors to simultaneously find and lose themselves, to meet and connect with other people in a way that they never could in an office or house surrounded by mod cons and mobile phone reception.
But first, perhaps, I should rewind. I was in a bothy – a mountain hut that’s completely free to use as an overnight stop, positioned in a wild and stunning location. Somewhere you could go and stay tomorrow and not pay a penny for the privilege.
I