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Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Scotland's mountain bothies under threat
According to The Scotsman, Scottish mountain bothies are under threat from drunk stoned vandals. The MBA are considering closing or locking certain bothies where access by vehicle has become too easy and people are going to them for a party rather than for the shelter and access to the mountains that bothies are meant to provide.
It's the saddest thing to walk up to one of your favourite bothies and find someone has:
It's going to be a tough decision to make. Posted by bigcrags @
11:01 AM
Comments:
spent time in a bothie just south of spean bridge last month. the place was left in a shit tip. the scary thing about it was that there was traces and evidence to suggest the culprits were of a militray background. if they dont know, or worse still dont care, of the importance of leaving it in a state to possibly save the life of another then we're all buggered. did the right thing and squared it away then enjoyed it for how it was meant for the next 2 days. mac # posted by
 : 5:01 PM Is this price to pay for tourism? or is it a lack of education and training. I'm getting well fed up going to places I know/knew as being 'remote'and finding it littered with debris and human faeces. Maybe the culprits could be traced with DNA testing and then the tourist board could fund the cost of posting it back to them? Has to be tourists because a proper trained, disciplined and environmentally aware outdoors person would take their shit back out of the hills with them? Seems pointless to suggest self policing throughtout the 'fraternity' as no doubt it would be infringing the individuals rights or freedom and it would be wrong to accuse them of not caring because they obviously do give a shite! # posted by
: 7:53 PM i'm right with the "price to pay for tourism" comment. i came across a 'crap' in a RIVER of all places, and it was up stream as well. i've tried to think of what their thought process is as they squat and look back down to where they will eat drink and sleep. i hear that there are plans to release wolves back into regions of scotland. can't wait i say. if any thing it will make these unaware folk become aware about shiting in open, easily accessed places(and maybe rid us of 1 or 2 of them sshhh!). mac # posted by
: 10:06 PM Yeah, I've come across signs of military occupation of bothies (discarded military issue rations), though I've never yet had to share one with any soldiers. The idea of groups of more than 3 or 4 people occupying a bothy unsettles me. It's as if they lay claim to the entire bothy and no-one else is welcome. Large groups of people heading to the hills takes organisation and if they are organised enough to plan a trip like that then they should be organised enough to book some official accommodation. The MC of S operates a mountain hut scheme where you can book an entire hut and get a key for it. The advantage here is accountability. If you leave a hut trashed, it can be traced right back to you. The disadvantage is that these are locked cottages rather than open shelters. I'm sure if you were in trouble the occupants would give you bunk space for the night, but if you were in trouble and the place were unoccupied then it's not going to help you. I do like the idea of the DNA turd police that one of you mentioned. I concur with most of the comments here and have turned up at various bothies to find most of said items, rubbish & faeces within, vandalism etc. The common denominator always being the nearer you are to "civilisation" the worse it gets.... I would not single out the military to blame as often they leave excess rations anyway and some of these are widely available. I would also suggest that most of the culprits are home grown and less likely to be tourists, so education definitely has a place to play - all the vandalism I have seen has been in well versed yob/ schemie type lingo and not at all foreign! More to the point I would suggest that the main culprits are not outdoor enthusiasts of any kind. Thus NOT hill-walkers, climbers, skiers, etc. Surely these people should be easy to spot/catch in the act by virtue of their usually poor selection of outdoor gear? An interesting debate on how to catch/stop/educate these people would be good - any ideas? I agree with all the comments so far, i mountain biked up over Pass of Glentrool last July, got to White Laggan bothy just south of Loch Dee & 1st of 6 drunken idots & a child of about 8 or 9 with them, they were still drinking at 3am in morning. Still there next day & left on 3rd day, said they were from Glasgow & had to go back to see a rangers football match, i tidied up best i could & carryied on my journey to backhill of bush bothy to north, this place looked like these animals had been here aswell ! Spent 2 days there & cleaning up,left drywood. & made way back to White Laggan & next day back to Glentrool. Loz H # posted by
: 4:06 PM lets be reasonable herewhat kind of a fucking toff comment is that.we hike in a group of six and some of us tend to wear as u so snobbishly put it poor outdoor gear some of the guys go with what they are comfortable in.it is not only toffs that go on said expeditions.and drinking is not a crime we can go and drink hike and cause no mess at the same time.so why dont you drop the stereotypes pull your head finger and your silver spoon out of your arse and open your eyes dont blame everything on working class people who want to get away and socialise with there friends.not a crime so dont judge every1 by the same book.we will try to get beadies marble staircases and cleaners installed in all scotish bothies for you. loz h.open your eyes and stop being a pain in the arse!!! # posted by
: 11:36 PM i also go to a few bothys with a few friends and yes we do get a good drink and have a party but on our exit i make sure the bothy is as how we found it and all rubbish burned or taken care of it is wrong to suggest if you are a young crowd of males from glasgow having a drink then the bothy will be abused so i can assure you that if anyone meets us having a drink in the bothy they will have one of the best nights ever. craig from airdrie # posted by
: 7:27 PM Military Rat Packs isn't a sure sign of use by military. There are plenty of places you can buy tham and I know a few hikers who use rat packs for a quick grab and go solution when a trip is called at short notice. # posted by
: 5:58 PM i stayed at a bothy last year found four wealhy aussies with oodles of good wine to offer,they had a roaring coal fire one end ,and the emergency calor gas fire blasting out the other end,the attitude was !what the hell its all free.the message is by the nature of the bothy it is there to be used by any one regardless of social background the thing is respect it for what it is, and leave it as you would like to find it .b harmon. # posted by
: 7:11 PM It doesnt matter who you are or what country you are from we all need to respect these bothies! If these buildings are not respected, the land which the bothy stands on, the landowner ie(foresty commission, farmers, country estates) will stop people turning up to bothies, & so withdraw their permission for the bothies to be used & i have heard that the forestry commission is thinking of bulldozing all of the bothies in the Galloway area because of all of this trouble. I can see their point of view but on the other side of the coin this would put lives at risk ! So i say we should look after these bothies & treasure them for all ! ! ! # posted by
: 4:34 PM Having just read all the experiences, of a fair cross section of the community, I can only comment that the people who use this excellent facility, should appreciate. However at every turn it seems the yob culture takes over.What can be done? I have my own ideas, however that would I am sure infringe on the "human rights " of these uneducated, mentally disturbed, social degenerates.I fear society as a whole needs to react, if not they will take over. # posted by
: 7:49 PM << Home
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