‘DYou think I will be cold? My friend Ellie asks as we drive the winding roads in Mosedale on the northernmost reaches of the Lake District while the rain lashes against the windshield. It’s a fair question. Both the Met Office and Mountain Weather Information Service are clear – being in the Lakeland hills will not be pleasant this Friday night, due to a sudden cold and wet snap. There’s another good reason why she asked. I’m taking her to stay in her first bothy – that’s a mountain shelter left open, year-round, for walkers, climbers and outdoor enthusiasts to use, free of charge, with no way to book.
They were not built to serve this purpose, unlike mountain huts elsewhere in Europe and around the world. They are old buildings left to ruin in wild places – former coastguard lookouts, gamekeepers’ cottages, remote Highland schoolrooms – before the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) began to maintain them, offering shelter in a storm. Shelter is needed during this storm.
Ellie worried about packing for our trip, and she was right to worry. They are very basic, even though they have four walls, a ceiling, windows, and a door. The bothies have no running water, no toilet, and no electricity. (Each one has a bothy shovel so you can dig it yourself.)
Ellie is my first, and I have chosen this for exactly these reasons. Because of the bad weather, I’m sure we won’t have to share. We park our car at the foot of Carrock Fell. The River Caldew, which was once a calm river, is now a raging flood. We are past dusk, the rain is a mizzle now and we can barely make out the outline of the building. As we start uphill with backpacks, we keep an eye out for walkers who might have already beaten us.
Simon Birch, the MBA chair, told me the night before that “visitor numbers are definitely up.” “Of course, back in the day they were kept a secret – some old documents I was going through have ‘confidential’ written across them. “But people can’t hold secrets like that.”
It was in 2009 that the MBA decided to publish grid references to its 100-strong network on its website – despite some internal protests. Birch says that after this, “the cat was out of bag”. When the MBA celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2015, I asked and was granted permission to write the first guidebook about bothies – as a love letter to them, rather than a definitive guide. But there was a lot backlash. The Book of the Bothy published in 2008, I was subjected to online trolling by MBA members as well as others, abusive emails, complaints made to my publisher, even threats. Betty Heath was one of MBA’s founding members and told me she loved the book. Birch said that younger members had begun to sign up when the membership was at risk.
The MBA owns only 2 of the 105 properties they are currently responsible for. All others are leased. “Ultimately, we could lose all our bothies, if the owners decided to take them back,” says Birch – which proves just how special the network and ethos of bothies is.
The hut that we will visit in the Lakes used to be a miner’s hut at the Carrock Mine, which is now closed and dates back to 16th century. The hut was moved to a higher position on the moor and used as a shooting house. It was used by the “Friends”, Quaker school in Wigton, as an outdoor platform and fitted with sleeping platforms during the 1960s. After the school closed in the year 1984, the open shelter became a permanent structure. The Lake District National Park took over its maintenance and handed it to the MBA by 2017.
The mines are only visible as silhouettes because we pass them under a starry night sky. With the help of walking sticks and encouragement from each other, we ford the stream. Finally, we reach the door and experience the anticipatory few seconds that anyone who’s ever stayed in a bothy will know – when after hours of walking you knock on the door with mild trepidation, to discover if anyone else has beaten you to it. The door swings wide. It’s empty. We’re the only ones who have it.
Simon tells that the most significant change was the effect of the increased popularity of long-distance hiking trails on the bothies. Some of the spots are extremely well-used, and now we have a Sanitation Officer in the MBA.
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I quickly explain the proper etiquette for bothies to Ellie. Do not place the camping stove or candles anywhere near the building to prevent a potential fire. Use the spade for the toilet – well away from the building and any watercourses. Set up a bag to collect waste. As a countryside girl, she has a good idea of the code – but Birch says a problem the MBA is facing in its 60th year is that content creators are showing people the bothies on social media but not teaching good practice. The MBA has made a bold move by collaborating with creators in order to promote responsible two-waying.
We make hot chocolate and a tagine to keep warm. I also fill up hot-water bottles. We chat for hours, me regaling Ellie with stories of previous bothy visits – including the time I inadvertently crashed a stag party in Scotland.
As mothers of small children, despite the wind whirring through the cables holding Great Lingy Hut, we are both able to sleep away from the chaos of our daily lives.
Recent figures put the MBA membership at 3,800 – with many more users who don’t pay the annual £25 donation to join. Birch told me that there is no plan to add any new buildings.
Our breakfast is enjoyed by the window where a rising fog allows us to enjoy a view down into this rarely visited valley.
I’m optimistic about the next 60 years for bothies in Britain. We not only pack our own trash, but also empty packages and used candleholders left by others. Ellie: “It’s so nice to leave better than we found it.” Ellie may have started this adventure worrying about feeling cold, but thanks to the magic bothies, she is now leaving like many others, warm and happy from the experience.
For more information, visit the Mountain Bothies Association. The Book of the Bothy, by Phoebe Smith The following is available: £12.95 The following is a list of the most recent and relevant articles. guardianbookshop.com
