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Getting away from the midges or using the fire are good reasons to camp near a bothy. I guess you get to borrow their spade, too. Are there any bothies in England? A bothy is a mountain shelter in Scotland available for anyone to use for free. It will usually consist of one or more bedrooms, with a common area that has seating and a fireplace. Be respectful to everyone in the bothy. Bothies are for everyone to enjoy. Just because you’re there first doesn’t mean you have more rights than late arrivers. Be kind, share the space. The first thing many will notice about Kearvaig bothyis that it is fantastically located right on Kearvaig Bay– one of the most northern bays in Scotland.
I first heard this at the bothy in Glen Feshie, where people piled in throughout the evening. A bothy is a shelter and it is always open to anyone who needs it. This underpins the communal experience you can discover in bothies – expect to share the space with others who might also want to use the bothy. Be prepared to make room for others, and get cozy. What is a bothy? Many people think of them as exclusively Scottish, but in fact old farm buildings, cottages and crofts used by walkers are referred to as bothies throughout northern England, Wales and Northern Ireland too. The name is believed to come from the Scots Gaelic or Irish bothan, meaning 'hut', or the Welsh bwthyn, meaning 'cottage'. So, there it is; nothing that you wouldn’t expect from visitors to your property so ‘Do as you would be done by’ and help to preserve the bothy network.
Respect the surroundings
In one of my earliest jobs in residential childcare in North-East Scotland (c1990), I would occasionally take the young people in my care away for a night or two to the bothy up in Glen Feshie in the Cairngorms. I remembered it from my childhood as a place where you could step out of your troubles, step in from the cold, step away from the day-to-day. If there is no toilet at the bothy, please bury human waste out of sight. Use the spade provided, keep well away from the water supply and never use the vicinity of the bothy as a toilet. An artist,photographer and surveyor, he is alsoa maintenance officer for Dibidil – aMountain Bothy Association’s bothy onthe Isle of Rùm – and your perfect guideto exploring Scotland’s wild places. MOUNTAIN BOTHY ASSOCIATION 10% of the proceeds from this book go to the MBA for the upkeep of their bothies. www.mountainbothies.org.uk The best things to bring to a bothy and leave behind is a lighter (or lighters), small candles, fire starters, and an extra roll of toilet paper. None of these will cause any issues and future bothy users will certainly find them useful. I might look exhausted, but look at this wood I sawed by myself!! If you light a fire, try to gather kindling to replace what you used.
The cheery sight of its bright, whitewashed exterior has brought relief to many a weary traveller, and there are numerous tales in the log book of dangerous river crossings and arduous tramping over the unforgiving terrain to get here. Discover more– Wild swim at a secret beach, explore secluded glens and forests, search for ghostly carvings in a hidden cave and climb incredible mountains. The only way to reach this bothy is by hiking or cycling- those ending the Cape Wrath Trail or the Scottish National Trail may want to spend the night once they’ve reached Cape Wrath. There is a bus and ferry service that takes tourists to Cape Wrath from Durness, and they can drop you near the bothy if requested. By the end of the 1920s, rumours about the bothy being haunted were spread by head stalker Finlay MacIntosh and novelist Ian Macpherson in an attempt to frighten away unwelcome visitors. Over the years the anecdotes were embellished, with various accounts of a poltergeist moving furniture and the mysterious heavy tramp of hob-nailed boots outside the bothy. Ghost stories tend to fire the imagination, and many who visit the bothy leave feeling slightly spooked. Don't let that put you off though - this is one of our favourite bothies, or indeed, shelters of any kind, anywhere in Scotland.Inside the rather large but rather dark room, there is a sturdy table, a scattering of chairs, and a bizarre candelabra hanging from the ceiling. In 2012 the Friends of Bob Scott’s donated a stove – a very welcome addition. A steep wooden ladder leads up to an attic space. A traverse of Corbetts Beinn a’ Chumhainn (903m), and Sgòr Choinnich (929m) and Sgòr Gaibhre (955m) is another fine round. But on a more serious note, he told the Strathy: "We have tried to keep it the bothy to a high standard ever since the renovation in the mid 2000s. Expect your time in the bothy to be a social one. Unless you score a bothy to yourself, the opportunity to spend time with other like-minded people is one of the appeals of bothying. You don’t have to join in, but it is normal to share the space socially as well as physically.
Pretty self-explanatory. Don’t leave any trash behind. Commercial Groups Are Not Permitted to Use Bothies You can also reach Glencoul bothy from Kylesku. You will continue past Glendhu bothy and continue around the loch, making your way through an unmarked trail uphill before joining a clear path that leads to Glencoul bothy. There are a handful of bothies in England, one of the more famous and popular ones being Warnscale Bothy in the Lake District.
No, bothies are free by the definition of the word. You may come across places using the name bothy that are; hotels, bunkhouses, or guest houses. These are not true bothies. Stop off at Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist monastery west of the bothy; the tea room is decorated in traditional Tibetan style. Phoebe Smith brings the great bothy resource to life and reminds us of a cultural truth close to the centre of our humanity – that the provision of shelter is to be freely given to needy travellers who pass among us. Her book is a job well done. They are a fantastic network of shelters in remote areas, and help keep people safe, warm, and dry all over Britain. Take care of them so we can all continue using them. Bothies are sometimes closed due to vandalism or bad behavior like excessive partying. Bothies are a privilege, not a right. Please do your part and respect the bothy so we can use them in the future!
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