August 25, 2025
No electricity, no toilet, no flowing water – sky! Celebrate Mountain Bothie’s Association for 60 years

No electricity, no toilet, no flowing water – sky! Celebrate Mountain Bothie’s Association for 60 years

“Do you think I will be cold?” Asks that my friend Ellie navigates through the winding streets of Mosedale, in the northeast of the Lake district, while Rain is a fair question against the windshield. All year round to use hikers, climbers and outdoor enthusiasts free of charge without booking.

In contrast to mountain huts in other parts of Europe and the world, they were not built for this purpose. There are old buildings that are in wild places -former viewpoints for coast guard, Gamekeepers’ Cottages, remote highland school spaces -before the mountain Bothies Association (MBA) began to entertain them and offer protection in a storm. And during this special storm, protection is definitely required.

Before we went, Ellie was worried about what to pack and she could be. Although a Bothy four walls, a roof, window and a front door (from tiny, with a room to extensive structures with several bedrooms), they are still very simple. There is no flowing water (there is usually a stream nearby), no toilet (everyone has a Bothy spade so that they can dig their own) and no electricity (tea lights and a head tork are a must), and the, to which we go on the way, a large, long hut, does not even have the usual dispute for warmth.

We reach the Bothy and knock on the door with a mild fear to find out if someone else has hit us

But for these reasons, I chose it first Ellie. I know that due to the bad weather it is unlikely that we have to share it with others. We park at the foot of Carrock Fell, where the Caldew river is now a raging stream. It is past twilight; The rain has only yeap into one mizzle and we can simply recognize the shape of the building on the skyline. We start uphill with backpacks and open our eyes open to signs of hikers who may have made us.

“Visitor numbers have definitely increased in recent years,” says the chairman of the MBA, Simon Birch, to me when I talk to him the night before. “Of course they were kept on the day they were kept secret – some old documents that I went through have written” confidential “about them. But people cannot keep secrets like this.”

In 2009, the MBA decided to publish network references to its 100-member network to publish the network of some internal protests on its website. After that, the “cat was out of the pocket,” says Birch. When the MBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, I asked and was given permission to write the first travel guide via Bothies to her love letter to her and not as a final guide. However, there was a lot of pushback. When the Bothy book was published, I experienced online trolling (from MBA members and others), abusive e -mails, complaints to my publisher and even threats. At the same time, one of the co -founders of the MBA, Betty Heath, told me how much she loved my passion. Birch told me that younger members began to register (when there was a real danger to substitution of membership); And now there is even a female thirties loan.

Of the 105 Bothies, which they are currently taking care of, only two are owned by the MBA. All others are in rental contracts. “Ultimately, we could all lose our owners if the owners decided to take them back,” says Birch – which proves how the network and ethos of Basties are particularly.

The hut to which we go to the lakes was originally used by miners in the nearby Carrock mine (which goes back to the 16th century). It was moved to its higher location on the moor as a shootout. In the 1960s, it was rented to the Quäker -Boarding School “Friends” in Wigton as an outdoor base and equipped with a sleeping platform. When this school closed in 1984, it became open protection, and finally the Lake District National Park took responsibility for its maintenance before moving over to the MBA in 2017.

We pass the mine work under a starry sky, so that they only appear as silhouettes. We have prepared the electricity with the help of hiking sticks and mutual encouragement words. Finally we reach the door and experience the forward -looking a few seconds that everyone who has ever stayed in a Bothy will know – if you tap the door with a mild fear after going to the door for hours to determine if anyone has hit it. The door swings open. It’s empty. We have it for ourselves.

We enjoy our breakfast next to the window, where a lifting fog is tempting offers this little visited valley

“The biggest change was the effects that had the growing popularity of long -distance paths on the Bothies,” says Simon. “Some of the spots are incredibly well used, and we now have a sanitary officer in the MBA.”

I give Ellie a brief overview of the Bothy label. Put candles and the camping oven in the designated area so as not to cause a fire risk. Use the spade for the toilet – well from the building and all watercourses. Set up a bag for waste. As a country girl, she has a good idea of the code – but Birch says that a problem that the MBA faces in its 60th year is that content creators show people on social media, but do not teach good practice. In a very modern step, the MBA is looking for creators to work together and demonstrate responsibly.

We are committed, heat a prefabricated tajine and make hot chocolates to keep ourselves warm. I also fill hot water bottles. We talk for hours, I have crashed Ellie with the stories of earlier Bothy visits, including the time when I accidentally crashed a deer party in Scotland.

The wind whistles through the cables that settle down a large, linging hut, but still as mothers of young children, we both sleep well with the madness of our daily life.

Related: Looking for the best mountain view Great Britain: Walk in Northern Ireland’s mourners

The most recent figures take the MBA membership to 3,800 – with many other users who do not pay the annual donation of 25 GBP. We stay in one of the newer buildings in the network, but Birch tells me that there are no plans to take over anymore.

We enjoy our breakfast next to the window, where a lifting fog has tempting prospects of this little visited valley.

As we go, I will feel hopeful for the next 60 years of the copies in Great Britain. We not only pack our own garbage, but also empty packages and used candle holders that were left by others. “I love it,” says Ellie, “lets it get better than we arrived.” She may have started this adventure, which has worried about cold feeling, but thanks to the magic of the copies, so many leaves so many that are heated by all the wild and wonderful experience.

You can find more information in the Mountain bothIes association. The book of Bothy von Phoebe Smith is for £ 12.95 out of GuardianBookshop.com

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