The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and chairman Simon Birch recently the received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. It seemed like the perfect excuse to quiz him about the work involved in maintaining Britain’s 'stone tents'.

Fifty years ago, a small group of outdoors folk were united by a bright idea: why not refurbish some of the unused buildings scattered across the British uplands and give them a new lease of life as serviceable mountain shelters? Walkers, climbers and cyclists had already been using deserted farmsteads for overnight accommodation secretly or - at best - unofficially. Surely this was an activity that ought to be encouraged, legitimised and extended?  

As a result of such thinking, the Mountain Bothies Association was born. Its aim was, and still is, to maintain remote buildings (with the permission of their owners, of course) for the benefit of outdoor enthusiasts. The organisation now manages a total of 101 bothies and relies on a committed volunteer workforce to keep its properties in serviceable order. 
Bothying has received plenty of publicity recently, but it still has a certain mystique for many members of the walking and climbing community. We caught up with Simon Birch to find out more about the work that goes into maintaining 101 bothies, the upsides and pitfalls of publicity, and why all BMC members should give bothying a crack. 

So, many congratulations for receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last week!

Thanks - yes, we had a big ceremony last Wednesday, but because we’re all volunteers we don’t have a headquarters and so the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol had to come round to my house to present the certificate! She didn’t know anything about bothies, but she was very tickled by it.  

The award was great timing, as the Mountain Bothies Association has been going for fifty years now…

Yes, this year is our 50th anniversary, so a lot of people must appreciate the work we do. We had two of the original founders at our recent AGM - they started the organisation because there were lots of semi-derelict buildings that climbers and walkers were using anyway and they thought it would be a great idea to build a relationship with landowners so those buildings could be maintained.

How are you celebrating turning 50?

Well, we had a cake at our recent AGM and we've released a 50th anniversary book. BBC Breakfast did a piece with us last week and there’s also a one-hour documentary coming up on BBC Scotland in November on the social history of bothies and how they came about.

What role does the MBA take in the management of Britain’s bothies?

We’re a maintenance organisation, not a travel company or a holiday home agency, so although we maintain 101 bothies we only own one - a bothy in the Borders that was given to us by a landowner who died. This year we’ve also gained our first brand new bothy that was purpose built for us in Camasunary Bay on Skye. We do get a lot of people contacting us for advice on trip planning, but that isn’t what we do. We maintain the bothies and then if people want to go out and use them it’s up to them.

Is your work carried out completely by volunteers?

Yes, we have 170 volunteering members and last year they put in 1,152 official days of work on our bothies. There are probably a lot of days that aren’t recorded as well. We do employ a firm to manage our finances and database, but all the maintenance is carried out by volunteers. 

How is the work funded?

We have two main sources of funding - our 3,700 members each currently pay £20 per year, although that’s being brought up to £25, and we also benefit from legacies and donations. There are a few other occasional sources too, so for example we just received £10,000 from a wind farm in Argyll to mitigate the effect on the nearby bothy. We’ve moved away from fundraising because we’re always going to be limited by the number of volunteers who are able to do work in a year. If we were in a position where a specific bothy needed money, though, then we would probably organise a fund raising campaign.

How much does it cost to maintain 101 bothies?

In 2014 we spent £44,000. These aren’t very sophisticated buildings - none have electricity or running water - so the roof is usually the most expensive part. The majority of our bothies are in reasonable nick at the moment due to ten years of consistent spending, and we have a big programme coming up next year too.

For those who have never been to one - what’s a typical mountain bothy like?

Well, the one I look after in Glen Affric is fairly typical. It’s an old farmhouse and I always liken it to a stone tent. There’s a stream about 50 yards away where you can usually get fresh water, a table where you can cook with your own fuel and a fireplace where you can burn your own coal. It also has sleeping platforms that we put in during a refurbishment seven or eight years ago, so you’re off the ground. Some are quite small and more basic, and others are slightly more sophisticated. 

What’s the most luxurious bothy on your books?

Actually, we were recently featured on BBC Breakfast and a BBC camera crew came and stayed overnight with us in one of our bothies in the Cambrian Mountains. That one is very unusual - it has a Victorian tiled floor, a proper outside loo and even cushions on the benches in front of the fire!

Could all the publicity bothies have been getting recently be tarnishing their ‘secret’ feel?

We’ve had a few complaints from our members saying that it’s too much publicity, yes. Up until the mid-90s bothies were quite secret, but most people who go into the hills know about them now and in the last two or three years they have had much more publicity.  

And the worry is that people will start treating them as party pads?

The thing is that most bothies are protected from that kind of thing by their remoteness. We’ve had problems in the past where people have been able to access bothies by 4x4 and they’ve got in and had parties in them - in the past we’ve relinquished a couple of bothies in the Kielder area because they are too accessible, and we don’t take on any new bothies that are near roads. In the main, though, we don’t have any issues.

How about problems with vandalism?

Again, very rare. It does happen of course - somebody smashed the windows in one of our bothies in the Carneddau - but in the main the biggest problem we have is with litter. People just dump stuff and leave it to us to carry it out.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever found left in a bothy?

Ha! Nobody has ever asked me that before - but I don’t think I’ve ever found anything strange, just rubbish. 

Why, in your view, is bothying so brilliant?

Personally I really like not having to carry a tent. In fact I met somebody in the Cairngorms recently who was telling me that bothying was for old men who can’t carry heavy tents any more! You also meet lots of nice people in bothies - it’s very sociable.

Presumably you also come across some oddities occasionally as well?

That’s true! We spent a night in Glen Affric recently and took whisky and coal along with us to the bothy, and there was this weird bloke there who had absolutely nothing with him and just freeloaded off us! That is a risk of staying in bothies, I suppose.

Any advice for BMC members looking to get into bothying?

We don’t give travel advice - you’ll have to plan your own trip - but our website is a good place to start. Although we don’t maintain all the bothies in the UK we do have the majority of them, and the website has a list complete with grid references. Anybody can use the bothies free of charge but you might want to consider joining the MBA. It’s not a lot of money, and it all goes towards maintaining the bothies. Really, though, we just maintain the bothies and then let people get on with it - so go out and try them.  

Keen to join the bothying crowd? The Book of the Bothy by Phoebe Smith is packed with info on how to get started. 

We want to say a big thanks to every BMC member who continues to support us through the Coronavirus crisis.

From weekly Facebook Lives and GB Climbing home training videos, to our access team working to re-open the crags and fight for your mountain access, we couldn’t do it without you.

Did you know that we've launched a U27 membership offer for just £1.50 / month? And with full membership from £2.50 / month, it's never been easier to join and support our work: 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join-the-bmc-for-1-month-U27-membership

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