At the south-west base of the Cuillin Ridge stands the Glen Brittle hut, a whitewashed haven that has been welcoming Skye climbers for the last fifty years. The hut has just celebrated its 50th anniversary with the reopening its doors after a much-needed refit. We take a look at how times have changed.
Built as a World War 2 memorial, the Glen Brittle hut is owned by a Trust on behalf of the BMC and Mountaineering Scotland. In the last decade the BMC and Mountaineering Scotland have raised funds to afford a significant refurbishment, modernising the facilities for the next generation of Cuillin climbers.
Recognising the hut's great importance, the BMC funded a grant of £50,000 towards the refurbishment and has supported it with a further loan of £50,000. With other funding coming from The Scottish Mountaineering Trust (£10,000 grant and a £20,000 loan), Mountaineering Scotland and Glen Brittle hut funds.
The refurbishment works were overseen by a committed volunteer team led by John Farrow and Roger Booth.
The official anniversary and reopening ceremony took place on 24 September 2015 and the hut continues to be a great asset for our members to enjoy. Please book it and use it!
An important figure in the huts history is Mrs MacRae, a Glen Brittle local who has been meeting and greeting visiting climbers for 60 years as the hut key custodian. Unable to make the opening ceremony herself, the tape was cut by her 4-year-old great grandson.
Current BMC president Rehan Siddiqui (one of the team of trustees for the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut) helps Mrs MacRae's grandson cut the ribbon to officially reopen the hut. Photo: Lynne Harris
We talked to Mrs MacRae about living at the base of the most infamous Scottish mountain range, its climbers through the decades, and the new hut.
My name is Isabella MacRae. I'm 88 and I’ve lived in Glen Brittle since I married in 1948. I haven’t moved house, not once, I’ve been here all that time, and I’ve looked after climbers for most of it. I used to keep a guest house in the early days, and then when the Glen Brittle hut was built I became the keeper of the hut key.
Climbers were always very nice people, very happy. We used to have a few famous ones. Tom Weir, he was a friendly chap, a nice fella. Chris Bonington was just a young student when I met him. They would stay in the barn, there was no campsite, no nothing, but they were so very keen and they used to have wild parties... but that’s all gone, the climbers like to have their home comforts now, their showers.
And the clothing has changed so much over the years. In the early days it was heavy tweed breeches and tweed jackets, and they just used to put them on wet the next day, there was no way they could be dried. I have plenty of waterproofs around me now.
It was mainly men climbing in the early days, there were just a few women; Monica Jackson, Gwen Moffat. Though lots of girls come to climb now, there still aren’t many female guides; Adele Penington is one, and Muriel Grey came to make a television show but it’s still mainly men working in the Cuillin. I didn’t really admire the women, it would have been very hard to have a family and climb.
We never tried climbing. I did the corries but nothing serious. We had no time, we were working. Always farm work and feeding climbers, I would be up by six, and then that was right through til midnight. The climbers weren’t rich either, before the days of the motor car they used to take the train to Mailliag and then cycle to Glen Brittle. The Youth Hostel wouldn’t accept cars, you had to have walked or cycled, that’s all changed.
If there was an accident there was a lot of local people who would have gone to help, local shepherds before the formal mountain rescue , or forestry workers who would take a stretcher and carry a casualty home, and there where some difficult ones. I remember the first stretchers, the ones designed by Hamish MacInnes, though the very first stretcher that went out from here was one my father-in-law made, two poles and a big wool bag, that was enough for the purpose.
The refurbishments to the hut are a wonderful job. It was adequate before, simple, though we always had good wardens to keep it all in order, I think I will miss the wardens despite the refurbishment. They were normally retired climbers, climbers who had sold their boots and loved the Cuillin, good people. A number would come from Yorkshire. Skye must have been a shock.
The Cuillins are not so high as other mountains, but they are more challenging, and the gabbro seems to be safer than other rock. You don’t get landslides. Just scree slides, but scree slides are good. Oh I know all about scree running. Aye, it’s good to start at the top and get down to the bottom in no time.
Other than that, I couldn’t describe the Cuillin to someone. I’ve been used to mountains so I don’t really think much about them, they're there and they’ve been there all my life. There was many a time we wish they weren’t there because they hold the rain and the mist.
My favourite bit? Oh, just above the house here, that’s enough for me.
There are slightly less climbers now. They are tempted to go to far off places and it’s human nature to explore as far as you can, but it's good they still come to the hut. Most of the genuine climbers stay there, the campsite is for 'tourists'. Have you met the midges? If you’ve experienced midges you wouldn’t stay down there. You stay indoors if you can. Many a night we’ve had to give up haymaking, and you’ll notice you don’t get a lot of gardens on Skye… you can’t get a lot done when the midges are helping you.
Book the hut
To stay safe from the helpful midges in the Glen Brittle hut, you just need to book online at www.gbmh.co.uk
Its £15 per night per person for BMC and Mountaineering Scotland (including affiliated club members). You can book the entire hut for £240 for 20 places or £216 for 18 places per night. Non member/club member guests pay an additional £5 per night above the BMC/Mountaineering Scotland rate be that the £15 or the £12 (for booking all 18/20 bunks).
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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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