Bothy
As Bothy in to the UK simple mountain and hiking huts called without management. They are particularly widespread in the Scottish Highlands and Southern Uplands . But they can also be found in the sparsely populated mountainous regions of Wales and northern England . The name probably comes from the Gaelic word Bothan or Welsh Bwthyn off both mean about "small hut".
In terms of their function and use, bothies can best be compared with bivouac boxes in the Alps . They offer hikers and mountaineers simple accommodation, there is no charge for their use and they are usually unlocked. Usually bothies have a stove or open fireplace and several storage areas and benches. There is usually no power supply. As far as sanitary facilities are available, this is mostly limited to simple outhouses . Due to the simple equipment and the lack of catering, self-catering and sleeping bags are required. In Scotland mostly older simple cottages and huts , originally built for hunters , drivers, and forest and agricultural workers , are used as bothies, which were used to manage the extensive large estates that were created during the Highland Clearances . In part, these were also the huts of the former residents who were evicted in the clearings. Former crofter houses are sometimes used as bothy.
The increasing motorization after the Second World War and the associated expansion of forest roads and paths meant that many of the simple accommodations for hunters and farm workers that were built in the 19th century were no longer needed; Work in remote areas that previously required overnight stays could more and more often be completed within a day. At the same time, the number of hikers, mountaineers and Munro diggers who sought destinations for their leisure activities in the remote areas of Scotland and discovered bothying for themselves increased. The dilapidated and less and less used huts were used as welcome overnight accommodations that saved the need to bring tents and offered better protection from the harsh climate. Most landowners tolerated this re-use against the background of the right of public access, which has been accepted as common law in Scotland for centuries . After various climbing clubs had initially taken care of individual bothies, the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) was founded in 1965 with the aim of maintaining the bothies no longer needed by their owners for free use by hikers, mountaineers and later also mountain bikers . The MBA now has around 100 bothies, of which only one is in their possession. A specific member is responsible for every MBA bothy, who checks their condition at least twice a year and carries out repairs if necessary. Other bothies are maintained by individual landowners and climbing clubs.
The MBA has created a Bothy Code as a code of conduct for use. Among other things, this stipulates that all visitors take their rubbish with them and leave the bothy clean for the next user. If there is no toilet, the toilet should only be used at a certain distance from the accommodation. Most bothies also have a hut book .
literature
- Geoff Allan: The Scottish Bothy Bible ISBN 978-1910636107
- Phoebe Smith: The Book of the Bothy ISBN 978-1-85284-756-2
- Mountain Bothy Association Mountain Bothies Celebrating 50 years of the MBA
Web links
- Mountain Bothies Association homepage
- Bettina Hensel: Spending the night in Scotland's wilderness The huts of the Highlanders. Spiegel online, June 13, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bothy in: Urban Dictionary , accessed January 25, 2017
- ↑ a b George T. Mortimer: Bothy Culture , 2013, ISBN 978-1291657340 , p. 27
- ↑ MBA History in: www.mountainbothies.org.uk, accessed January 25, 2017
- ↑ The Bothy Code at: www.mountainbothies.org.uk, accessed January 25, 2017