Scottish Bothy Bible by Geoff Allan

[Adventurer]

Those that might be interested a Scottish Mountain Bothies Bible out March 2017

The Bothies Blog

https://bothiesonabike.wordpress.com

With option to pre-order

A sample of the book


https://issuu.com/wildswimming/docs/sam ... hybook3/27

[Bearbonesnorm]

Brilliant ... just what we need

[AlasdairMc]

Hmm, risky. I hope all the bothy owners have consented to this as there are a few estates that don't like their bothy locations published

[NorwayCalling]

Brilliant ... just what we need

agreed... the end for quite a few I think - based on the local discussions about the (already) over use of the limited resources.

But it was inevitable I suppose, cant be to "locals only" but the end of an era. Will see what happens but some of the more "car" friendly ones will be packed out most weekends (and busy in the week).

[Adventurer]

Aren't the location of the bothies now made public by the MBA without actually joining?

I suppose it's a bit like bikepacking, it's getting a bit too popular.

[NewRetroTom]

All the grid refs of the MBA bothies are already on the website since a few years ago, so none of those are secret.

Saw this book in the shops the other day https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-bo ... 1852847562

I don't approve of spoonfeeding bothies to the masses with details of "the best walking routes in" - get a fricking OS map and work it out for yourself.

[NewRetroTom]

Another thought - I think it's possibly slightly immoral to be making money by publishing details of bothies that are only available thanks to the generosity of the landowners and MBA volunteers and donors.

[Moder-dye]

Another thought - I think it's possibly slightly immoral to be making money by publishing details of bothies that are only available thanks to the generosity of the landowners and MBA volunteers and donors.

Although it does say 10% of sales will go to the MBA. I assume that being the case the MBA are aware of and behind the production of the book.

It does add other of flesh to the existing bothy info. on the website which seems worse than the information you used to get before the www.

The official bothies have been on the MBA website for all (member or not) to see for ages. Different matter about the non MBA ones.

[NewRetroTom]

Interesting that Geoff Allan's book claims to be "the first complete guide to Scottish bothies".

If it really is complete then I think the guys who are fiercely (and imo legitimately) secretive about the locations of some non-MBA bothies they maintain will shortly be heading round to lynch Mr Allan. One of them got really angry on the UKC forum when someone put up a blog post that included the name and a photo of the bothy without stating where it was.

[Chew]

I think it's possibly slightly immoral to be making money by publishing details of bothies that are only available thanks to the generosity of the landowners and MBA volunteers and donors.

Same here.

You'd have thought that being one of the wardens, Geoff would be sympathetic to the potential fragility of such locations.

[NewRetroTom]

Although it does say 10% of sales will go to the MBA.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out - hadn't spotted it.

Can't see any mention on the Cicerone website of anything similar being done for the Phoebe Smith Book of the Bothy.

I see that there is actually a listing of all the bothies in the Geoff Allan book on the website - it's certainly not complete.

I imagine they must have got landowner's permissions to publish locations of non-MBA bothies. Barisdale is in there, which is not free (and therefore technically not a true bothy) - I don't imagine the estate would mind some free advertising for that one.

The Secret Howff is in there too - guess it's not secret any more....

[GregMay]

Quite sad really. We're going to lose something soon.

[Chicken Legs]

Quite sad really. We're going to lose something soon.

My thoughts exactly

[Cheeky Monkey]

Bothies have been part of my life ever since I came to Edinburgh as an undergraduate in 1988, and went on my first bothy meet at the EUMC club hut in Glenlicht, near Shiel Bridge in Kintail, to bring in the bells at new year. I’ve never looked back, became bothy secretary the following year, and have been out and about ever since, always happy to carry in some coal, and offer a glass (well plastic mug) of something to the collected company. I now maintain Dibidil bothy, one of the two spectacular bothies on Rum.

I feel a bit funny about it but then stuff is going to come out about "official" and "less so" bothies / locations / good bivi spots at some point. As pointed out earlier in the thread, the locations of all bothies have been on the MBA's website for years already. At least the author sounds like he might appreciate them for what they are and be an active member of the MBA. Hopefully that means he's aware of and has considered potential issues.

Stu - why not "interview" him for the news section (sorry, bright-ideas-twit mode engaged )? I expect it might be an interesting and thought provoking piece.

[Mart]

Although it does say 10% of sales will go to the MBA.

I see that there is actually a listing of all the bothies in the Geoff Allan book on the website - it's certainly not complete.

The Secret Howff is in there too - guess it's not secret any more....

Although there is an Bothy app that gives you all the details these days

The secret ones's all over the web - shame to see it publicised

[whitestone]

Sad if The Secret Howff is included. Something I've known about for thirty years or so but never managed to visit. I know the very rough location and no doubt a day or part day spent quartering the area would be enough to find it. Publishing its location would be unnecessary IMO unless it's a chapter like "The Weepie" in Cold Climbs.

[Scud]

Maybe it is the case that hopefully they can educate people more if they take the time to read the book properly and instil them with the correct way to use Bothies? Plus i know that many of them struggle to find the money for the upkeep of them.

Interesting though watching that "Bothy Life" documentary on BBC Alba recently where one of the volunteers was showing where people had burnt the furniture and clearly had attacked all of the trees in the vicinity for firewood, even though the shoreline for driftwood was 100m away, maybe they feel education is the way forward?

[Moder-dye]

Just found the bothy app for Android; had no idea there was one!

[benp1]

If the bothies are in areas that require a solid walk in, does it really cause that much bother? I appreciate the driveable ones are likely to have more 'traffic'

Being more aware of them might encourage people to get out more? Sure there are numpties in every walk of life, and people who will ruin the experience for others, but is it really that bad to share them with a few more folk?

More people using them does mean a higher chance of someone ruining the bothy, but at the same time they're there to be used by people experiencing the outdoors. For many inexperienced people looking for a 2+ day walk (or anything else), a solid roof over their heads will enable that. A proper wildcamp requires kit and skills that not many have. I appreciate that you should be taking that anyway in case it's full

There would be a far greater chance of me convincing friends to go on a trip if I could say that we'll be staying in a bothy than wild camping. They shouldn't be restricted to some special elite club of people that deserve them

[NewRetroTom]

Plus i know that many of them struggle to find the money for the upkeep of them.

Not sure this is true for the MBA bothies. In their December 2015 accounts they had more than £200k in the bank.

They probably do struggle to find volunteers to carry out some of the work though.

I completely agree that bothies shouldn't be exclusive.

The problem is that if you publicise them more widely then more people will hear about them. A small fraction of these people will be idiots. Extra idiots visiting bothies will mean more problems for the landowners and in the long run greater likelihood of the bothies being locked or left to rot.

[fatbikephil]

I've got a copy of a report written by a bloke who surveyed every bothy / potential bothy in Scotland back in 1979. It caused quite a stooshie at the time as he did it off his own bat without MBA approval. Its an intersting read however most of the shelters it surveys were either ruined or locked back then and there are a few bothies I know about that it missed out....

To be honest the cats out the bag now so I'm not sure this book will make finding them any easier and may generate a bit more interest and therefore volunteers to help maintain them??

Seems to be a lot of peole trying to cash in on bike packing

[boxelder]

Hmmmmmm. Assuming the owners have given consent, what's the problem? At what point do we 'pull up the ladder' and not allow any newbies in?
Just playing Devil's advocate. I felt the same when bouldering guides came out, publishing details of all those little used outcrops and problems that felt like only a few of us knew about, and strava segments on secret cheeky trails. And the Readers Digest with their highlights versions of long boring books, and the bloody CAMRA best pub guides.........


Let's all just be the scary, foul-smelling nutter that you occasionally encounter in a bothy - should slow the invasion.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

I didn't realise you had to be inducted into some sort of secret society to enjoy the pleasures of bothies! What's with the negativity towards this great looking book, written by someone who clearly cares for these wonderful places? Do you really think a low-key book like this is going to result in an invasion of zombies, trashing the outdoors that should only be accessible to the privileged few 'in the know'? If some dickhead really wants to go sniffing glue in a bothy, a few minutes of googling will reveal all anyway.

[Mart]

I've got a copy of a report written by a bloke who surveyed every bothy / potential bothy in Scotland back in 1979

Is that the Butterflied Survey of Shelters? Would love to see this - Cant buy it for love nor money
Been trying to track down a copy for years

[Bearbonesnorm]

They shouldn't be restricted to some special elite club of people that deserve them

This implies that there are others who don't ... which in my experience would be correct.

These days, I generally try and avoid MBA bothies, although I'm hoping that once the wheels have fallen off the 'Adventure' bandwagon, I'll be able to return and pick up the pieces.