Bothys ..how much are they used?

[godivatrailrider]

Dumb Q. Not used a Bothy before and I'm planning a winter trip hoping to stay at Nant Rhys ..... what's the likelihood of finding it empty vs full of chavs smoking dope?
Are Chavs a rarity or a common feature?
Would have tent with me anyway but would be planning on using the bothy.

I appreciate some are more heavily used than others ... a couple of the Welsh ones look so small you'd struggle to get in!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Many of the Welsh bothies are heavily subscribed, especially those that can be reached by car - of which Nant Rhys is one. I would say the odds of having the place to yourself on a Sat night in winter are 50/50. The chance of finding it occupied by ravers, hippies, chavs or general tossers* is around 1 in 4.

*no offence to general tossers.

[Richard G]

My personal experience of Welsh bothies so far has been that they have had chavs in them about a third of the time. Have also had (dissapointed) horny teenagers arrive and then leave immediately on finding the bothy full of smelly bikepackers too.

[Lawmanmx]

yer bluddy big lads you godivas, so roll with a bit of force and Turf out any of the unwanteds

or get big Matt to go in first and Growl at any occupants and watch them run to the hills in Terror

[Taylor]

I must've been lucky, I've yet to stumble on a rave in a Bothy.
The most rowdy night has got to be the cheese fest in Claerddu. Now that was a good night.

OR

A year or two before we met some students in the same Bothy that turned out to be alright I suppose(looking at you Zippy).

OR

Meeting charliecres and his merry bunch in ruigh Aitchechan.

[Bearbonesnorm]

The most rowdy night has got to be the cheese fest in Claerddu. Now that was a good night.

I've got a story about that

I suppose we should also remember, there's possibly people round the country typing on forums right now saying, 'I once went to X bothy and there were these smelly folk on bikes, covered in crap, dripping water everywhere and snoring'.

[Zippy]

A year or two before we met some students in the same Bothy that turned out to be alright I suppose(looking at you Zippy).

I found out about BearBones when Taylor and co bumped into us in a Bothy. The 2nd ever BearBones 200 was taking place at the time - we all thought it was a ridiculous (and I was there with some uni friends I knew through cycling...!). I took part in the 3rd edition of the BearBones 200.


P1000190_2 by Chris Reeves, on Flickr

[godivatrailrider]

yer bluddy big lads you godivas, so roll with a bit of force and Turf out any of the unwanteds

or get big Matt to go in first and Growl at any occupants and watch them run to the hills in Terror

I think the description you're after is Fat B*stards !

[Ray Young]

The most rowdy night has got to be the cheese fest in Claerddu. Now that was a good night.

I've got a story about that

I suppose we should also remember, there's possibly people round the country typing on forums right now saying, 'I once went to X bothy and there were these smelly folk on bikes, covered in crap, dripping water everywhere and snoring'.

I had a bothy user moaning at me about some cyclist disturbing him by turning up at 2am with all lights blazing who then only slept for a few hours before leaving at 5am and disturbing him all over again. Anyone off here?

[Lawmanmx]

yer bluddy big lads you godivas, so roll with a bit of force and Turf out any of the unwanteds

or get big Matt to go in first and Growl at any occupants and watch them run to the hills in Terror

I think the description you're after is Fat B*stards !

YEP, that IS what i ment to say

[paramart]

me, jay and mart were at nant rhys with the bothy boys loud and pissed up, but they cooked a mean prawn curry and Cumberland sausages, was a good trade off
mart by the time you've left the pub and hiked up the hill they will be home in bed it,s a fair climb

[NorwayCalling]

I don't know about Chavs being a problem so much (yes I have met plenty in my time in the bothies) but what I find increasingly annoying is the amount of people who think the sole reason a bothy exists is to have the biggest fire imaginable and get absolutely pissed out of your mind.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind drinking in bothies (been part of the the hip flask culture since the 80's) but I am increasingly finding myself getting surround by a groups of 3 to 6 individuals who sole purpose seems to be a token ride/walk to bothy, the get very pissed on tins of Carling (mostly I have observed) then bottles of sprits after the cans.... go to bed at 2 - 3 am, get up constantly for a piss and leave in a hungover mess around 9:30 am for another token ride/walk back to wherever they parked.

Yes I am billy-no-mates and 99% will be solo when I stay so, maybe I am more conscious of this (as I cant escape into my own group of people and ignore it). Folk turn up "mob handed" and "take over the place" as if it were there for their sole use.

My history with bothies goes back over 36 years and over that time I have seen the drift from long rides/walks to get to a bothy (even if the bothy is close to the road, you seldom just walked/rode from the road) and the bothy was a warm place to sleep with the company of like minded people. To what have now become glorified holiday cottages to be used to get pissed up in.

I know I am middle aged and yes the old days were good, but i just don't like this slide to getting plastered in a bothy being an "essential" part of the experience. Hipsflask and fire, bit off food and craic, great. Turning up with (at least 4 cans of larger and full size bottles of sprits) to then get progressively louder and louder until the wee small hours cranks my handle.

I don't know, the old users I grew up with in the bothies (listing to tales of high adventure and epics) are mostly gone (dead!) and the new generations are taking over with a different view on how society works - this just gets transcribed into the users of bothies.

Just my thoughts on the way Bothy life has changed.

[Matt]

Popped into Penrhos Isaf today.

Think I disturbed a couple was about 2pm though ...

[slarge]

Maybe if people keep you up till the small hours getting pissed etc, it is only courteous to return the favour the following morning. Tis a trick learnt through having teenagers...

[Yorlin]

Popped into Penrhos Isaf today.

Think I disturbed a couple was about 2pm though ...

Always knock when entering...

...a bothy in the afternoon. For some reason a regular bothy has a heavy erotic charge in the afternoons - as no one will be along til tea time at least*.

*allegedly

[Ian]

Folk turn up "mob handed" and "take over the place" as if it were there for their sole use.

Not quite in the vein of your post, but I once turned at Nant Syddion to find the Wales division of the MBA were having their Annual General Meeting
Place was packed, and me arriving after dark to use the bothy as it is intended seemed an awkward interruption to proceedings
I cooked a meal while it was going on, ate it then dozed off while the MBA secretary was still droning on and on about this thing and that thing...

[Mike]

Snoring doesn't happen in bothies does it.....Taylor, AW or John walking around in clogs all night long oh I miss those days

[Mbnut]

So it has been 20 odd years since I used bothies, didn't see many people and when I did there was a respect shown for other users.

If I turn up in a bothy now and a bunch of people rock up and show no regard for me being there is it okay for me to ask them to consider myself and other users or is it just a free for all?

[Taylor]

Snoring doesn't happen in bothies does it.....Taylor, AW or John walking around in clogs all night long oh I miss those days

John's yer man with the clogs. Me, I've got piss slippers which I seem to remember you borrowing quite often last time we stayed in the same bothy.

[frogatthefarriers]

I overnighted at Penrhos Isaf last night (29th) with my grandsons. Must have just missed you Matt. The couple were from Milton Keynes and had just come to get some peace and quiet. There was another chap who had been staying there all summer while working at a local hotel. He came back from work about 8:30, carrying a large sack of coal. If I'd known he was going to do that I wouldn't have spent a couple of hours sawing and chopping wood. Common room was toasty hot though.

We drank a couple of glasses of (Sainsburies) mulled wine and chatted until the kids got tired, when we, not they, went to bed. All in all, a very pleasant evening.

[Richard G]

If I turn up in a bothy now and a bunch of people rock up and show no regard for me being there is it okay for me to ask them to consider myself and other users or is it just a free for all?

Sadly these days that seems like a great way to get stabbed or something.

[Matt]

The couple were from Milton Keynes and had just come to get some peace and quiet.

I think he said Doug & she said Emily, he'd just fixed the window

[Taylor]

The couple were from Milton Keynes and had just come to get some peace and quiet.

I think he said Alex & she said Emily, he'd just fixed the window

Doug and Emily.

[Mart]

me, jay and mart were at nant rhys with the bothy boys loud and pissed up, but they cooked a mean prawn curry and Cumberland sausages, was a good trade off
mart by the time you've left the pub and hiked up the hill they will be home in bed it,s a fair climb

beat me to it Mart - Although they were loud and abnoxious, their hearts were in the right place and they were inexperienced in the art of Bothy etiquette
Prawn curry was good though

[Bearbonesnorm]

If I turn up in a bothy now and a bunch of people rock up and show no regard for me being there is it okay for me to ask them to consider myself and other users or is it just a free for all?

I have asked people to STFU before now with good results.

Sadly these days that seems like a great way to get stabbed or something.

But maybe that's because I look like the one who'll be doing the stabbing.