More than £100,000 has been spent improving bothies across the north of Scotland.
Bothies throughout the Highlands and Islands have been updated and repaired to the tune of £108,000 to continue to offer a safe place for climbers out in the mountains, an annual review has said.
The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2018 with a review of its activities during the year.
In spite of owning only one bothy, it provides support to keep more than 100 mountain properties in its care open with the support of owners and volunteer maintenance workers. Bothies are provided for use as open shelters for walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Its biggest task in 2018 was taking over the Garbh Choire refuge hut deep in the Cairngorms National Park and doing extensive work to bring it into use as part of the scheme.
The group works in rural and isolated areas in Scotland, England and Wales.
The bothies, owned by various owners from The Queen to private landowners and small groups, are all overseen by the MBA – and maintenance to the rural and isolated huts are completed by volunteers.
In 2018, the group spent the highest amount in its history on maintenance at £108,000 and undertook a significant amount of bothy repair work at many of the properties in its care including replacing door and windows.
The group also increased its membership by 18% to more than 4,300.
In its report, trustees said that its work would not have been possible without the support of the owners of the bothies and the work undertaken by a large number of volunteers involved in both maintenance activity and in running the association.
They also reported that finances continued to be healthy.
In the west Highlands, at A’Chuil in Glen Dessary, above Loch Arkaig, doors and window frames were replaced,
At Corrour a helicopter had to bring in supplies, while a long-term project to replace the floors at Craig bothy got under way .
In the islands it took a helicopter, more than 40 sea trips, a squad of volunteers and five years to re-roof the Guirdil bothy on the north-west coast of the island of Rum.
