Damage and rubbish put end to popular free bothy
A Lochaber estate owner says he has been forced into ending open access to one of the Highlands’ most popular bothies due to the surge in the number of people using it and leaving behind rubbish, human excrement in bags and even chopping wood from nearby fragile oak.
Ardnish Estate, the owner of the Peanmeanach bothy, has now informed the Mountain Bothies Association that it has decided the building will cease to be an open access bothy with effect from early October this year, when it will be locked.
The bothy, located near the north shore of Lochailort, off the road between Glenfinnan and Arisaig, has been maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association since 1975. On its website, the association states: ‘The reason for closure is based on problems the estate sees as arising from an increased number of visitors. We are sorry to lose this popular bothy but would like to express our gratitude to the estate for allowing us to maintain the building as an open shelter since 1975.’
The estate’s plan is to renovate the building, before re-opening and running it on a not-for-profit basis as a keyed bookable bothy, with any profits made used to further enhance the building.
Estate owner Peter StewartSandeman told the Lochaber Times this week that he was sad things had come to this after 45 years of the bothy being available on the same basis, but the pressure from numbers was just unsustainable.
‘It’s always been popular as a flagship bothy and that is part of the problem – numbers have risen to a level that is just unsustainable,’ he said.
‘We’ve had groups of up to 20 people on stag parties using the bothy and another 20 camping outside and, with no toilet facilities, it is causing problems.
‘Since the inclusion of the bothy in The Bothy Bible some three years ago, numbers using Peanmeanach have just exploded and we’ve had people leaving rubbish everywhere, cutting down parts of the fragile oakwoods to burn and even filling Tesco bags with excrement and leaving them lying around.
‘And with the inclusion of Peanmeanach in the new Scottish Bothy Walks book, I fear the problem is only going to be exacerbated unless we do something,’ he added.
‘A lot of bothies won’t have problems at this level because they are fairly remote – but Peanmeanach is a reasonable walking distance from the main road, making it more accessible.’
Mr Stewart-Sandeman said he had been in talks with the MBA for over a year on the best way forward but now felt the only option to solve the problems while still allowing a reasonable level of access was to convert the use of the bothy to something more along the lines of the mountain cabin network found in Norway.
‘Peanmeanach will be closed in early October and be upgraded and refurbished. It will then be available to book probably from about the following May onwards. It will be on a not-for-profit basis with the money generated being ploughed back into maintaining it,’ explained Mr
Stewart-Sandeman.
Written by Geoff Allan, The Bothy Bible and the new Scottish Bothy Walks, which again features Ardnish and Peanmeanach, are published by Wild Things Publishing.
The company told the Lochaber Times: ‘We are very sad to hear Peanmeanach is being converted to a keyed bothy or holiday cottage.
‘The number of visitors to the bothy has increased dramatically in the past decade or so, and from well before 2017 when The Bothy Bible was published. It has been on Google Maps for many years and, with its own idyllic sandy sunset beach and relatively short walk-in time from the main road near popular Fort William, it has always attracted those looking for a bit of a party bothy.
‘Sadly, there has always been a minority which has created problems with irresponsible latrine and firewood behaviour, but there is nothing to suggest these are the same people who buy guidebooks.’
‘It has attracted those looking for a bit of a party bothy.’