BOOK OF THE WEEK

Corrour Bothy: A Refuge in the Wilderness by Ralph Storer, Luath Press, £10.99

Ralph Storer is an experienced hillwalker who has hiked extensively around the world. Although a Sassenach by birth, he has lived in Scotland since studying psychology at Dundee University and has a great affinity with the Highlands. His writing is known for its witty take on matters mountainous and his guidebooks have become standard works on the subject. His latest offering is no different.

Corrour Bothy is, according to Ralph, Scotland’s most famous bothy. It’s situated in the Cairngorms and has welcomed intrepid explorers for over 100 years. In his book, Ralph brings to life the story of the bothy by exploring its history, referring to its visitors’ logbooks which date all the way back to the 1920s.

Like any good guide book should start, Ralph opens with a detailed history of Corrour Bothy and its surroundings. It’s sited at the foot of the rocky monolith known as The Devil’s Point and it occupies a prime position at the heart of some of the wildest country in the Highlands.

Having been built around the year 1877, the bothy has been at the mercy of Scottish Highland weather for quite some time and has understandably undergone some much-needed renovations throughout its life.

Ralph also includes some handy tips on where to find the bothy for keen hillwalkers and mountaineers to take note of. Then, he goes on to the heart of the book where the bothy’s rather eventful life is laid out like never before.

By looking back at the masses of logbook entries over the years, Ralph is able to paint a picture of how our behaviour, society and ways of life have changed over the 20th Century.

Visitors to the bothy during the Second World War leave some poignant notes about the state of the country at the time, while in later years visitors’ outlooks on life are a little brighter and find only midges to be of great concern.

Poetry flows throughout the bothy’s guidebooks beautifully. Evidently, the natural surroundings of the Cairngorms play a pivotal part in providing inspiration to the creatives who have visited over time and there’s some really noteworthy verses to be read throughout – as well as some more humorous ones too.

In all, Ralph’s guidebook to Corrour Bothy is very well researched and paints a colourful picture of its Highland life.

Corrour Bothy, to this day, continues to provide refuge and a home for those who need it most.