That sounds like an excellent ambition, Mark. JoJo and I walked the West Highland Way a couple of years back and really enjoyed the ‘single purposeness’ of it.
* made up thing, I suspect
Not many bothy opportunities on the WHW, though. Alex Roddie is a good guy to follow for outdoors/disconnection type stuff, and we can recommend John D Burns for his excellent anecdote-laden tales of walking (he actually wrote a cracker called ‘Bothy Tales’).
Many years ago, I explored almost the entire West and North coasts (inc Skye) of Scotland. Five month in each of three Winters, wild camping and Bothies. The toughest and most enjoyable physical adventures of my life..... A few more stories to write as yet.
My next big adventure should be a bit less arduous - Riding an electric camper trike from Nederland to the Pyrenees. Hoping to be ready for a late April departure....
There is one on the West Highland Way route - it’s a great, well-waymarked trek and other more salubrious accommodation is available for other nights! The Drovers Inn was fabulous!
The two hard bits, can be crossing the broken terrain, and topping up the firewood supply. One can usually, safely, drink the flowing brown groundwater.... It's so acidic from the surrounding Peat that most bacteria can't survive, but minimise it 'cos the acidity can sometimes increase the thirst. Main precaution is to drink 10+ metres Upstream from any dead sheep.
Hi Maurice, traditionally a bothy was generally a rustic building, built in the wilderness for the use of travellers, it’s door was never locked. There are perhaps a few scattered around France (though I don’t know of any) but are generally concentrated in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, some Northern European countries also.
Hi Susie, thanks for your contribution. Bothys were Originally built as homes for Shepherds and their families. Locks in that period were hand made, an expensive luxury deemed irrelevant by the Lairds, shepherds had nothing worth stealing... Gradual changes to the wool industry, such as land ownership, flock sizes, wool prices, "The Clearances", etc., led to ever fewer shepherds. Those that remained had to cover much larger areas, on foot, often unable to return home at night. They would simply sleep in the abandoned crumbling cottages, most of which have disappeared. Eventually road and rail travel enabled access to British Highland centres for walking tourists. Bothys, used as shelters for the more adventurous, became viewed as Heritage Assets. Then the creation of the Bothy Association brought in more Tourism and the cash to repair the ruins.
My own reason for using so many Bothys was my Prospecting for Minerals and Shell. Many years later I discovered my family's involvement with the Hanseatic Wool Trade .... A source for my Historic Semi-Fiction.....
I know nothing of the wool industry in France, other than as a Middle Ages importer of British Wool, and that my family have roots from the Mediterranean to the Baltic (Still researching)
Sorry, I’ve been away for a few days and missed this lovely chat, Susie and Maurice … I sort of (indistinctly) remember Max Jones (a foodie who is trying to preserve/capture traditional food techniques) talking about the Italian shepherd/herder huts used on transhumance treks. Not sure if they have been repurposed for leisure.
You are far more well read on the history of the bothy than I am Maurice! I stand humbly corrected, but in this case there are many such buildings like this in France, mostly crumbled ruins and dangerous to enter, called bories, often round with one window and no door. The literally were just a simple shelter for shepherds.
I recommend you check out Rebecca Hooper’s Between Two Seas and Kendall Lamb’s Touching the Elephant. Both are wonderful stacks, filled with light and depth and gorgeous prose.
I shall be rootling about in those recommendations, Holly, thank you so much. I’m almost glad it’s raining here in this corner of France. An excuse to stay in.
Love the glow in that photo, the warmth of the orange drawing you in. Thanks for the encouragement.
Aaaah the Broons ! I had a pile of them back in the 50's... Rediscovered them in an old "Comics Histories" a few years ago. Wonderful addition to my library....
I have a small ambition, which is to spend a few days hiking and staying in bothies. Unremarkable as it may be, it feels like a very deep ambition
That sounds like an excellent ambition, Mark. JoJo and I walked the West Highland Way a couple of years back and really enjoyed the ‘single purposeness’ of it.
* made up thing, I suspect
Not many bothy opportunities on the WHW, though. Alex Roddie is a good guy to follow for outdoors/disconnection type stuff, and we can recommend John D Burns for his excellent anecdote-laden tales of walking (he actually wrote a cracker called ‘Bothy Tales’).
Many years ago, I explored almost the entire West and North coasts (inc Skye) of Scotland. Five month in each of three Winters, wild camping and Bothies. The toughest and most enjoyable physical adventures of my life..... A few more stories to write as yet.
My next big adventure should be a bit less arduous - Riding an electric camper trike from Nederland to the Pyrenees. Hoping to be ready for a late April departure....
The Highland explorations sound epic; the ride no less so! Have you published some of your own bothy tales?
I want to stay in a bothy so this was a nice reminder to put that idea back on my to-do list. Thanks!
There is one on the West Highland Way route - it’s a great, well-waymarked trek and other more salubrious accommodation is available for other nights! The Drovers Inn was fabulous!
The two hard bits, can be crossing the broken terrain, and topping up the firewood supply. One can usually, safely, drink the flowing brown groundwater.... It's so acidic from the surrounding Peat that most bacteria can't survive, but minimise it 'cos the acidity can sometimes increase the thirst. Main precaution is to drink 10+ metres Upstream from any dead sheep.
Water filters essential!
Great advice!
I've lived in a Bothy twice! I love this old word... and the feeling inside.
More gorgeousness Barrie, Thank you for all your eclectic sharing!
Do they exist in France, Suzie ? I did a fair bit of wild camping in France, maybe 45 years ago, but rarely in an abandoned building....
Hi Maurice, traditionally a bothy was generally a rustic building, built in the wilderness for the use of travellers, it’s door was never locked. There are perhaps a few scattered around France (though I don’t know of any) but are generally concentrated in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, some Northern European countries also.
Hi Susie, thanks for your contribution. Bothys were Originally built as homes for Shepherds and their families. Locks in that period were hand made, an expensive luxury deemed irrelevant by the Lairds, shepherds had nothing worth stealing... Gradual changes to the wool industry, such as land ownership, flock sizes, wool prices, "The Clearances", etc., led to ever fewer shepherds. Those that remained had to cover much larger areas, on foot, often unable to return home at night. They would simply sleep in the abandoned crumbling cottages, most of which have disappeared. Eventually road and rail travel enabled access to British Highland centres for walking tourists. Bothys, used as shelters for the more adventurous, became viewed as Heritage Assets. Then the creation of the Bothy Association brought in more Tourism and the cash to repair the ruins.
My own reason for using so many Bothys was my Prospecting for Minerals and Shell. Many years later I discovered my family's involvement with the Hanseatic Wool Trade .... A source for my Historic Semi-Fiction.....
I know nothing of the wool industry in France, other than as a Middle Ages importer of British Wool, and that my family have roots from the Mediterranean to the Baltic (Still researching)
Sorry, I’ve been away for a few days and missed this lovely chat, Susie and Maurice … I sort of (indistinctly) remember Max Jones (a foodie who is trying to preserve/capture traditional food techniques) talking about the Italian shepherd/herder huts used on transhumance treks. Not sure if they have been repurposed for leisure.
You are far more well read on the history of the bothy than I am Maurice! I stand humbly corrected, but in this case there are many such buildings like this in France, mostly crumbled ruins and dangerous to enter, called bories, often round with one window and no door. The literally were just a simple shelter for shepherds.
I wish I’d woven the word eclectic into a publication title. If only I’d thought about it from the start!
Bothy is one of those hyper-evocative words!
Im sure there must be a way to make space for it Barrie!
Thanks for the shout, Barrie!
Always a pleasure, Andy
This week I'm recommending ...
On Substack:
the author interview of Cynthia Weiner by Jane Ratcliffe: https://janeratcliffe.substack.com/p/going-too-far-a-conversation-with
"Do Creatives Need a Mentor?" by Amie McNee: https://amiemcnee.substack.com/p/do-creatives-need-a-mentor
The Soft Week by Girls on a Page: https://girlsonthepageclub.substack.com/p/the-soft-week
And in general the collage goodness of Paris Collage Collective: https://pariscollagecollective.substack.com
Off Substack:
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
Mad Wife: A Memoir by Kate Hamilton
The Schubert Treatment: A Story of Music and Healing by Clare Oppert
My word, what a rich selection. Thank you so much. I shall weave these into my reading. A thousand thanks, Kathryn
I love this!!!
That’s so kind. Love that enthusiasm! Much appreciated, Jo.
That photo by Tamás Bujnovszky is fantastic!
Great post overall.
I recommend you check out Rebecca Hooper’s Between Two Seas and Kendall Lamb’s Touching the Elephant. Both are wonderful stacks, filled with light and depth and gorgeous prose.
I shall be rootling about in those recommendations, Holly, thank you so much. I’m almost glad it’s raining here in this corner of France. An excuse to stay in.
Love the glow in that photo, the warmth of the orange drawing you in. Thanks for the encouragement.
I love this. Thank you for so many great recommendations. Check out https://substack.com/@vbold… super authentic, healing, arts and writing.
Love a recommendation … thank you so much - excited to peek in. Have a great day, Charlene.
You’re welcome ☺️ You too!
💛🙏
Haven’t heard the word Bothy for many years.
It’s a beaut of a word. Evocative of woodsmoke and wet clothes, a hint of whiskey and dehydrated meals!
It's exactly that, plus mud !
Ah yes, the mud!!
Came here to say Bothy is a delightful word. And here you’ve gone and made it even more so. 😄
I love how one word can be suggestive of SO many stories, already written and those to come.
Reminds me of the But and Ben in the old Broons comic.
Aaaah the Broons ! I had a pile of them back in the 50's... Rediscovered them in an old "Comics Histories" a few years ago. Wonderful addition to my library....
Oh yes, they kept me occupied for hours as a child.
My mum brought me an Oor Wullie annual for Xmas. I remember having to wait for the cartoons from my Grandpa’s Sunday Post.
Haha, I had the annual also.
🙌