The founder of the Mountain Bothies Association, Bernard Heath and his wife Betty, also an early MBA member, led the Association’s 50th year celebrations at Newtonmore on Saturday by cutting an anniversary cake.
MBA Chairman, Simon Birch, watching Bernard and Betty cutting the cake (Photo: Richard Spencer, MBA)
Bernard and Betty commented:”We are both thrilled and greatly honoured to cut the cake, we can’t believe such an ocean of time has gone by since that so well remembered inaugural meeting in Dalmellington in 1965. We wondered then where the MBA would go and are so pleased that it has thrived. We hope that it goes on for ever.”
The MBA is a charity and has around 3,700 members. With the consent and support of their owners,
it undertakes the restoration and maintenance of old cottages, huts and similar buildings throughout
the wilder parts of Scotland, England and Wales for use as open shelters for walkers and other
outdoor enthusiasts. Many of the buildings that are cared for by the MBA would otherwise have
become derelict.
Corrour Bothy
The first restoration project was at Tunskeen in the Galloway forest, undertaken by Bernard Heath and
his friends. The Association now looks after almost 100 bothies. All of the restoration and
maintenance work is undertaken by volunteers and is financed entirely by member subscriptions and
by donations. In 2014, the Association spent over £44,000 on maintenance activities at 59 bothies
and volunteers contributed over 1152 working days.
The MBA has published a book to mark the anniversary “Mountain Bothies- Celebrating 50
years of the MBA” obtainable for £10 through the MBA website.