The Doune byre in the south-west Highlands, one of almost a hundred bothies in the care of the MBA

The organisation that cares for open shelters in Britain’s uplands has added a new bothy to its list.

Mark Cottage, on the Ardgarten peninsula in Argyll was handed over to the care of the Mountain Bothies Association by the Forestry Commission.

The association has also carried out work at 56 of its bothies, which now number almost a hundred, situated mainly in Scotland, but with some in the wilder areas of England and Wales.

Major repairs had to be carried out on the Mark Cottage property, on the shores of Loch Long, before it was made available to the public.

The MBA bothies are open to walkers and other outdoor users without payment, but visitors are expected to follow the bothy code, staying only one night and keeping group numbers small.

Ownership of the buildings remains with the landowners, but the MBA takes over care and maintenance of the shelters. The association pays for the materials and tools for the renovations but all the work is undertaken by its members on a volunteer basis. The MBA has over 4,000 members.

Presenting the association’s annual report, chairman John Arnott said: “Our work party volunteers are the cornerstones of the association and this year contributed 1,130 working days to the renovation and maintenance of our bothies.

“We regard the safety of our volunteers as paramount and, whilst it is pleasing to note that no recordable accidents occurred during the year, we continue to seek improvements in working practices in order to maintain a good safety record.”

“This year we have brought in professional training on the use of lightweight access towers and the erection of system scaffolding. We have also developed an internal training course for our volunteers involved with the organisation and implementation of maintenance projects aimed at improving work party planning and health and safety management.”

“We regard training as an essential part of our maintenance activities and will continue to develop our programme over the years ahead.”

The MBA’s annual meeting will take place later this month at Greenhead in Northumberland.

The MBA was established in 1965 and has in its care a number 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.