0:00:02 > 0:00:03- WOMAN:- Walking towards a bothy
0:00:03 > 0:00:05when there's smoke coming out of the chimney
0:00:05 > 0:00:07makes me really, really happy.
0:00:07 > 0:00:08SHE LAUGHS
0:00:10 > 0:00:12You've almost got this instant friendship
0:00:12 > 0:00:15as soon as somebody walks in the door, ken?
0:00:18 > 0:00:21I really think they're an amazing system, the way they work
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and the way they're so remote and unique.
0:00:27 > 0:00:28- MAN:- When you come to a bothy,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32you have to remember it's not like a hotel room that you've booked,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36it's an empty building and it's open for anyone.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42It's just absolutely beautiful.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44It's amazing to come to a bothy.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Bothy Life goes to the most wild
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and beautiful corners of Scotland to celebrate the spirit of adventure
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and friendship amongst folk who step out into the hills.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17For 50 years, the Mountain Bothies Association have provided shelter
0:01:17 > 0:01:18to thousands of people.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24It's not that great a ride in.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25SHE LAUGHS
0:01:25 > 0:01:27It's really hard when you're fully loaded
0:01:27 > 0:01:29and there's loads of drainage ditches.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32But it's really nice coming into the area.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38You don't have to book a bothy. You don't need to join the MBA.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40And they're absolutely free.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43It really takes you back
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and you kind of get away from the clutter that is your own home,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50and living in Inverness, and it's busy and, yeah, you've just got
0:01:50 > 0:01:53so much stuff everywhere.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56And you come out here and it's empty and you've got the basics,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59you know, you've got shelter, you can make a fire, hopefully.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- You might meet some nice people... - Yeah.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Yeah, it's a real good getaway.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Pete has ridden out to join Jenny and Jim for a big bike ride tomorrow.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36- Aye aye! How're you doing? - Hey!- Hey!
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- Good cycle in?- Aye, cracking.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40Tarred single-track.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I always forget how good it is.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49BAGPIPE PLAYS
0:02:52 > 0:02:55It's beautiful, isn't it?
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Beautiful views, lovely weather,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00nice warm deep pools to swim in.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21If the Highlands aren't about freedom,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and make your own decisions and get out
0:03:23 > 0:03:27and live the life you want to live in the space you inhabit...
0:03:27 > 0:03:29then, you know, what are they?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34You know, you can go up in the mountains and stay in a tent
0:03:34 > 0:03:35and you can survive, but...
0:03:38 > 0:03:39..you can go and stay in a bothy...
0:03:41 > 0:03:44..it's the difference between...
0:03:45 > 0:03:47..existing in the mountain space...
0:03:50 > 0:03:52..and really making yourself at home.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02ALARM BEEPS
0:04:09 > 0:04:11It's seven in the morning.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Time to wake up and smell the bothy!
0:04:30 > 0:04:34- So we've come up here and we're staying in the bothy there.- Mm-hm.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38And there's meant to be some sweet little snaking
0:04:38 > 0:04:40single-track around this loch.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42And then we're going to charge over the Bealach
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and Jim is going to show us that famous backflip
0:04:45 > 0:04:47- off the stepping stones. - JENNY CHUCKLES
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Would it be an idea to go all the way down, drop down here,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56and then come back round so we could leave our bags at the bothy?
0:04:56 > 0:05:01In some of the guidebooks, that is the recommended route.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04It's pretty midgy out here today, actually.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08There's not very much wind and they're just biting away at us.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12So just using a bit of spray to keep them off.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27The remoteness is one of the appeals.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28You know, you come out here
0:05:28 > 0:05:32and there's a good chance you're not going to come across anyone else
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and you've kind of got the place to yourself. It's pretty special.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45You have to be pretty proficient at sort of bunny-hopping your bike.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Or at least unweighting the back wheel.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52If not, you can be prone to punctures.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57So the ride in is lovely, but you have to be quite skilful.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Each MBA bothy has a maintenance organiser
0:06:19 > 0:06:21who is responsible for looking after it.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24They're all unpaid volunteers.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31There is absolutely no road here. Nothing.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38It's just carry it or... it doesn't get here.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I thought it was about time to get some new chairs,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54so instead of getting something brand-new,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58I got something in an old house clearance.
0:06:58 > 0:07:04An old gent in Kinlochbervie had died and I got hold of some chairs
0:07:04 > 0:07:06and I thought they'd be just the job for this place.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12So I tied them onto a pack frame and walked them out here.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16And hopefully we'll be sitting on them tonight having a dram.
0:07:42 > 0:07:48It's in the middle of a vast moor surrounded by mountains.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And it's very, very remote.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06And eventually, you see just a tiny little red chimneypot
0:08:06 > 0:08:11sticking above this vast moor, and that's Strathchailleach.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39This bothy was built in Victorian times for estate workers to live in.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47People tend to stop here who are walking on their way to Cape Wrath,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51because Cape Wrath is only about 10km up that way.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58There aren't that many people come here.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00And you get strange folks coming...
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Well, not strange, but adventurous folks.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Like, last night,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09there were two guys appeared over there carrying surfboards,
0:09:09 > 0:09:14would you believe? And they'd been surfing down at Sandwood Bay.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17I said, "Well, why bring your surfboards?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"Why not just leave them down there? Nobody would pinch them."
0:09:20 > 0:09:22"Oh, we're going on to Cape Wrath
0:09:22 > 0:09:26"and we're going to surf at Kervaig beach."
0:09:26 > 0:09:29And as you see, it's quite windy today,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and they'd got their wetsuits with them and their surfboards.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35And they were going to hike over that vast moor
0:09:35 > 0:09:38all the way just so they could surf.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41WAVES CRASH
0:09:47 > 0:09:50# Oh, the wanderlust is on me
0:09:50 > 0:09:55# And tonight I strike the trail
0:09:55 > 0:09:59# And the morning sun will find me
0:09:59 > 0:10:02# In the lovely Lomond Vale. #
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Post-war, better public transport and a sense of adventure brought
0:10:07 > 0:10:11more folk out of the big cities and into the mountains.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14# Highland glens and bracken bens
0:10:14 > 0:10:18# To greet the isles we love the best. #
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- MAN:- In the '50s there were just a handful of people
0:10:23 > 0:10:25going out to the hills,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29and we would all start off in Bon Accord Square, in Aberdeen,
0:10:29 > 0:10:31where the buses started off.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35We would all be standing around the buses with rucksacks
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and we would go from group to group
0:10:38 > 0:10:42trying to decide where we would want to go that weekend.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53I had a white anorak, which was for snow troops during the war.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55But it was hopeless in rain.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58It was very basic stuff, mostly ex-army.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03Skis, too, you could buy for £2.50.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07That was almost two weeks' wages, I seem to remember.
0:11:07 > 0:11:14But these were for ski troops during the war, and that's what we used.
0:11:26 > 0:11:32The Mountain Bothies Association was founded in 1965 by Bernard Heath,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35a keen cyclist, and Betty, who ended up marrying him.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Well, we met at the original, the inaugural meeting
0:11:47 > 0:11:49of the Mountain Bothies Association.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51You were secretary then.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55- Oh, yes.- And it was held in an unlikely place...- Dalmellington.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00It was the Scout Hut at Dalmellington Village, in Ayrshire.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05And...45 people, I couldn't believe it.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09We decided we didn't really want any publicity,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11it was to be very secretive.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14There wasn't to be a handbook.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15People were to look at their maps
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and if there was a dot on the map, it was suggested that
0:12:18 > 0:12:21if they were interested, they went to see it and took a tent,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24just in case it wasn't habitable.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27But we didn't know after all whether it was ruinous or not!
0:12:27 > 0:12:29So that's how it kind of got going.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34And people explored various places that they were interested in
0:12:34 > 0:12:38on the map and they came back and reported on them.
0:12:38 > 0:12:44And that's when we had to start going round landowners
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and finding how they felt about it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Some were a definite no, others were a perhaps
0:12:51 > 0:12:53and some actually said yes!
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Which was very heartening.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Today, the Mountain Bothies Association
0:13:03 > 0:13:05looks after 81 Scottish bothies.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Maintaining so many buildings scattered across the remotest areas
0:13:18 > 0:13:20of Scotland is very challenging.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Very few of these bothies are accessible by road,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30so most of the building materials have to be carried in by foot.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Or, if you're lucky, by boat.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41The NBA sets up work parties,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45where volunteers spend a couple of days living in and fixing up a bothy.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51I'm moving the fire pit because it's too close to the bothy.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55And we don't want a... we don't want a fire!
0:13:55 > 0:13:59If the wind changes direction. So... Because they make them quite big.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02And it also lets the ground regenerate a wee bit.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07We do have a problem with people cutting live timber here.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09When there's plenty of wood comes in from the ocean,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and even just if you walk up to the forest up there,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14there's loads of wood a ten-minute walk away.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17They're a habit of burning the furniture as well,
0:14:17 > 0:14:18which is really annoying.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Um...
0:14:20 > 0:14:22A bit frustrating, but...
0:14:22 > 0:14:2799.9% of bothy users are very responsible individuals.
0:14:27 > 0:14:28SHE CHUCKLES
0:14:28 > 0:14:30But, um...it's a bit of a pain.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32OVERLAPPING CHATTER
0:14:32 > 0:14:36INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Where's MY bag? Who's got my bag on?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42We come sea kayaking about once a year.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47We've been coming for the last ten years to the west coast.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49We kind of plan trips in bad weather around bothies,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52because even if they're full, you can camp outside
0:14:52 > 0:14:54and use the shelter to cook and hang out. So they're great.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11A lot of people lived in Ardneish until the turn of the century.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14By that, I mean 1900.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Over 150 people lived here.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24My grandfather was born in this house in 1898.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29So in a kind of way, I'm kind of from here.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32A long way back, but we are, we have a connection,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35on my father's side of the family, to the peninsula.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Very rudimentary, but we do, so...
0:15:37 > 0:15:40it's interesting to come back and...
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Every time I come here it's...
0:15:42 > 0:15:46I'm grateful I can come here and see from where they came.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49I think that's why I wanted to look after Peanmeanach.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53It's a special place...
0:15:53 > 0:15:54when you come here.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03There would have been plenty food.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06The odd, um...liberated deer.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And they would have grown crops down the front of Peanmeanach.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11You can see where they grew crops.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13And they would have had cattle behind them, grazing.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15There would have been seafood and fish.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18They would have been pretty well-fed.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26I'm scraping the beards off, which is the little bit that attaches
0:16:26 > 0:16:30the mussel to the rock, that sticks out once you've pulled it off.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34David Holt walked into Peanmeanach this evening.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It was just perfect. No midges,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42sunny, calm, cuckoo calling...
0:16:42 > 0:16:43Everything was magic.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Got down here and there's two guys, Dan and Chris, in the bothy.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Got a log fire going.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54And as I walked in I thought, "I could murder a beer."
0:16:54 > 0:16:58And there were two cans of lager sent by God.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Actually, sent by some art students who'd left them there yesterday.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04So my happiness was complete.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20- Well, that was great. Well done, Alex. - LAUGHTER
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- You're welcome.- Here's to the cook! - Excellent nosh. Isn't she good?
0:17:23 > 0:17:28- ALL: Yes, indeed!- Chilli con carne. - Cheers!- You're very welcome.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31I could mention good health, but after those mussels, I don't know!
0:17:31 > 0:17:36- Here's to the mussels!- Aye, the mussels!- Yes! Well done, yes!
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Yes, yes. And the deer... The deer are now coming down.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Yeah, here they come.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46They're heading this way.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47They'll come over!
0:17:49 > 0:17:50I've been to a few of these.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Not as many as you lot, obviously,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56but certainly I can't wait to bring my kids here.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Cannot wait to bring my kids to this place.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01- On a sunny day, it's fantastic. - Absolutely stunning.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15WIND WHISTLES
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Bob Scott's, in the Cairngorms, is named after the gamekeeper
0:18:34 > 0:18:37who used to run a bothy here back in the '50s and '60s.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I came up here when I was about 14. I think it was my first visit.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45And came across Bob
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and he had the roughest tongue I've ever come across!
0:18:49 > 0:18:51And it frightened me to death.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55But we soon discovered, of course, it was just a front.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Once you got behind that roughness, he was a great character
0:18:59 > 0:19:01and we all loved him.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07He was very intent on establishing his authority. He was a gamekeeper.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10And part of the reason I think he had an open bothy
0:19:10 > 0:19:14beside his keeper's house was so he could keep an eye on people.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18He would stand at the door of the bothy on a Saturday night
0:19:18 > 0:19:22and say, "Where are you going tomorrow, lads?"
0:19:22 > 0:19:27And we would say, "Well, we're thinking of going up there."
0:19:27 > 0:19:31He'd say, "You're bloody well not! You're not going up there.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33"I'm shooting hinds up there on Monday
0:19:33 > 0:19:37"and if I catch any of you lads up there tomorrow night
0:19:37 > 0:19:41"I'll kick your backside all the way down to Braemar!"
0:19:41 > 0:19:43So we didn't go up there.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46This idea that you go up the mountains, you'd learn
0:19:46 > 0:19:50the noble qualities of self-reliance and all this kind of stuff.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The modern thinking about it, you know. I mean, we came to misbehave!
0:19:53 > 0:19:56We came to get drunk and chase women, partly.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59That was part of the reason. We generally succeeded in the first bit
0:19:59 > 0:20:02but we never really succeeded in the second.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Then later on in life, I realised that a bothy wasn't most girls' idea
0:20:06 > 0:20:08of a romantic place to go.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Any lassie I managed to take away,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12it was only once, and she never came back.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21ACCORDION MUSIC PLAYS
0:20:21 > 0:20:23You've come to the best bothy in Scotland.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27This is the best bothy in Scotland, aye - that's us, that's us.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30There are many like it, but they all aspire to be as good as this.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Are you going through, then, Neil, to Aviemore?
0:20:32 > 0:20:36No, no, no - I'm just going through to Corrour.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Neil Reid's fanatical about the Cairngorms.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43He is a keen mountaineer, but he rarely goes anywhere else.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49There's a saying in bothies - "A bothy is never full",
0:20:49 > 0:20:51because, especially when the weather is bad,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53it doesn't matter how many of you are in here,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57if somebody else turns up and needs shelter,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59then you let them in.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Even in the most beautiful mountains in the world,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20someone has to do the dirty work.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Well, that was another good night in Bob Scott's.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26A few of the guys up, the regular guys,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29just had a good evening round the fire.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Plenty snoring through the night, and now,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37I'm off to Corrour Bothy to change the toilet.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Great weekend(!)
0:21:59 > 0:22:03When my old man used to take me up the hills when I was a wee kid,
0:22:03 > 0:22:09this is where we always stopped for a wee drink of water and biscuit,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and we'd just sit against this tree for a wee five or ten minutes
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and it's a spot that very often these days,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21I walk straight by, because my legs are a bit longer,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24but it was always when I was a wee kid,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27this was always one of the spots I looked forward to reaching.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Corrour is at the foot of two major Munros -
0:23:13 > 0:23:16the Devil's Point and Cairn Toul -
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and it's halfway down the Lairig Ghru long-distance walk
0:23:18 > 0:23:20across the Cairngorms.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27This was the first bothy I was ever in,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31when I was ten years old, so to be allowed to look after this,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34to me, is, you know...
0:23:34 > 0:23:38The bairn finally inherits the sweetie shop.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44It's one of the MBA's most popular bothies -
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and it's the only one with a bog.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54Right...
0:24:02 > 0:24:08This is, uh...human excrement and toilet paper.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14For those with Smell-o-Vision, there's a fairly rich aroma in here.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20It's not actually as bad as you think it's going to be,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25although the cameraman may disagree, I'm not sure.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41You'll be delighted to know we don't save the suits.
0:24:43 > 0:24:44Single use.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49So, that's it. One more bog change.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08# Well, a wandering man is what I choose to be
0:25:08 > 0:25:11# I've squared all my debts and my conscience is free
0:25:11 > 0:25:15# There's so much in this world that I'd like to see
0:25:15 > 0:25:19# It's a wandering life for me
0:25:19 > 0:25:23# So I'll head down this road My guitar on my back
0:25:23 > 0:25:26# And I don't own hee-haw so I've hee-haw to pack
0:25:26 > 0:25:30# And I'll listen for parties to join in the craic
0:25:30 > 0:25:34# It's a wandering life for me
0:25:34 > 0:25:38# Well, nobody can stop me I'll go where I choose
0:25:38 > 0:25:42# With no landlord to tell me the rent's overdue
0:25:42 > 0:25:46# And I'll never again suffer nine to five blues
0:25:46 > 0:25:48# It's a wandering life for me
0:25:48 > 0:25:52# Through the glens I will travel with bothies as hame
0:25:52 > 0:25:57# Or sleep under the stars To me, it's the same
0:25:57 > 0:26:00# There's nobody to fight with Point fingers or blame
0:26:00 > 0:26:03# It's a wandering life for me. #
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Just after the war, a lot of people came back
0:26:13 > 0:26:19who...suffered mentally from the effects of the war
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and they started to wander around these places.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33I think it was that he found peace there,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35after the sights and sounds of the war,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39because there still are a lot of people from Afghanistan
0:26:39 > 0:26:44who can't fit into Civvy Street and can't take up a job now,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and they will become wanderers.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Strathchallaich is very unusual.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04When the Mountain Bothies Association took over its maintenance in 1970,
0:27:04 > 0:27:05there was someone living here.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Sandy was in the Army and he was in Germany
0:27:12 > 0:27:18when his wife died in a terrible car crash and...
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Maybe it was after that
0:27:21 > 0:27:25that he decided to escape from the rest of the world
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and he ended up here, which is about as far as you can go.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34I think he saw this as a place of shelter.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36That's my interpretation of it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48Sandy's paintings still cover the walls of the bothy.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52It's very easy to see symbolism in things.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55But were they symbolic, or did he just like painting horses?
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Who knows?
0:27:59 > 0:28:03I mean, Sandy maybe just copied them out of a magazine
0:28:03 > 0:28:06or something like that, but I don't believe that.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15Out there, cold, black, horrible winter.
0:28:15 > 0:28:21In here, nice, warm fire, spring, contentment,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23and that sort of cosy feeling you get
0:28:23 > 0:28:25when you shut the world out.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35The MBA patched up the gable end to keep the building standing
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and in return, Sandy was supposed to let people stay the night.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40It wasn't a success,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43because Sandy was at the door with an axe
0:28:43 > 0:28:45saying, "This isn't the bothy.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48"The bothy is Strathan, you'll have to go back there."
0:28:48 > 0:28:51- To some people, yes. - Yes, he sent them away.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54He said, "It's a private house, it's not a bothy!"
0:28:54 > 0:28:57So he reneged on his part of the bargain.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Those he liked, he would let in.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04And he decided whether he liked them or not.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18I've been mistaken for Sandy, and I'm not Sandy!
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I'm a retired teacher who looks after this place.
0:29:20 > 0:29:26I might look a bit old and scruffy, but I'm not Sandy McRory.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30But, on the other hand, one of the reasons I'm looking after this place
0:29:30 > 0:29:33is that I like to be on my own and...
0:29:35 > 0:29:40..when you lot have all gone, right, I shall light the fire
0:29:40 > 0:29:43and get that nice, cosy little feeling that
0:29:43 > 0:29:48here I am in my own little world, stuck in the middle of a vast moor.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53So, yes, I am a bit like Sandy in that.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22You like to do the same for me, Ian?
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- Sure.- Stick it on.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28This work party are fixing the roof at Craig Bothy.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31They are making a weekend of it.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35- Yes!- Hooray!
0:30:35 > 0:30:38We started off about...probably about three or four years ago,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42using scaffolding for work parties, but we discovered it was so heavy,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46we were having to carry it into places or get it helicoptered in,
0:30:46 > 0:30:50so we thought about rope restraint as a possibility,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53because we didn't want to use scaffolding everywhere,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56for simple jobs like putting new slates on roofs
0:30:56 > 0:30:58that might only take 20 minutes.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01To carry scaffolding in is just overkill.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06So, this system is much simpler, much lighter
0:31:06 > 0:31:10and quite a lot of people have got a knowledge of the equipment,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13because it is the equipment that climbers use.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22I'm not very popular up the top, there.
0:31:23 > 0:31:29I had a little bit too much to drink and I nodded off.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32But long before bedtime.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Some kind soul brought a sleeping bag down for me,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40so I didn't have to climb the stairs and hug myself.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42But I think it might be more to do with the fact
0:31:42 > 0:31:45that I'd been snoring loudly and they'd get a better night's sleep,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48so whichever it was - I think the latter.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53But they didn't get a good night's sleep, unfortunately,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57cos when I woke up eventually, I thought I'd do a favour
0:31:57 > 0:32:00by lighting the fire so that the kettle would be ready
0:32:00 > 0:32:02for a nice, piping hot cup of tea in the morning,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05but I forgot about the flue thing at the back
0:32:05 > 0:32:07and the fire went on, sure enough, it lit no bother,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10but the room started to fill with smoke.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13But...I didn't see that as a big disadvantage, because my clothes
0:32:13 > 0:32:17are so stinking by now, it's quite good to get them smoked, you know?
0:32:17 > 0:32:20You smell like herring, smoked herring,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23you're a wee bit more pleasant than a hill walker.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26But, unfortunately, they've installed smoke alarms
0:32:26 > 0:32:30in all the bothies now, so the bloody smoke alarm went off...
0:32:30 > 0:32:33"Beep-beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!"
0:32:33 > 0:32:34Like this, I thought, "Oh, sh...!"
0:32:34 > 0:32:38So when my wife does that, she just gets a tea towel and goes,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40"Phoo-phoo-phoo," and it stops instantly.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43So I got my tea towel - "Phew-phew-phew."
0:32:43 > 0:32:45"Beep-beep-beep-beep!" "Ah, f..."
0:32:45 > 0:32:47"Phoo-phoo-phoo!" It went on like that,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49I couldn't get the thing switched off,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51and eventually, I just rammed it with my finger
0:32:51 > 0:32:52and it went off straight away.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56So, by that time it was five in the morning and I'd set the alarm off,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58so it was light outside.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Some of them are very understanding.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03There are some of them giving me death glares.
0:33:03 > 0:33:04HE LAUGHS
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Venture Scotland works with young people with all kinds of problems -
0:33:18 > 0:33:19problems like drugs, alcohol,
0:33:19 > 0:33:23offending behaviour or difficulties with their families.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28See where that really bright green piece of grass is
0:33:28 > 0:33:30- on the right of the river?- Yeah. - It's about there.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The path is a bit tricky going down from this point.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36Oh! Chilly up here!
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Shall we keep moving? Let's keep moving.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45They are walking out to spend the weekend in their bothy,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48with no electricity, no mobile signal -
0:33:48 > 0:33:49a challenge for any teenager.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01The Venture Scotland bothy isn't open to the public,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04but it is introducing these kids to life in the hills.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09- Well done, everybody. - Well done. All right.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13- Oh...!- That was a great achievement, well done, guys.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16- How are you feeling? - I'm good.- All done?- I'm good.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19- Just dirty.- Well done, pal.- Patrick?
0:34:19 > 0:34:21Well done.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24And welcome to our bothy.
0:34:27 > 0:34:28That one any good for you?
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Yes, that's good.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38We all take turns of making everybody's tea and coffee.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41We take turns of cooking and cleaning,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44so we've got our own wee chores.
0:34:44 > 0:34:50Me and Louise are cooking tonight, so...spaghetti Bolognese.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53It's a bit hard this time, because the mince is still frozen,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55but we'll get there.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04We'll have a lovely dinner tonight.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37YELLING AND LAUGHTER
0:35:43 > 0:35:45They've helped me tremendously - just...
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Even when they do the silly wee games and stuff,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49you don't realise how much they help...
0:35:49 > 0:35:51There is actually methods to the games,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55but you don't really get that when you're actually playing them.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57No, they do, they feel silly,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01but they're not - they're actually there for a purpose, you know?
0:36:01 > 0:36:05It's to help with confidence and to help us on in later life.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07It's helped me tremendously.
0:36:07 > 0:36:08Och, come on!
0:36:08 > 0:36:12LAUGHTER
0:36:12 > 0:36:15Now that I've been to our bothy, I'd recommend it to anyone.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18It's just waking up in the morning, you're going out the bothy door
0:36:18 > 0:36:19and seeing what's round about you,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22you just don't see that where we're from, know what I mean?
0:36:22 > 0:36:26Yet it's only, like, a couple of hours away.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28It's absolutely brilliant.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Kearvaig is the MBA's most northerly bothy,
0:36:57 > 0:36:59at the tip of the Highlands.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01It's incredibly remote.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Cap Wrath is used for the military for training
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and it's the only live ammunition range in Europe.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18They come here and they do exercises on their own with the soldiers
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and also, they use it for ship-to-shore firing.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26And they also have the aircraft that fly over
0:37:26 > 0:37:28and they bomb Garvie Island as well,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32which is an island just at the right-hand side of the cliffs.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36If you go down to the shore, you just see the plane flying over,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38and two seconds later, you hear the big bomb.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43But no, I don't find it scary,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45because I just know they are doing it over there,
0:37:45 > 0:37:47and it's the British that are bombing, so I trust them.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54In the winter of 2002,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Margaret Davies was found starving in this bothy.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00She died two days later in hospital.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03She was an artist and an experienced hiker.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07No-one can say exactly what went wrong,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10but it is thought she fell ill, ran out of food,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14and just didn't have the strength to walk herself out of trouble.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20I've found, in the last two to three years,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23I'm meeting a lot more women who are walking on their own.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28We met a lady who was walking from London
0:38:28 > 0:38:30and it was her second trip to Scotland.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34And she says, "Before I come, for a week, I'm as nervous as can be,"
0:38:34 > 0:38:36and I asked, "Why do you still do it?"
0:38:36 > 0:38:38She says, "Once I'm on Scottish soil
0:38:38 > 0:38:43"and I'm walking, the people I meet are so helpful and friendly,"
0:38:43 > 0:38:46she says, "so therefore, all the worries and fears just go away
0:38:46 > 0:38:49"and I go back to my work a lot better than I've been."
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I was on my own with three children and money was tight
0:38:59 > 0:39:02and so I used to take my children to bothies
0:39:02 > 0:39:04and hill walking on my own myself.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06My holidays were limited cos I was working full-time,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09so that's mainly the cheap aspect, and the shelter,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12that's why we did it. We did camping as well,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14but it's extra gear to carry when you've got three kids,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16cos I've got to carry their stuff as well as mine
0:39:16 > 0:39:19when they were young, so the bothies let me...
0:39:19 > 0:39:21It was a lot lighter and easier.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27If you go out, enjoy the countryside,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31I think it's up to every parent, if they're interested in it,
0:39:31 > 0:39:32to pass it on.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Margaret was on her own for ten years before she met Eric.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50They've been married for 26.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I found her in an Oxfam shop!
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Because I...
0:40:01 > 0:40:07I was asked by Oxfam if I would run a raft race for them
0:40:07 > 0:40:08in Linlithgow Loch.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Or, at least, that's how it happened,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and I met Margaret at Oxfam.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19She used to work for Oxfam and she said she got me as a bargain!
0:40:31 > 0:40:33Why don't we sit down here and watch the sunset? Come on.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Boys, I would like to give yous a toast
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and thank yous very much for all your hard work you've done today
0:40:46 > 0:40:49and the hard work you will be doing tomorrow!
0:40:50 > 0:40:52So here's to yous all.
0:40:52 > 0:40:53- Slainte!- Slainte!
0:40:53 > 0:40:55And here's to a good night's sleep
0:40:55 > 0:40:59and woe betide anyone who snores, OK?
0:41:00 > 0:41:02SHEEP BAA
0:41:07 > 0:41:10100 years ago, before the car and the quad bike,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13many more people lived and worked in the hills.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Before this was a bothy, it was a shepherd's house
0:41:25 > 0:41:27and Hamish Campbell lived here.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34I came up this track over 60 years ago
0:41:34 > 0:41:40when I was at the age of 16 to start my shepherding career up in Strabeg.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49In the wintertime, you might listen to the wireless a bit.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53If you were knockie, you might make a stick, get the knife out
0:41:53 > 0:41:57and carve away at the wood, passed quite a lot of nights, that.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Do a bit of reading and things like that and...
0:42:00 > 0:42:02with Compton Mackenzie's books,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06which I enjoyed reading in the time I was here.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Many's the time I fell asleep on that couch after a hard day
0:42:09 > 0:42:11when I would be on the hill.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21SHOUTS INSTRUCTIONS TO SHEEPDOG
0:42:23 > 0:42:27Hamish's great-grandfather started working here in 1850.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Come on, lad. Come on, buddy.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Hamish is the fourth generation of his family to herd sheep at Eriboll.
0:42:32 > 0:42:33Come on, buddy.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39There was over 3,000 sheep on this farm at that time
0:42:39 > 0:42:42and there were seven shepherds.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45You went off in the morning at daylight and you didn't get back
0:42:45 > 0:42:48until it was dark and you were ready for your dinner.
0:42:49 > 0:42:50To it, bud.
0:42:51 > 0:42:57And in the summertime, you might be out for a 12-hour day, gathering,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59and that was the way life was done then.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Although the MBA looks after 83 bothies in Scotland,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26it only owns one of them.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30Some of the others belong to organisations like the National Trust
0:43:30 > 0:43:34and the Forestry Commission, but most belong to private landowners.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Iona and her boyfriend Julian
0:43:40 > 0:43:43both work on her father's estate near Ullapool.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45The MBA looks after two bothies here.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52I remember when I was about, I don't know, tiny,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55I came over here fencing with my dad and we came...
0:43:55 > 0:43:58we were walking around and I came here
0:43:58 > 0:44:01cos I was probably annoying him with his fencing
0:44:01 > 0:44:04and I walked in the bothy and there was still school desks in there
0:44:04 > 0:44:07and really old-fashioned ones, you know, with the ink and everything.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11Children from the surrounding area would walk here
0:44:11 > 0:44:13carrying peat to supply the school fire.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16In the winter when the river was in spate,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19some would cross it on stilts to get to school.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24This is Ben and he's a native breed, he's a Highland pony.
0:44:24 > 0:44:29He's ten years old...and he's very good at rounding up sheep.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33He enjoys it. You put a sheep in front of him and he's awake.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38- He's a good boy. - And what's Ben's, er...?
0:44:38 > 0:44:41And in his other life, at the weekends, what does Ben turn into?
0:44:41 > 0:44:42A unicorn!
0:45:03 > 0:45:07I grew up on this farm and it's been great, growing up here and things,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10and I've been travelling and come back to work here
0:45:10 > 0:45:11and want to make my life here.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20It's a hill farm, takes us three days to get the sheep in
0:45:20 > 0:45:25and we don't really have any good fields or anything like that,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29so most of the animals live out on the hill around the bothy.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34A few times I've had to carry sick lambs home on my pony
0:45:34 > 0:45:35and I will bring a lamb
0:45:35 > 0:45:37and dump it in the bothy in one of the rooms
0:45:37 > 0:45:40and, hopefully, no-one will find it and put it out for me
0:45:40 > 0:45:42thinking that they're being kind.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46Yeah, he just stays there until I'm ready to take him home again.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Sometimes when we go fishing on the rock,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01it's quite late when we stop and that,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03we just come in and put the fish on the stove
0:46:03 > 0:46:07- and spend the night here. - I think it's a good thing as well.
0:46:07 > 0:46:13It's a nice place to have a break if you're working all day on the hill
0:46:13 > 0:46:16and you can still get a sense of history out here.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20You can still feel it from having no electricity
0:46:20 > 0:46:23or having to get your water from the burn
0:46:23 > 0:46:25and it sort of brings you back in time,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27which is a really nice feeling.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30There's no mobile reception here, there's no modern technology.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33You can't see anything from the view out the front, so...
0:46:33 > 0:46:36And you just see the hills and that, I would say,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39wouldn't have changed much since it was first built.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42It's a beautiful, beautiful spot and I'm very lucky.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Not all landowners are as welcoming as that.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55Back in the '50s, a group of friends took the law into their own hands
0:46:55 > 0:46:58and built a secret bothy without the landowner knowing...
0:46:59 > 0:47:04..so they could go mountaineering in the summer and skiing in the winter.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10It's another couple of miles or so, Ewan, I think we're almost there.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12- Mm-hm, mm-hm. - We'll start branching off.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14If we head up towards the Slugain Howff,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16which is one of the great fabled secrets and untold stories
0:47:16 > 0:47:18of the Cairngorms,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21and we're in the company of the last survivor of the group
0:47:21 > 0:47:23of people who built it back in... When was it?
0:47:23 > 0:47:27- That was 1953 we finished it.- 1953. - Yes, that's right, uh-huh.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31It was quite an epic adventure, but it was great fun to do.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33And it's lasted 60 years. Did you expect that?
0:47:33 > 0:47:37I didn't expect me to last 60 years, never mind the howff!
0:47:47 > 0:47:51There were four of us and I remember we were in the glen
0:47:51 > 0:47:54and we thought, "We really must find somewhere
0:47:54 > 0:47:56"that no-one else can find,"
0:47:56 > 0:47:59you know, "and get something really well built,"
0:47:59 > 0:48:01and Jim Robertson was the driving force
0:48:01 > 0:48:04because he was really the builder.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07He knew what he was doing, being a monumental mason,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11so we had a really long scout around about the area
0:48:11 > 0:48:14and he said, "I think this is the place
0:48:14 > 0:48:17"where we do the least amount of building,
0:48:17 > 0:48:22"but make something that's really hidden and well constructed."
0:48:23 > 0:48:25And, hopefully, it's a secret that will always be kept,
0:48:25 > 0:48:28cos part of the fun is looking for it and then finding it.
0:48:28 > 0:48:29Of course it is, yes.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32I remember one time in the middle of winter, I was in the howff,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35nice and cosy, got up in the morning and about 20 yards away,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38there was two guys sleeping in the snow and they'd failed to find it.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41- Oh, well, that's good news. - Well, it wasnae good news for them.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44It was good news for the howff, but wasnae good news for them!
0:48:46 > 0:48:48HE KNOCKS
0:48:58 > 0:49:00That's the whitest I've ever seen it, I think.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04But it's gearing up to be a top day.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08We're going to go and have a little ski around, see what happens
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and see if we can find a bothy at the end of it, I think.
0:49:12 > 0:49:13If you're staying in a bothy
0:49:13 > 0:49:15then you don't need to take a tent,
0:49:15 > 0:49:17you've got somewhere that you can stash your gear
0:49:17 > 0:49:20and it's just somewhere to get warm as well...
0:49:21 > 0:49:23..which is always an added benefit.
0:49:25 > 0:49:26I think that's the place there.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the place.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33It looks a real... It looks amazing.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05Realistically, it's been...
0:50:08 > 0:50:10..ten times -
0:50:10 > 0:50:12as much time going up as you do going down.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23We've got a sunny, powder day. We've been here for three hours
0:50:23 > 0:50:27and there's only three tracks in it and they are all ours.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33So much of life in the modern world is controlled
0:50:33 > 0:50:34so it's sensible and domesticated
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and there's something beautiful about being out in wild nature,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41there's something exhilarating, it's wild, it's untamed, I love that.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Every country skier is an optimist and an opportunist.
0:51:00 > 0:51:01And so when you get the good days,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03you've got to grab them with both hands.
0:51:14 > 0:51:19I actually proposed to my fiancee up on Aonach Mor and, you know,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22it was a howling gale, absolutely blowing a hooley,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25and it's exhilarating, you know,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28for both of us, it's definitely a happy memory.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31- Mountains are the contexts of loves. - I take it she said yes, then?
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Yeah, yeah, she said she'd love to. I couldn't believe it.
0:51:52 > 0:51:53BAGPIPE PLAYS
0:52:10 > 0:52:14This is the Eastern Highland section of the Mountain Bothies Association.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21They're sitting outside Allt Scheicheachan,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24also known as the unpronounceable bothy.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28There are worse places to have a meeting.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31The stove was a bit problematic, it had rotted away,
0:52:31 > 0:52:35we put in a spare... at very limited cost.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38If we all went down at the weekend or a day, really,
0:52:38 > 0:52:43it will need a few...it will need a good few volunteers...
0:52:43 > 0:52:45- Yeah, yeah. - ..at the end of the day.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48Yeah, so nice and simple, very effective.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51THEY HUM SCOTLAND THE BRAVE
0:52:52 > 0:52:56The two Kennys have been bothying and messing about in the hills
0:52:56 > 0:52:58since they were teenagers.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59Aye.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01If there was any deer in the quarry,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04the trick would be to roll a stone down
0:53:04 > 0:53:07and they would instantly run towards the wind,
0:53:07 > 0:53:11so we could tell exactly where these deer running would come out,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15so I'm explaining this story to Kenny here about how it worked.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Kenny says, "I wonder if it works with sheep,"
0:53:18 > 0:53:22so I get this boulder and rolls it down and the next thing
0:53:22 > 0:53:29I saw a sheep in midair, you ken, absolutely four legs out in midair,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31so Kenny had actually rolled this stone down
0:53:31 > 0:53:32and it had actually hit the sheep.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37About the size of a rugby ball, so I said, "Right, we'll go down
0:53:37 > 0:53:40"and make sure the thing's deid and if it's no' deid, I'll kill it."
0:53:40 > 0:53:43So I was about to set off down towards it
0:53:43 > 0:53:44and the thing got up on its feet and took off.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47- That's right, it took off. - And it wasn't even limping.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51It was an accident, hitting the sheep, it was just unfortunate...
0:53:51 > 0:53:52Unfortunate!
0:53:53 > 0:53:57- One of those things. - Aye, aye, I didn't mean to hit it.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00I thought the chances of hitting it were a thousand to one, you know,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03- but there we go.- I've been trying for years to hit one
0:54:03 > 0:54:05but I've never managed to hit one!
0:54:18 > 0:54:20When your workforce are all volunteers,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23you need to make sure everyone's having a good time.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27CHEERING
0:54:30 > 0:54:35Stan is one of the oldest guys that still goes up the hills
0:54:35 > 0:54:37and still manages to do some incredible things, you ken,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40still a keen cyclist.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43I think you've had two hip replacements now, Stan,
0:54:43 > 0:54:44- have you?- Yes.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47And probably heading for a bit more surgery to keep him going,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50you ken, but he's still there, come through the Lairig Ghru
0:54:50 > 0:54:54last year, you ken, which in itself is something...
0:54:54 > 0:54:57- something else, you ken. He's an amazing character.- It's hard going.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02Stan, give me my favourite song. Will you give me my favourite song?
0:55:03 > 0:55:08He'll soon be deid, so you'd better get on with it!
0:55:08 > 0:55:11# Sometimes when you think that you're going
0:55:11 > 0:55:14# To leave an invisible hole
0:55:14 > 0:55:18# Just follow this simple instruction
0:55:18 > 0:55:20# And see how it humbles your soul. #
0:55:20 > 0:55:24- I got most of my bowel taken away last year...- Aye, that's right, aye.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26..you know, with cancer.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29Aye, bowel cancer.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33Stan was recovering from his bowel cancer and he was walking up...
0:55:33 > 0:55:36The guys here, we were all busy working up in the Hutchinson Hut
0:55:36 > 0:55:38you ken, and Stan...
0:55:38 > 0:55:40you were just kind of getting better,
0:55:40 > 0:55:43you were still getting chemotherapy and was coming up to visit us,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46you ken, nae getting as far as the Hutchie, but meeting us
0:55:46 > 0:55:47at Bob Scott's on the way back down
0:55:47 > 0:55:50cos the guys were walking back down
0:55:50 > 0:55:52and Stan was there to greet us on the way back down.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56# Take a bucket and fill it with water
0:55:56 > 0:55:58# Put your hand in up to the wrist
0:55:58 > 0:56:01# Pull it out and the whole lot you've left there
0:56:01 > 0:56:04# Is a measure of how you'll be missed. #
0:56:04 > 0:56:09- No... Getting past it now.- Aye! - Och, aye.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13- But you're still managing to cycle. - Oh, aye, I still ride a bike.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16- It's easier cycling than it is walking.- Aye.
0:56:16 > 0:56:17What would you cycle now, Stan?
0:56:17 > 0:56:20What would you cycle in a day, you ken?
0:56:20 > 0:56:24I used to go maybe about three times, four times a week
0:56:24 > 0:56:28- and I'd always try to get at least 150 per week.- Aye.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31# Now the moral of this is quite simple
0:56:31 > 0:56:34# To do the best that you can
0:56:34 > 0:56:37# Be proud of yourself but remember
0:56:37 > 0:56:40# There is no indispensable man. #
0:56:40 > 0:56:41CHEERING
0:56:49 > 0:56:51CHEERY BANTER
0:56:51 > 0:56:55It tends to be people that value that kind of camaraderie,
0:56:55 > 0:57:00that kind of coming together, sharing an evening,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02singing a song, telling a story,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05and these are the things that are really, really important.
0:57:05 > 0:57:13# I ken ye didnae like it last winter here in town
0:57:13 > 0:57:18# The scaldies miscry us and try to put us down
0:57:18 > 0:57:25# And it's hard to raise three bairns in a single flex box room
0:57:25 > 0:57:28# But I'll tak ye on the road again
0:57:28 > 0:57:31# When the yellow's on the broom
0:57:31 > 0:57:35OTHERS JOIN IN: # When the yellow's on the broom
0:57:35 > 0:57:39# When the yellow's on the broom... #
0:57:39 > 0:57:42It's passing on the traditions that we were taught, you ken.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44We kind of learn the crafts from other folk
0:57:44 > 0:57:46in the bothies, you ken.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50A lot of these traditions and storytelling and things
0:57:50 > 0:57:51- are passed on, you ken?- Aye.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54# I'm weary for the springtime
0:57:54 > 0:57:57# When we tak the road once mair... #
0:57:57 > 0:58:00Folk dinnae speak to each other nowadays, I find.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04You get kids that are used to sitting in front of a computer,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06playing computer games, dinnae go out.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08- On the phones.- Yeah, on the phone, whatever.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11This is completely different, you ken.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14# And the yellow's on the broom
0:58:14 > 0:58:17OTHERS JOIN IN: # When the yellow's on the broom... #
0:58:17 > 0:58:21You're in a bothy, you're sitting around a fire, everybody speaks.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24There's naebody sitting on a mobile phone or a computer, you ken.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26# When the yellow's on the broom
0:58:26 > 0:58:33# When the yellow's on the broom When the yellow's on the broom
0:58:33 > 0:58:40# For they're aye cooped up in hooses when yellow's on the broom
0:58:40 > 0:58:46# When the yellow's on the broom When the yellow's on the broom
0:58:46 > 0:58:52# When the gang-aboot folk tak the road and yellow's on the broom. #
0:58:52 > 0:58:54CHEERING