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Home News

Plea for people to take better care of Lake District bothies

by Lucy Edwards
19/03/2025
in News
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People visiting the Lake District’s bothies are being urged to help take better care of them.

The national park is home to several of these remote, bare bones shelters that are open to public use year round.

But the teams of people who work to look after these shelters are dealing with an increasing amount of damage caused by anti-social visitors – and are now appealing for support.

Most of the Lake District’s bothies are taken care of by the Mountain Bothies Association, a volunteer run charity that first launched in 1965, with a goal of preserving bothies across the country and keeping them from ruin.

David Moorat, area organiser in North England for the charity, said: “We have 13 bothies in the North of England. The ethos of the MBA is that we provide open shelters for anybody to use in wild and lonely places free of charge.

“They’re very basic, they have no gas, electricity, running water or toilets and people are welcome to stay there, as long as they respect the place.”

Much of the charity’s work involves protecting, maintaining and bringing new bothies into their care.

Volunteers keep these shelters open and operational – they repair roofs, walls, larger structural problems and occasionally add new features to the bothies to make sure they remain habitable.

One of the Lake District’s most popular bothies, Dubs Hut, which the charity said gets visitors every day, has recently had new bunk beds funded and installed by its teams.

But alongside their work to maintain these shelters, teams are also facing increasing incidents of people anti-socially using and damaging the shelters and leaving large amounts of litter and graffiti.

Every bothy managed by the MBA also has its own bothy book, which gives visitors the chance to record notes about their stay and helps teams calculate footfall.

David said these books are also sometimes vandalised with crude drawings and swear words.

David said: “98 per cent of people are sensible and respectful, but two per cent of people are not, and they cause one hell of a lot of damage that really gets everyone in their black humour.

“I’ve got 13 bothies in the North of England and by and large everyone who uses them is absolutely delighted with the opportunity they give them to explore wild and lonely places and for me that’s really good.

“It’s just a headache to put up with the people who damage our bothies, it’s very dispiriting, but we want to do anything we can to educate and make people aware that these places need looking after.”

David added that Dubs Hut is just one location where they have recorded incidents of anti-social use.

Dubs Hut

He said: “Dubs Hut gets a lot of use, it’s used every single day, usually by people who pop in to have lunch out of the wet weather.

“Every single day I and my colleagues have worked there, there are people who want to come in and use it for one reason or another, it’s used every weekend without fail by people staying over night.

“Having said they’re basic shelters, we do want to make them reasonably comfortable. If you’ve been out in the fells on a wet day, the last thing you want to do is spend the night on a stone cold floor dripping wet, so that’s why we’ve added the bunk beds.

“But it’s also regularly used overnight and sometimes it is used by the wrong kind of people.

“Sadly, there have been occasions where young families have turned up at 5 o’clock in the afternoon hoping to stay there and it’s full of rather loud men full of drink and they’ve been frightened off.”

While bothies are maintained by the MBA, they are owned by land owners, who can decide to close them off from the public in cases of serious vandalism or misuse.

David said that teams have also recently dealt with a serious incident at Kershopehead bothy, near Newcastleton.

He said a group of 12 men smashed the lock on the bothy, came in with chainsaws, broke lights, ripped doors off, put furniture on the fire, smashed the fire and carbon monoxide alarms and took the fire blanket.

Over 15 canisters of nitrous oxide were found in the bothy, along with human waste, vomit, half eaten food and litter. Barn owls that resided in the bothy have also not been seen since the incident.

But David said that people who want to use and responsibly enjoy bothies can help when incidents like this take place.

He said: “Sadly, some of our bothies have been abused by the wrong kind of people, and we’re looking for help from the users to report immediately any incidents that we can act on.

“Sometimes we get people call and and people say oh last Saturday or a few weeks ago we were in there and there were louts being aggressive, but dealing with it several days later after they’ve gone, we can’t do anything about it.

“But if they ring me on Saturday night at 11.30pm to say there are louts, they’re full of drink and drugs and they’re making a blessed nuisance, I can say right, okay we’ll get the police and we’ll go there and get them out.

“If people want to report an incident while it’s happening it can be done. It can be done on the MBA website and on there there are also telephone numbers for all the people like me who look after bothies in each area of the UK.”

Bothies and ‘bothying’ recreationally is a modern pastime that dates back to the post World War Two period.

The growing economy increased average wages, shortened working hours and mountaineering and hill walking became popular for all sections of society.

A decline in farming in the 1920s led to several abandoned buildings popping up across the country. Exploring walkers and cyclists began using these buildings for shelter or overnight stays without the owners knowledge – and so, bothying was born.

David said the Lake District’s most popular bothy is Warnscale bothy, which overlooks Buttermere, and once saw a couple get married there.

How do I report an incident at a bothy?

If you’re planning to stay in a bothy and come across people damaging the shelter, being aggressive, taking drugs or heavily drinking, it should be immediately reported to the police and the Mountain Bothy Association.

If you’re staying in a Lake District bothy managed by the MBA you can contact area organiser David Moorat on: 07980543759

You can also report any kind of damage to a bothy online here.

If you are in danger, always call 999.

How do I responsibly stay in a bothy?

If you’re planning to stay in a bothy, you should always follow the bothy code.

While bothies are maintained by the MBA, they are only available for public use courtesy of the owners of the land. Users are asked to respect this privilege or face the bothy closing to the public.

Respect others

Bothies are open to everyone and those staying in them should be prepared to share the space with others and welcome them in.

Users should also tidy up before they leave and leave dry kindling where possible for the next visitors.

Always tell the MBA about any accidental damage, don’t leave graffiti or vandalise the bothy.

Take out all rubbish with you and avoid burying rubbish or leaving perishable food, as it attracts vermin.

Ensure the fire is out when you leave and make sure the doors and windows are properly closed when you leave also.

Respect the surroundings

If there is no toilet at the bothy – bury human waste well away from the bothy.

Use the spade provided and keep well away from the water supply.

Never use the vicinity of the bothy as a toilet.

Never cut down live wood or damage estate property and use fuel sparingly.

Respect the MBA’s agreement with the estate

Users are asked to obey any restrictions on use of the bothy – this means, if there are restrictions in place during lambing time, you must follow them.

Bothies are only available for short stays only and the owner of the bothy must be contacted if you intend to stay for a long period of time.

Respect the restriction on numbers

Groups of six or more should not use a bothy or camp near a bothy without seeking permission from the owner first.

Bothies are not open to commercial groups and are used entirely at the users own risk.

Can I help look after the Lake District’s bothies?

The Mountain Bothy Association receive no public subsidy. They rely fully on subscriptions from members to provide the main funding for maintenance work.

Members are able to help maintenance efforts directly by attending one of the frequent work parties that visit the bothies to look after them.

Membership is only £25 a year and a reduced rate of £15 applies to junior members under 16, those who are unemployed and to all members aged 65 and over.

You can find out more about volunteering for the MBA here.

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