A base of our own

Around 1996, a few of the movers and shakers in the club thought that we should look at trying to acquire a hut. I’m not so sure the idea was universally popular at the time but it was put to the vote and the enthusiasts had their way.

Our search for a hut over a period of about six months led us to Glen Affric where, would you believe, there were two possibilities. I am still convinced that we were steered into Glen Affric by the stalker in Glen Cannich who, when asked if he knew of any place that would suit us, quickly told us about a hut he knew about in the neighbouring glen. However he did us a favour and we ended up with a choice between a Forestry Commission building (Athnamullach) and a National Trust building (Strawberry Cottage).

Strawberry Cottage had been a stalkers’ residence before being acquired by the NTS and was in reasonable condition. The club opted for it for two main reasons; we reckoned that it would take us less work to get it into appropriate shape for a climbing hut and the Forestry Commission still wanted to use Athnamullach as accommodation for The Trees for Life people – the organisation they used in their efforts to regenerate the Native woodlands in the Glen – and this would have meant us sharing the bothy.

Without going into detail about the work that needed doing, let me say that it took blood, sweat, tears and a lot of toil to get it up and running. Oh, and about £40,000. Great credit needs to go to Joe Duffin for all his efforts over the first few years. Joe, of course, couldn’t have done it all on his own, although I’m sure that he often thought he was; there was input from members (and non-members who got involved for the satisfaction of doing the work, the crack, and perhaps the occasional dram).

We have had a great deal of local support for the hut from both the Forestry Commission (who we rely on for access and firewood) and NTS who are our landlords. We are also in the heart of a deerstalking area and we maintain a good relationship with the local stalkers. The club is justly proud of Strawberry Cottage and we believe that given its remoteness and location it is one of the best huts on the circuit. If you need to be convinced, then get up there and try it.

Apparently it was known locally as Strawberry Cottage because there used to be a few wild ones growing around the building. The deer have done for them now. A lot of work still goes into Strawberry and there will be more as we maintain our solar panel system and make it the whole place ready the winter.

Duncan Little