Posted by dave on 9/26/2002, 10:38 am Here is where its gets personal, I see that type of shift in direction as a threat to the culture of highland bothies. What they do with bothies in England and Wales is an issue for those who frequent them, I cannot comment. But we risk the loss of an important aspect of highland culture which is thriving and an important bridge between the past and the present. Many of these old cottages or stalkers huts would have provided shelter when they were occupied , as was the highland way. Now they are empty they still provide shelter but without the local people living in them. Sure thats not true of all bothies but it is of many.
Just a note of caution, perhaps the majority of readers have not made the connection about the good Doctor. Thats a worry, if people have taken what he said at face value then the strategy may backfire. Lets not kid ourselves here it is perfectly possible that we could have a bunch of people elected who sympathise with the ethos of the basic YHA, an ethos which seems to have been lost in its drive to modernise. These people no longer feel affinity with the YHA and need a new home. The wholesale election of people with such views could result in a new direction for the MBA.
I had no desire to get involved in the MBA but having joined I feel compelled to do so , in an effort to stop a shift in direction which could see the loss of bothies as we know them. The current situation as I see it , is that the use of bothies is a popular and vibrant activity with the scope for planned and staged development in the future. There seems no reason to take an association with a bright future and redirect it just because another unrelated organisation has undergone change. The ripple effect can be stopped if we stop acting like flotsam bobbing on somene elses tide!
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