THE CARETAKER

ROBERT BARTON knows Strabeg bothy in the Northern Highlands as well as anyone, having looked after it for more than 20 years. So what is it really like to be the custodian of one of these essential mountain shelters?

WORDS SARAH RYAN

“I can judge by the level of the rivers on the way up the road if it’s worth attempting the walk-in,” says Robert Barton. “You can walk all the way up through the bog to get there and then, 100 yards away, find you can’t cross the river to get to the bothy. On occasion, we’ve not even bothered getting out of the car.” Strabeg is a 130-year-old shepherd’s cottage and 35-year-old bothy, maintained as such since 1989. A simple two up, three down homestead with slate roof and twin gable end chimneys. It was built on a knoll above the shining curves of the Amhainn an t-Stratha Bhig, which flows north through the strath to Loch Eriboll, in the far north-west wedge of the Scottish mainland. To the west, the glen…

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Trail United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2024

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