Wild Land News no 57, Spring 2003

Letter to the Editor Article

Dear Editor,

Hill Walking and Guidebooks

I agree with Chris Townsend that guidebooks do often serve a useful purpose. I use them quite frequently. They are especially useful in agricultural areas where the accepted access routes to the hills are not always clear. However I agree with Dave Hewitt that it is rather sad that so many walkers follow the guidebook routes at higher levels.

It was in 1945 that I first started hillwalking but it was not until 1970 that I became interested in Munros. Between 1970 and 1985 I climbed nearly all the Munros, Munro tops and Corbetts, usually alone, with only a compass and one of the old one inch maps as a guide. The old SMC district guides gave only brief advice. The adventure was increased by the fact that these old maps did not mark cliffs or crags. These were glorious days without guidebooks, probably the best days of my life.

Recently I have been re-climbing a few Munros. A couple of years ago I ascended Sgurr nan Coireachan followed by Sgurr Thuilm. I was surprised to find that everybody else was doing this circuit in the other direction which entails a long tedious grassy ascent and a very steep descent on a path which is becoming very badly eroded as folk slither down it. On returning to the car I checked Cameron McNeish's Munro Almanac where, as I suspected, he recommends climbing Sgurr Thuilm first

Good news came with the publication in 1989 of Eric Yeaman's "Handbook of the Scottish Hills" and in 1992 of Alan Dawson's "Relative Hills of Britain", two excellent comprehensive lists with as yet no guidebooks.

Sincerely,

Rowland Bowker
Cumbria