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General News

Backhill of Bush and Shiel of Castlemaddy

23/02/2010

We have reluctantly decided to cease to maintain the bothies at Backhill of Bush and Shiel of Castlemaddy in the Galloway Forest Park.

When we took on responsibility for these bothies, they were relatively remote and hard to get to. Over the years, as the Galloway forest has developed, things have changed and these two buildings have become too easy to take a vehicle to.  This unfortunately has created the conditions for vandalism- the buildings have been damaged and on occasion the perpetrators have made it unpleasant and unwelcoming for others.

The MBA has worked closely with the Forestry Commission and the police in an attempt to solve these problems. Sadly, and despite tremendous efforts by our volunteers, this has proved not to be possible. We have therefore concluded that the MBA should now withdraw from maintaining these two buildings and hand them back to the Forestry Commission.

The Commission will now consider the future of these two buildings. To help them do so, they would welcome input from users and other members of the public as to the way forward. To feed in views, please log on to www.forestry.gov.uk/gallowaybothies. Because of its historical importance, the Commission will begin managing Backhill of Bush as an open shelter until further notice. 

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