In 2022, photographer and history researcher Estelle Slegers Helsen wandered around Lochaber in the footsteps of W S Thomson MBE, 1906-1967. Estelle took her photographic remakes roughly 70 years after Thomson originally captured the landscape and talked to local people along her journey. After a break over the summer, Estelle now continues her series, every fortnight, taking our readers to various places in Lochaber. This week, she focuses on the Ben Nevis CIC Hut.
In autumn 2021, I met Noel Williams of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and showed him photographs of W S Thomson.
Noel was thrilled and has been a Thomson fan since. He became, just like I, intrigued by some black and white images on and around Ben Nevis captured by Thomson in the late 1940s, published in his Let’s See booklets.
Thomson loved the Scottish Highlands and as a keen mountaineer living in Glasgow he explored the Lochaber mountains from the early 1930s, accompanied by friends and future wife Elizabeth Frame.
In 1945, when he settled in Fort William, he became a member of the Lochaber section of the Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland, also known as Lochaber Mountaineering Club.
As a mountaineer, Noel effortlessly identified Thomson’s Ben Nevis photographs.
“Early autumn would be perfect to go,” said Noel in autumn 2021.
Last September, I visited Fort William for a few days, driving from the East
Midlands to Wester Ross. “Weather conditions will be good tomorrow,” Noel messaged.
Reading this, I was excited, but I kept my breath because heights and climbing are not my favourite subjects. However, I am always in for an adventure without taking risks. Knowing this, Noel suggested hiking the North Face Path to the CIC hut.
The following morning, it was only a short drive from Noel’s place to the North Face car park. We both carried our camera gear. Noel was planning to take a panorama of the North Face and I aimed for a remake of a Thomson photograph entitled The Mountaineers’ Hut and Carn Dearg, Ben Nevis, published in Let’s See Fort William and Lochaber.
We go straight uphill and cross the Puggy Trail. Noel explains: “Here ran the Puggy Line, a narrow-gauge industrial railway, built in the 1920s for the construction and maintenance of a 15-mile-long tunnel to carry water for the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme, which provides electricity for Fort William’s aluminium factory.”
The first part is a winding forest path with a beautiful view over the head of Loch Linnhe and along Loch Eil.
We have a short break where the water of the Allt a’ Mhuilinn disappears into the underworld, into the last adit of the hydro scheme.
“The river, misspelt as Allt a’ Mhuillin on the signs along the path, will accompany us uphill to the hut,” says Noel.
At the top of the forest, we enjoy the stunning scenery of Ben Nevis. As
a geologist, Noel bombards me with the names of rocks, stones and sediments.
I gaze at the buttresses and gullies of the Càrn Dearg on the left and Castle Ridge on the right. The path continues climbing. On our way, we greet about a dozen people.
Just before lunchtime, we reach the CIC Hut, a private, locked shelter for mountaineers. Noel has a key and I feel fortunate he guides me inside.
“The hut was erected by Jane and William Inglis Clark as a memorial for their son
Charles, who was killed in action in the First World War.”
The stone building was opened in 1929 and extensively refurbished and extended between 2008 and 2012.
The inside is basic, though well-equipped with a five-star kitchen and a compost toilet.
The walls are covered with old mountaineering gear and a modern stunning one-shot panoramic photograph Alex Gillespie took.
While having lunch, I leaf through the visitor’s book and wonder if Thomson ever signed an older book. Sitting in this shelter makes life timeless. We almost forget about the mission of our journey.
Noel first settles on an excellent spot to make his photographs for a panoramic view. I feel tiny and humble in this overwhelming environment. Thin, high cloud
obscure the direct light.
He names the ridges and buttresses: North-East Buttress, Tower Ridge, Trident Buttress, Castle Ridge…all the gullies, the rifts between the rock mass have a number or a name, some even poetic: my favourite Moonlight Gully; Surgeon’s Gully; Vanishing Gully; Comb Gully.
For mountaineers, there are more than 200 routes to climb.
For the remake, I have to scramble towards Càrn Mòr Dearg to the northeast of Ben Nevis, linked by the Càrn Mòr Dearg arête.
A 270-degree view surrounded by 1,200 to 1,300 metres high walls unfolds. It is like standing in a gigantic amphitheatre.
The CIC Memorial Hut, more than doubled in size, disappears in the dramatic grey-coloured rocky landscape, covered in shades of green.
A windmill makes a slightly sweeping noise. A stock of bright orange gas containers is ready to warm mountain climbers in winter.
Ben Nevis is a favourite place for mountaineering in winter when it is much busier than summer.
Noel and I join again, both happy with our photograph hunt.
“For most of the other remakes, we have to walk on the arête”, says Noel while pointing to some people walking on top.
I shiver and briefly reply: “For my next visit to Fort William.”
- Travel in Time – Lochaber Series was supported by the West Highland
Museum and the Year of Stories 2022 Community Fund. Estelle has published a
64-page book with 30 side-by-side then-and-now pictures, which you can find
in local shops or buy online – www.travelintime.uk
Photograph: Left: The Mountaineers’ Hut, Ben Nevis in the late 1940s © W S Thomson; Right: CIC Hut and Ben Nevis North Face, September 2023 © Estelle Slegers Helsen. NO_F45_TravelInTime_23_#23_BenNevis