Sir Hugh exhibition appeal

The Munro Society is appealing for assistance in staging an exhibition in Perth next year to mark the 100^th anniversary of Sir Hugh Munro’s death.

The creator of the ‘Munros’ list of Scottish mountains over 3000ft died in March 1919, unaware of how much of an obsession he had inspired in the hillwalking world.

Now the AK Bell Library in Perth has invited The Munro Society to mount an exhibition about Sir Hugh. The society has decided to broaden the theme to ‘The Munro Legacy’ by tracking what has happened from the birth of ‘The Tables’ and the pioneers through the ensuing decades up to current times. The exhibition is planned for March to May 2019.

David Batty, at The Munro Society, said: “We need to gather appropriate archive material – photographs, artefacts etc – and are seeking help with selecting what is best to bring the exhibition to life.

“The birth and growth of hill walking and climbing clubs is an important part of the story and we have contacted a few long established clubs to see if they can help. If you have relevant photographs and or artefacts going back to the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, or know of sources of them, we would appreciate being able to tap into them. There are old photographs in various books but copyright problems exist with them and they will already have been seen by readers of those books.

“Pictures of those early days depicting bothies, howffs, camping, hostelling, modes of transport, bus meets with a flavour of the camaraderie of the times, are what will bring the exhibition to life. Artefacts might be more difficult as most of us will have thrown away ‘old gear’ when worn out, but there might be items of interest lurking somewhere.”

David stressed that the Society is only looking to borrow such items and any of value will be displayed in a safe place in the AK Bell Library and in closed display cabinets. Copyright will be respected.

Anyone who can help can contact David Batty at dsbatty@btinternet.com