I spent the night in the UK's most northerly bothy

The UK's most northerly bothy has been restored after years of decline and I thought the best way to see what it was all about was to spend the night there.

For those who don't know, bothies are remote shelters primarily found in rural Scotland, but also in North England and Wales, where people can claim refuge from the wilderness for a night or two free of charge.

The Mountain Bothy Association (MBA) has 84 bothies in Scotland but Burnmouth on the Orkney island of Hoy is not one of them.

It is independently owned and run by the Hoy Development Trust which took over the care of the 19th Century crofthouse about 50 years ago.

The bothy was originally built in the 1800s when the tiny settlement of Rackwick probably had about 40 residents but the population dwindled and by the 1950s the Nicholson family, who occupied Burnmouth, were one of the last families around.

By 1966 photographs show the building without window frames or a door but retaining its roof covering of what appears to be a mix of heather and turf over flagstones.

In 1970, the bothy was used for an adaptation of A Time to Keep by the Orkney-based poet and author, George McKay Brown and after that it was renovated by the Hoy Trust to provide shelter and accommodation for campers and hill walkers.

However, years of being exposed to the wind and rain blowing off Rackwick Bay meant much of the mortar between the stonework had begun to disintegrate, causing the building to slowly crumble.

The heather-thatched roof was causing damp and leaks inside.

Something had to be done.

Last year, the Hoy Development Trust managed to secure more than £142,000 from Orkney Islands Council to renovate the Grade A-listed building.

Following lengthy discussions with the council's planning department, the contractors decided to original roof had to be replaced.

Gavin Barr, from Orkney Islands Council (OIC), described the bothy as "one of the jewels in the crown of Orkney's buildings".

"It's a category A listed building so that means it's of national and international importance, so not just important to Orkney, but to Scotland," he said.

I live in Orkney's biggest town, Kirkwall, but even for me the journey required a bus, a turbulent ferry trip and a hilly six-mile cycle from Moaness to Rackwick on the other side of Hoy.

If you were travelling from further afield it would be much more of a trek.

It could take as much as nine hours to drive the 279 miles (449km) from Scotland's central belt to Scrabster on the far north coast of the mainland, then take a 90-minute ferry over to Stromness, and another to Hoy.

The three most northerly bothies in mainland Scotland are Kearvaig (280 miles from Glasgow), Strathchailleach (about 269 miles) and Achnanclach (272 miles).

Rackwick is two ferries further than that.

Arriving at the bothy, I met Martin Flett, vice-chairman of the Hoy Trust, and Graham Brough, one of the contractors behind the renovation.

Brough, his brother Ian, and his two sons, Glen and Craig - along with local stonemason Ben Glue - worked on the restoration for six months over a long, dark winter.

The decision to get rid of the heather-thatched roof was a difficult one, they said, but it was necessary due to all the water damage it was causing.

Now, the bothy - picked, pointed, and reroofed with stone slabs - feels much cosier.

Flett, the vice-chair of the Hoy Trust, says: "The roof was leaking awful bad and the windows and doors were knackered, so it's just great to see it up and looking good."

Brough added that the bothy had been restored before but this time it was done to last.

Hoy is the second largest of the Orkney Islands but it now only has a population of about 400, with the area around Rackwick very sparsely populated.

The main attraction of the bothy is its proximity to the Old Man of Hoy, an iconic 449ft (137m) sea stack which is popular with climbers.

Many use the bothy as a base for climbing the famous stack.

Inside the bothy I met Andrew and Lorraine Reilly, who had travelled to Rackwick from Lancashire after visiting for the first time 30 years ago.

They were amazed by the difference from how it was back then.

"It was very basic, very simple, nothing like this," Andrew said.

"This is amazing compared to what it was like.

"It was so draughty, so cold, even in the summer, with the wind blowing through."

Lorraine said: "It was a bit of a wreck before, but it's really beautiful what they've done."

Rackwick's longest-standing resident Davey Hutcheson - known as "Hutch" - has lived in the area for more than 40 years, in a house powered solely by a small wind turbine and storage batteries.

He said the bothy had been "on its last legs".

"It was getting to be very dangerous, but now that it's been completely transformed, it will bring new life to the place," he said.

"I can honestly say the whole restoration has been award-winning.

"When you look at Burnmouth now, illuminated by the evening sunlight, you can readily see what that house looked like 150 years ago, when the newest house in the valley was completed."

And it's not just people who enjoy the bothy and its surrounding area.

Orkney has a higher population of sheep than humans and in Rackwick that ratio is keenly felt.

They roam freely around the bothy - although they will away run from you, if you go to pet them.

At least I knew I wasn't alone for the night.

In the evening, I spoke to Sam Johnston, an ex-climbing instructor who first stayed in the bothy in 2011, when he guided a group scaling the Old Man of Hoy.

Returning after 15 years for a two-night stay, he was pleased with the improvements - particularly a lack of furry friends.

"I remember there were a fair few rodents crawling around in there," he said.

"But now, it's certainly the best bothy I've stayed in."

I ended up sharing the space with Sam overnight, and I agree. It's the best bothy I've ever slept in too.

There was even a private toilet with a working tap, flush, and plenty of toilet paper.

My sleeping bag was set up on one of the concrete platforms, right next to the newly-installed stove, made from an old pier pile.

It was cosy and comfortable, and there wasn't a draught all night - but one thing is certain.

Next time, I'm bringing a blow-up mattress.