Happy Birthday Sir Hugh Munro!

This past weekend - or more accurately, Monday - was the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Hugh Munro, the fella who compiled the notorious Munro Tables and has inspired millions of hill-goers to obsessively tackle 3000-foot Scottish mountains.

To mark the occasion, the Munro Society is asking anyone who climbed a Munro last weekend - 14/15 October - or today, 16 October, the actual birthday, to send a note of their name and address, a list of Munros climbed during the period and any comment they might care to make on what Sir Hugh and his tables have meant to them to the Munro Society. Details here.

The details will then be put together in a 'Tribute Book' which will be deposited in the Munro Society archive in Perth, which is open to the general public.

Members of the society themselves gathered on top of Driesh, the nearest Munro to Sir Hugh's home at Lindertis.

It's a fair bet that Sir Hugh had no idea of what he started, with over 3600 people now having registered their compleation (sic.) of all the Munros with the Scottish Mountaineering Club.

So, Happy Birthday Sir Hugh - but don't forget all those fantastic sub-3000 footers that get marginalised through the lack of a few arbitrary feet :-)