The Cobbler is an iconic Scottish mountain with a special place in the history of British Mountaineering. In the 1930s working class people across Britain began to venture into the hills. Until this time mountaineering had been the exclusive pastime of the rich who had both the time and the cash to get to remote places. In England landowners sought to resist the desires of the common people to enjoy the freedom of wild places and this conflict led to the protest of the Kinder Mass Tresspas. Scotland had a different tradition of access to open country and here it was the workers of the industrial cities of the central belt who where the pioneers of working class mountaineering.
In this extended section from the original text of his book, Day Walks in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Gerry McGarry talks about the mountain The Cobbler and its history.
Gerry writes…
Before we start let’s get something clear, this is The Cobbler. If you refer to it as Ben Arthur people will know that you have not climbed it and that you are a tourist! Seriously, no one who knows this famous mountain calls it by its Arthurian name. This striking triple summited peak is the poster-boy of the area. Like those other Scottish icons, The Buchaille, Stac Pollaidh and Suilven you never forget your first sight of The Cobbler.
Viewed from the village of Arrochar on the shores of Loch Long the summit thrusts three individual rocky peaks skywards creating an outline like no other mountain in the region. From Arrochar, we can see the rightmost peak, The North Peak, crazily overhanging the main ridge. The leftmost peak, The South Summit, presents a pointed Alpine spire, a sort of Arrocharhorn! The little rocky Centre Peak, the least dramatic of all, is the summit itself.
The origin of the name ‘The Cobbler ‘is obscure and the subject of lively debate. Consensus has it that the small centre peak when viewed from some angles resembles a shoemaker crouched over his last. Whether you see him or not when you look, doesn’t matter, just enjoy the view.
Click here to listen to Gerry on Outdoors In Scotland podcast
The Cobbler has a special place in the history of Scottish mountaineering. In the great depression of the 1930’s many working men became unemployed. For the first time these hard-working shipbuilders found themselves with time on their hands. Some set out to discover the great outdoors just North of Glasgow and the central belt conurbations, exploring what has now become the National Park. The Cobbler became the focus of their activities and was soon the crucible of rock-climbing development in the area. The earliest ascents on these cliffs were made by people with leisure time, the Reverends and Doctors and academics who pioneered mountaineering as a sport. The great depression changed that and people who were more used to swinging rivet hammers in the shipyards started swinging from the steep sides of The Cobbler, sleeping under boulders and opening up the great outdoors for ordinary people.
So, when we set out to walk up this beautiful mountain we are on hallowed ground. We will pass the Narnain Boulders, a ‘Howff’ or shelter for climbers of old. We will wind under the cliffs of the North Peak seamed with famous rock-climbs and then we will arrive at the summit block of the Centre Peak. The highest point of the mountain is atop the blocky pinnacle of the Centre Peak. Standing on top of the pinnacle requires a short, not difficult, but serious climb on horribly polished, smooth schist. Unless you have climbing experience, it is not recommended. Traversing out on a broad ledge on the left side of the summit block leads us to a hole in the summit, Argyll’s eye. Crawling through this is known as ‘threading the needle’ and it leads to a sloping ledge with a big drop below. This ledge is traversed until a short climb allows access to the very top of the block. Reversing this on the polished, slippery, outward sloping rock is not easy and a slip would likely be fatal. Experienced climbers treat this with respect and know never to go near it in the wet. Climbing onto the true summit is neither required nor advised for our outing………you have been warned.
The summit of the South Peak is the domain of rock-climbers and there is no easy walking route. The North Summit is a splendid place for a lunch stop and can be accessed by a straightforward path. It leads us to an exposed top with sloping slabs and big drops all around, so once again, one for dry conditions. Having satisfactorily explored the summit area, we will head down along an easier path leading towards the Bealach a Mhaim before we re-join our earlier route of ascent. Safely down in Arrochar, take the time to stop in the village for some refreshment and sustenance and to look across Loch Long to where you have just been. If someone asks you if you have just climbed Ben Arthur……well, you know what to tell them.
