William Inglis Clark (1856-1932) was a chemist, mountaineer and early president of The Scottish Mountaineering Club. His son Charles was a chip of the old block and was climbing enthusiastically on Ben Nevis in his early teens. Sadly, like so many others from that era, he lost his life in the first World War.

When the idea of building a hut on Ben Nevis was suggested in 1925 it met with much approval and, with the war not long over, the idea was put forward that if a hut was to be built it should also be a War Memorial. Some of the older club members could remember the youthful Charles and wrote to his aging father suggesting the hut should be built in his son’s memory. William readily accepted and having by now become a wealthy businessman, he also agreed to fund the whole project. On Monday April 1st 1929, the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut was formerly opened, one of Britain’s most unique War Memorials – known to all as the CIC Hut. Fast forward 80 years to 2009 and the hut was enlarged and extensively upgraded. During this process several window shutters became surplus to requirement. Three of them were subsequently donated to our collection by The Scottish Mountaineering Club. Mick Tighe and his wife, Kathy, carried them down in the autumn of 2014 – they are very heavy!

PS We’re told that these shutters were replacements made in the 1970s by a guy called Bob Brown. The wood is called Keruing.