Hamish Brown

Hamish Brown M.B.E. is a professional writer, lecturer and photographer specialising in mountain and outdoor topics. He is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish Highlands, having completed multiple rounds of the Munros and being the first person to walk all the Munros in a single trip with only ferries and a bicycle as means of transport.

Born in Colombo in Sri Lanka on 13 August 1934, he lived in Japan for a time and then Singapore, escaping in 1942 as it fell to the Japanese. He lived in South Africa for two years as a refugee before returning to live in Scotland at the end of World War II. His family lived in Dollar and Hamish spent much of his youth exploring the nearby Ochil Hills which awakened his interest in the outdoor life. He was educated at Dollar Academy.

He travelled extensively in the Middle East and East Africa during the 1950s when serving in the RAF for his National Service. Between 1960 and 1972 he worked at Braehead School, Buckhaven, Fife and was in charge of outdoor activities at the school, introducing many of the pupils to walking in the Scottish Highland as well as other outdoor activities. After a spell as a County Adviser he decided to try to make a living as a freelance writer and photographer, specialising on "anything to do with mountains".

On 4 April 1974 he set off on his trip to complete all the Munro mountains in one trip. He completed the journey on 24 July, a journey of 112 days during which time he covered 1,639 miles, climbed 289 peaks and wore out three pairs of boots. He only used the Isle of Mull and Isle of Skye ferries and a bicycle as transport.

His 1974 journey was documented in the book Hamish’s Mountain Walk and this made him a household name among the walking fraternity, the book won an award from the Scottish Arts Council. He followed his Munros walk with the longest trip over the English, Irish and Welsh peaks, told in the book Hamish’s Groats End Walk. Brown also thought up the Ultimate Challenge (now called the TGO Challenge, after The Great Outdoors Magazine, not to be confused with the Australian series, which sponsors and organises the event), a fortnight-long endurance walk from coast-to-coast across Scotland – the book Scotland Coast To Coast is an account of a typical Challenge walk. Great Walking Adventure covered some of his more distant treks to Corsica, Norway, the Andes, Atlas and Himalayas.

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