Mountain-top piano

A mysterious 'piano' (minus keyboard) discovered at the summit of 4,400-foot high Ben Nevis in Scotland in May 2006, was claimed to have been an organ, carried up the mountain over four days in 1971 by woodcutter and athlete Kenny Campbell from Bonar Bridge in the Scottish Highlands, in aid of a cancer charity. (He apparently played Scotland the Brave when he got the instrument to the top of the mountain.) Campbell intends to climb the mountain again in 2006, to celebrate his 65th birthday.

The instrument was discovered by conservation volunteers clearing stones from the summit, and resulted in worldwide news coverage.

The conservation trust which discovered the piano now claims that it was in fact a piano, not an organ, and was carried to the highest point in the UK by removal-man Mike Clark from Dundee (with help from about fifteen workmates) in 1986, as a charity stunt in aid of research into cystic fibrosis. The group buried the piano in a cairn, but carried the keyboard back down the mountain.

Posted: 21 May 2006

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