> When volunteers from the John Muir Trust began to clear up the rubbish > and proliferating cairns on the top of Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest > mountain, they were astonished to find the remains of a piano (minus > only the keyboard) under a pile of rocks. The Trust owns the 4,400 feet > high peak which is climbed by 120,000 people a year. The Trust had > become concerned about the trash left behind and the 100 or so cairns > that had been built around the summit - many as memorials to loved ones. > When the mystery of the piano reached the newspapers, there were a > number of claims from people who said they had carried it up the slopes > to the top - including someone who had carried an organ there in 1971. > The Trust suggested, lightheartedly, that they would invoice the owner > for 20 years of storage on Ben Nevis. A biscuit wrapper with a sell-by > date of December 1986, which was found with the instrument, was > initially the only clue. Eventually the "litter louts" were identified > as a group of 24 removal men who had carried it to the summit to raise > money for charity. The climb had proved to be more exhausting than > anticipated and they had broken it up and buried it under a pile of > stones, rather than attempt to carry it back down again. The absence of > the keyboard was because they had taken that back down the mountain and > then given a key to everyone who had taken part, as a souvenir. > *John M. Ross Too bad the keys were gone. Otherwise, a good vacuuming and a liter or two of CA, and it would be ready to go. That is, if the casters are still ok. Ron N
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