Shirley Thompson: The Past, Present & Future of Bat Conservation

S1E1 In our first episode, Shirley Thompson MBE describes how bat conservation in the UK started and some of the experiences she’s had along the way such as meeting Julian Clary for a wildlife documentary and catching a bat in Kent which had been rung in Lithuania! Shirley is the person who set up the Young Batworker’s club and has been editing the Young Batworker magazine for over 30 years and she talks about how children’s communication has changed over the years.

To find out more about becoming a Young Batworker, visit https://www.bats.org.uk/membership/scheme 

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Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan
Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/info

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Transcript

Steve Roe: 0:59

Hello, and welcome to the first episode of BatChat, the brand new podcast from the Bat Conservation Trust, designed for its members and the wider bat conservation community; Batchat talk to the experts as well as local heroes to bring you the stories from the bat conservation movement. We'll be coming to you every second Wednesday from now all the way through the winter until the spring. And if you're listening to us via a podcast app, you can tap the subscribe button. And that way, we'll find our way automatically onto your phone without you having to do anything else. I'm Steve Roe, and this is BatChat.

Shirley Thompson: 1:34

And this obviously really got people going. Because there was so many letters, so many requests.

Steve Roe: 1:42

Shirley Thompson MBE is a stalwart of bat conservation. She has been editing the young bat worker magazine since its inception 32 years ago. In 2002, Shirley was awarded the Outstanding Voluntary Contribution to Bat Conservation award, the precursor to the current Pete Guest award. And I grabbed a few minutes with her at this year's National Bat Conference, which took place in September at the University of Nottingham. Shirley, how did it all start?

Shirley Thompson: 2:07

I wish I had some wonderful stories to tell, but not really. In 1981, the Wildlife [and] Countryside Act came in and a couple of years later, people realised that they need lots of people to talk to householders and so on to explain that no longer were bats pests, but they were to be protected spaces. Rather than government money being put into it, as usual, oh, we'll use volunteers! So at that point, apart from one or two small groups, sort of small bat groups, there weren't bat groups. But that was a time when quite deliberately bat groups were set up all over the country. And in Kent, there were two talks, one at either side of the county. About bats and asking people to, you know, if they could take part in this and perhaps help out, I was really my husband and I were both interested in wildlife, we knew nothing about bats. Looking back, I think it also coincided with the time that our second son went to university and there was gap and something else might have fallen in, but it happened, I think to be bats. So we went along to the first meeting. At the end of the talk about bats, we were asked if we'd like to leave our names, if we were interested in hearing about the first meeting of the Kent Bat Group. And I said to my husband, shall we leave our names? And Noel said well as long as we don't commit ourselves, don't get involved. How many years ago did you say it was!? And that's how it happened.

Steve Roe: 3:48

And you're BCT's honorary honorary education officer and you edit the young batworkers magazine. What made you want to set that up?

Shirley Thompson: 3:57

Well, was it 1987, the first national bat year? 86 or 87? The great thing right at the beginning of the bat movement was to make people aware of the changes or even just aware of bats, because at that time, myths, you know, sort of held and held everybody's ideas about that. And so, there was a national bat year, which was putting put out quite a lot of information. And right at the end of it, there was a film on television, bats need friends, which Bob Stebbings was very involved with. And again, at the end, people were asked to send in for information. And this had obviously really got people going. Because there were so many, so many letters, so many requests. And we'd actually been started off in the bat group by Tony Hutson, who was one of the people who went around starting up bat groups. And he worked at that time at FFPS, in London, and he said, Oh, can you come up and help me sort out all these letters? And what struck us so much. That there was so many letters also from children. And there was nothing for children. There wasn't much for anybody, you know, not the great assortment of leaflets we can hand out now. Nothing for children. So um, I said, Well, perhaps we could start something up. And that was it.

Steve Roe: 5:28

And in those, well, more than 30 years now, there's been over 100 magazines, how do you manage keep finding new material?

Shirley Thompson: 5:37

I mean, I just hope that nobody else has kept them all. Because if they look back, they might find some repetition. But you can present the same thing in new ways. And one of the things I do find difficult is that at first, I used to get so many letters from children because I did this actually from home to start with and was only taken up by BCT as a junior section when BCT was formed a little while later. But I used to get letters from children and queers and help me with my project and sending pictures doesn't happen now. They don't write letters anymore. Alright, they might email but it's unlikely you've got to dig around on Facebook or something like that, which is a bit sad in a way, you've lost that, that direct connection. So if something does come through to BCT, or is on Facebook, or something like that, that sometimes, if it looks interesting, if it's a school, or a family there now I'll try and contact them and take it out from there. But it is totally changed that side of things.

Steve Roe: 6:44

And why are you so keen to educate the next generation about parts? Why, why has it been a lifelong project?

Shirley Thompson: 6:50

Well, I was a teacher, I mean, and I think once a teacher and ever a teacher, and some people told me who don't wish to know that. Well, that that's a future, isn't it? It's, there's no answer to that really is just so obvious.

Steve Roe: 7:06

And what keeps you motivated?

Shirley Thompson: 7:09

Appreciation, I think plus the, the fun of working with bats, but I couldn't, I couldn't do it. I don't think if I didn't have appreciation back set. I mean, you You did it once, didn't you?

Steve Roe: 7:23

I did. So when Shirley was it was at a birthday party. And I came up to you afterwards and said you don't know who I am. But he was practically on his knees. Because I joined BCT when I first went to bat when I was 12 years old, and I joined the Young Bat Worker's club, and it was through those magazines, and they were black and white back then. Whereas now it's a lovely colour edition. And it was through young bat worker magazine that sort of got me going and then eventually upgraded to become a full member.

Shirley Thompson: 7:52

Yeah, yeah. Well, now you're a trustee. Yeah. And that's, that's the sort of thing but even you know, next one down from that, working with Bat Conservation Trust, they're just so lovely. I can't speak highly enough of them.

Steve Roe: 8:11

What changes have you seen, in your time as about worker,

Shirley Thompson: 8:15

I think the whole attitude to bats has changed. It was a real struggle at first, to get people to even think about that says anything useful out there. But now I think people do now an awful lot more and, you know, television and various programmes and so on, really has made people more aware. And I think also just very recently, this much more of this movement to awareness of the environment, and just how much harm we're doing and how much effort we've got to put into improving things. So that's, that's a real plus.

Steve Roe: 8:50

What do you wish you'd known when you were starting out?

Shirley Thompson: 8:55

If I'd known I probably might have erm... there have been moments!

Steve Roe: 9:02

I mean, being from the Midlands, I don't know much about Kent bat group at all, what sort of work is Kent group up to at the moment what sort of projects and activities if you've got going on?

Shirley Thompson: 9:10

The usual standard back group things, but the thing that really were geographically in an ideal spot for and to me, it was one of the most exciting things is the Nathusius' pipistrelle project, The Nathusius', as you know, is a migratory bat, we didn't know quite to what extent or where it went. And so at the beginning of the project, I think was it just three or four counties just were asked go. Were given training and asked to trap in three or four sites several times during the year water sites near to water bodies. And we're still doing that and I just find it so exciting the most, the most exciting moment with us was in 2014, I think I may be wrong when we were trapping just just inland just along one of the creeks as the person who was just collected some bats from the from the harp trap, she looked in the bag because you know, you grabbed them and put them in you don't look very hard to start and she realised it was an Nathusius' and she said, Oh, it's got a ring on. And I can see her face now. She went redder and redder. She looked at the ring, she said, this bat was ringed in Lithuania! And I'll never forget that moment. That was wonderful to never got How far is it? Oh, well over 1000 miles and that was the first of the bats from way up. That was caught and then we actually caught another on another site in Kent that year, also from Lithuania. And it was rather nice actually the next year went to Berlin bat conference and actually talk to some of the people who've been ringing up at that end, because now this year the really exciting one is that one has been that was ringed in Northumberland has been found in Poland. So that's slightly different

Steve Roe: 11:05

direction perhaps or the projects are really starting to have some sort of results now. Oh,

Shirley Thompson: 11:08

yes. And it's staggering really. I mean, it's not surprising we catch there is because they, they up in Lithuania and Latvia, they ring 1000s Because it's in conjunction with with bird ringing as well. But when you think it's only, not that many comparatively that we ring, so the chance of one being picked up going in the other direction is pretty low. And I mean, I don't know how many they've sent out from Northumberland, but not a huge number, because they were one of the later groups to join in. But here one turns up Iin Poland, just amazing.

Steve Roe: 11:46

Obviously, you said that you're staying there, you're the sort of standard stuff but you also occasionally get asked to go and do TV stuff, because you were on an episode with Julian Clary a year or two ago. What was that like to film with him?

Shirley Thompson: 11:57

Oh, he's really nice. He's I am definitely a fan of his now. I mean, he he's absolutely delightful. Totally open about everything. And very appropriately he the wonderful house he lives in. It's like an old manor house almost. It used to be owned by Noel Coward. Very appropriate. But he did it up. But he was just lovely. And just is so interested in in wildlife. And tickled pink, you know that he had longyear bats in the last and and we've watched pipistrelles come out from outside the house. Not Yeah, now, but he was great.

Steve Roe: 12:38

And what do you think will be the challenges for that work in the future?

Shirley Thompson: 12:43

I think I think that volunteers are wonderful. The management of volunteers, everybody says is difficult. I think one one problem finding is actual commitment to start doing something, you've got to go on doing it not necessarily quite as long as but, but for instance, if you're trained up and you're going to take on back care or or trapping, and so on. Having gone through that training and working with people, you need to keep it up to make it worthwhile and pass that on to other people. You know, it isn't just fun for two or three trips. When you do feel

Steve Roe: 13:31

it's a lot of it's an investment for somebody to train somebody up. So yeah, that's fine. I guess if people are taking the time to train people up, it becomes frustrating when they suddenly stop. Yes, coming and pass that skill on and then you don't help read the benefits?

Shirley Thompson: 13:47

Yes, yes. So yes. And it's such such a busy busy world. There's so much everybody has so much it's too busy. That perhaps one one can't be quite so committed to things. Yeah, I think people need to really be sure of what they're doing and why they want to do it and see, see how important it is to stick at it and to help other people and bring them into

Steve Roe: 14:17

and what can we do to attract the next generation? What can we help to keep that work going forward into the future? And

Shirley Thompson: 14:22

we can that work? It's quite difficult, isn't it? Because I'm I'd love to get into schools and get schools involved more. But again, they are so bound by lack of time and curriculum set seminars do that, really, you need the teacher to be really keen to want to give that time it's the teachers, I'd like to get a hold of them. I'm not quite sure the best way to do it. But we're, we keep trying and I still think that the greatest thing you can do is show your enthusiasm. So you know, I think back walks are one of the best ways of getting through to the public. You still you see your face light up the first time actually hear about it. I don't think anything like it. I think that's one of the things that really caught me on the first time we went out our first bat group meeting, we went down to the lake. Somebody's got this funny little thing called a bat detector. You know, hardly anybody had them in those days. I am very old. And we went out and we heard absolute magic and it's that magic is still there to me. Yeah, it's still there. So if we can get the kids also out there somehow and listening and hearing and getting involved and know that these barriers I'm initiatives that there are now getting people out to camps and and forest schools and things that I think is great, because they've got to get to connect with nature and do it soon, too.

Steve Roe: 16:09

And finally, if you had to describe the bat conservation movement,

Shirley Thompson: 16:13

oh, dear, no, sorry, not that. You didn't tell me it was going to be difficult? Well, for me life changing. It's completely changed my whole direction. In fact, I quite often start at a walk or a talk, I will say to people, I must issue a warning, because you can get hooked. And I think, you know that, that is what makes it go forward. There's so many people out there who have got hooked, and it really has become part of their life.

Steve Roe: 16:50

Surely, Thompson it's been a delight. Thank you. Thank you. And if you want to find out more about the young bat workers club, head to bats.org.uk and click join us. Next time we'll be talking about grey long-eared bats and the big bat year. Until then, don't forget to subscribe.