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Heritage Grant Award
Bats in the Belfry?
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Heritage Grant Award
Location: Kent
The world’s first railway tunnel, on the world’s first regular passenger steam railway line, will be researched regarding the bats which hibernate there in winter, together with interpreting the heritage of the line, thanks to the Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) scheme.
‘Bats and The Crab & Winkle Line’, the title of the project being run by the Kentish Stour Countryside Project in partnership with the Kent Bat Group, the Archbishop’s School and the Crab & Winkle Line Trust, won a £17,581 LHI grant in this month’s awards. This project will work with the community, and particularly with students at The Archbishop’s School in Canterbury, to find more out about the bats in the now closed off tunnel and the history of the disused line. They will look at the environmental conditions in the tunnel and the significance of the disused line as a landscape for feeding and foraging, along with removing rubbish from the tunnel.
Kevin Haugh, the Countryside Agency's Local Heritage Initiative Adviser for the South East region, says: “The inaugural journey on The Crab & Winkle Line took place on May 3 1830, four months before George Stephenson’s first passenger services. Running from Canterbury to Whitstable, the railway was engineered by Stephenson and provided the first regular service in the world, using the ‘Invicta’ engine, designed by Stephenson. The railway tunnel was the first built in the world and is some 800 metres long. Long disused and closed up, it is know to be used by three species of bat, the most important being the ‘Natterers’ bat. The project is one of the most fascinating we have given an LHI grant for in the South East and should bring many benefits to the local community, including an enhanced awareness and understanding of the history of the line and of the bats which now use the tunnel.”
“The tunnel is already protected from disturbance through the Wildlife & Countryside Act and is known and recognised as an important hibernation roost. Other partners in the project are English Nature and Canterbury City Council. The scheme focuses clearly on the natural heritage and on the built/industrial heritage of the line and habitat,” he says.
Jon Shelton, countryside manager for the Kentish Stour Countryside Project, says: “We are looking forward to starting work on this project. The tunnel has been monitored for bats each winter since 1985 by the Kent Bat Group but more research is needed to find out exactly how the bats are using it. Information will also be gathered about bats using the line. By working with local people and the Archbishop’s School the project will raise awareness of the importance of bats and the Crab and Winkle Line through talks, walks, leaflets, panels and a sculpture.”
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