Monday, 7 February 2022

Living World - A Visit To Shetland (Bobby Tulloch)


LIVING WORLD - A VISIT TO SHETLAND (BOBBY TULLOCH) (320kbs-m4a/50mb/21mins)

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 17th March 2019

In the 50 years of Living World it has traveled across almost every corner of the British Isles, sometimes it is a contributor rather than the wildlife which attracts attention. In this Living World from 1974 Peter France headed up to Shetland to meet the late Bobby Tulloch, who was then working for the RSPB. When Living World visited the arrival of the Shetland Oil industry was just in its planning stage and so this unique archive programme provides a glimpse back to those days. Bobby Tulloch himself rose to fame a few years before Living World visited as the finder of a Snowy Owl nest on Fetlar, the first ever substantiated record in Britain. In this programme Bobby takes Peter to the Snowy Owl site, along the way exploring some of the other wildlife in this 'Land of the Simmer Dim'

In the decades since this episode was first broadcast, Shetland's wildlife has changed and adapted. Today there is a museum containing Bobby Tulloch's archive, The Old Haa Museum and Visitor Centre on the island of Yell. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World and gently updates the story for today's audience.

Producer Andrew Dawes