John Batley obituary: shooting writer and GTA director

5 April 1940 to 1 September 2026

The sporting world has lost one of the last of the old-school greats with the death on 1 September of John Batley, shooting writer, pigeon shooter, fisherman, businessman, car enthusiast, wine connoisseur, former director of the Gun Trade Association, family man, friend and all-round bon oeuf.

I knew John for more than 30 years, having met him when I joined Shooting Times in the early 1990s. We had some tremendous adventures, from decoying geese in Saskatchewan, an adventure that ended up in Worth Mathewson’s book Waterfowling: Best Days, to the fun of running the Shooting Times stand at The Game Fair for much of the 1990s, an event that was hilarious and exhausting in equal measure.

From the building trade to the racing circuits

John had a rich and adventurous life away from the shooting world. Born in 1940 to Charles Gurson Batley, a prominent solicitor, and Grace Lucy Batley, one of the few female pharmacists in the UK, he began his working life at age 16 in the building trade, taking on a number of roles, including driving a bread van, delivering wine and working for an agricultural merchant in Essex.

Motorsport was to take up the next decade of his life. Following a job working as a garage hand in 1962, he joined racing engine manufacturer Holbay Engineering in Suffolk and worked there until 1964. After that came a year in France with Paris Rallye Autosport, followed by a stint as an independent racing mechanic working around the world. He worked with the legendary Frank Williams until 1967 and then took a detour into retail, opening a London shop selling decorative Portuguese marble.

Motorsport soon drew him back as builder and driver of car number 42 in the legendary 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally. John made a respectable showing at the event, making it to Peru.

Undaunted, he made a solo winter drive from Lima to Buenos Aires, under treacherous conditions, ending up working for Ford Racing in Buenos Aires until 1972. A series of travels followed with John arriving back in London teaching English, interpreting and managing several enterprises, followed by a stint working with Universal Video Games in Japan.

Marriage, the Cotswolds and a return to shooting

In 1979 he met Caroline Holt at a dinner party in Frant, East Sussex. Caroline remembers being charmed by John and then being disappointed a couple of weeks later when he telephoned her, not with a hoped-for dinner invitation, but with a job offer. Nonetheless, in 1982 the couple married and together renovated a most beautiful house in the Cotswolds.

In 1984 John set up John Batley Crop Protection and began writing about pigeon decoying for Shooting Times; he taught and wrote about the craft until 1999. In 1998 he spent three months travelling around the US researching snow goose migration patterns, and from 1999 to 2018 served as director of the Gun Trade Association.

Fishing, friendship and family

In retirement, John took up fishing with his usual verve and could be found on the banks of the Wye almost every week with his good friend Peter Martineau. He adored Scotland and loved spending time with his friend Simon MacGillivray and fishing the Tay.

John brought a lot of fun and enjoyment into many people’s lives and our friend, the writer Worth Mathewson, remembers: “I, along with my wife, Marge, feel fortunate to have spent time with John on several occasions. The first was more than 30 years ago when we hosted John Gregson and John hunting geese in Saskatchewan. A few years later John came by himself and we hunted snow geese in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

“Then there was a trip that John, Marge and I took to Northern Ireland to hunt golden plover over decoys. Our last time together was when he joined me in the high desert of eastern Oregon for pheasant, quail and chukar. We hunted on a large cattle ranch with real cowboys. John was in full British shooting attire, which the cowboys found more than just interesting, especially as he was wearing a tie. We always had very good times with John and we will miss him greatly.”

Above all these adventures, John loved his family: wife Caroline, children James and Katie, and grandchildren Elsie-Jean, Rex and Hugo. He was so looking forward to meeting a new granddaughter, who is due at the end of October.

I was proud to call John my friend, as were so many other people. The world is not quite as bright without him.