During the evenings before and after the Trail we are busy booking a variety of speakers and musical acts to perform at Kilve Court.

On the SATURDAY night we have already booked:

1. Dr Sasha Dall – an evolutionary biologist from Exeter University with a lecture entitled “Unintelligent Design: Unravelling the Complexities of Life”  along with his wife:

 2. Dr Caitlin Kight who will give us a fascinating insight into her work on the affects of urbanisation on birds.

3. Peter Exley: SW Public Affairs Manager  for the RSPB who will talk about albatrosses, partly because the Trail crosses the Coleridge Way and..

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

..and because the RSPB is hard at work conserving the Albatross internationally.

He’ll also be mentioning the amazing story of the Somerset Cranes.

4. Kevin Cox from the World Land Trust who will give us an equally ‘worldly’ vantage point on habitat conservation and the work of the World Land Trust.

5. On more philosophical matters we also welcome Alom Shaha   - author of ‘The young Atheists handbook‘.  Tim Minchin decribed his book – “More than just a great handbook, this is an honest and often very moving story about valuing truth over hope, even in the face of grief.”

Along the Trail on Sunday our walkers encounter a range of contributions, including  one from Professor Norman Maclean of Southampton University – author of ‘Silent Summer‘ – who will speak with unrivalled authority about the current state of UK biodiversity.

To provide a more local angle we will also hear from Nigel Phillips – author of ‘Somerset Coast‘ – a Quantock based ecologist with 30 years of experience in Nature Conservation and a particular interest in all matters marine.

We will also hear life stories from some of our cousins in the family tree, tales of drifting continents and horrifying mass extinctions. Indeed, if you wish to volunteer to speak briefly at your favourite rendezvous, please let me know!

However, because the history of Life on Earth takes us to places so spectacularly unfamiliar, to retain our  emotional bearings we will be organising some artistic offerings along the way. In previous years this has included gentle folk ballads, harmony from a  twenty-strong choir, an evolutionary rap artist and a rendition of Jonny Berliner’s  ‘Large Blue Butterfly blues’ which, in common with 2 other Trail pieces, was written exclusively for the Trail.

This year we aspire to widen our artistic interpretation even further to include poetry, a flute player and, because 2012 is our ‘Year of the Bird’, some bird inspired music.

Acts who are already keen to perform (assuming our pitches are successful) are:

1.    Jonny Berliner    - returns for a repeat performance with his witty and wonderful science songs including a brand new song to celebrate our 2012 ‘Year of the Bird’.

2.     Stephen Preston    - we are also thrilled  to welcome this English flautist who is famous for his classical renditions and, more recently a whole new musical language ~ ecosonics ~ based on ‘birdsong’.*

3.    Soalcake    -  return with some folk ballads and dances.

On the Sunday night there will be an evening of cabaret from the performers you will have met previously along the Trail.