When day declining sheds a milder gleam,
What time the may-fly haunts the pool or stream;
When the still owl skims round the grassy mead,
What time the timorous hare limps forth to feed;
Then be the time to steal adown the vale,
And listen to the vagrant cuckoo’s tale;
Join us for a Naturalist’s Summer Evening Walk! Gilbert White’s famous poem, dedicated to the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant, takes us on a journey vividly inhabited by the creatures that so intrigued the ‘curious minds’ of both men. As part of our exhibition Curious Minds: Thomas Pennant and Gilbert White, the Curious Travellers Project has commissioned ‘The Naturalist’s Summer Evening Walk Remembered’, an evocative sound-and-image piece by Sean Harris and Toby Hays, and a reading of White’s poem by Mark Ruddick. Our evening will include a showing of the piece and other conservation-focused work by Sean Harris at the Field Studies Centre, and a guided walk with Steph Holt, Ecologist at the Natural History Museum, London. Our summer evening walk will take us through the grounds of the Gilbert White House & Gardens, where we hope to meet some of the characters of White’s poem! The evening will close with a chance for a late-night viewing of the Curious Minds exhibition, hosted by members of the Curious Travellers Project Team. To find out more about the Curious Travellers Project here: https://curioustravellers.ac.uk/en/
Date: 2nd May 2025
Times: 19:00-21:30pm
Price: Free
Venue: Field Studies Centre
Directions: How to find us