On Sunday, BHA members and supporters joined those walking The Ancestor’s Trail in Somerset. Inspired by Richard Dawkins’ similarly-titled book, the Trail is an annual ‘biological pilgrimage’ across the Quantock Hills, with the winding footpaths representing branches on Darwin’s tree of life. Walking the Trail is a metaphorical journey back to the dawn of life on Earth.
This year’s Trail included representatives from the BHA, the AHS, and The Pod Delusion, while on-walk entertainment was provided by the BHA Choir. The Trail started with walkers representing modern humans, but every step took them 10,000 years into the past. Spirits were high as all of recorded history passed in the first half-metre, and before long the main body was joined by walkers from the Chimp trail. The devolution continued for 13.5 miles, with the most prominent intersections marked by trail organiser Chris Jenord describing the evolutionary highlights of the period. There was music, too: the BHA Choir performed two specially-written pieces, one of which increased in length as the trail progressed.
En route there was much debate as to appropriate humanist marching songs – with many suggestions helpfully provided by @BHAnews Twitter followers – and various were exuberantly attempted. AHS groups cooked up inter-society events and challenges, and there was an informal competition for the most interesting evolutionary fact (eventually won by the general concept of a platypus).
Radio 4’s Ramblings show came along for the morning, with presenter Clare Balding interviewing choristers and walkers to get a sense of why evolution held a special place in their hearts, and whether they were optimistic for the future of humanity. The show should be broadcast in the next few weeks.
By the end of the walk each step represented a million years (and felt like it), while the merging ramblers began to represent sponges, fungi, and, eventually, bacteria. Finally the Trail ended at fossil-lined Kilve beach, where the BHA Choir performed their full composition, and 100 walkers eagerly awaited their bowls of ‘primordial soup’.
Our photos of the event are up at our Facebook page.