At The Water's Edge

Sir John Lister-Kaye

Sir John Lister-Kaye is one of Scotland’s best-known naturalists and conservationists and also an accomplished author.

As a young boy in Yorkshire, he trapped dust highlighted by sunbeams in jars and hid them under the sheets to see if they would shine in the dark. After resisting attempts by his family to direct him into industry, Sir John came to Scotland in the late 60s to work with Gavin Maxwell. He now runs the Aigas Field Centre just outside Beauly. Their new environmental education centre was opened last year by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

In his latest book At the Water’s Edge, Sir John talks of his personal links to nature through accounts of an hour long walk he has taken at Aigas almost every day for the past 30 years. He encourages us to see the wildlife in our own environment and experience it more personally than is possible in any nature programme no matter how small our patch is.

Sir John’s previous books Song of the Rolling Earth: A Highland Odyssey and Nature’s Child were bestsellers. He will be talking of his experiences on his daily walk and taking our view of nature away from the sanitized high definition remote version we are more often given. Be prepared for accounts of coming eye to eye with a wildcat and obscure links between weasels and perfume.