Ramblings

Clare joins Alistair MacNichol for part of his long‑distance walk from Holborn in London to Tong in Shropshire as he recreates the journey made by Little Nell and her grandfather from Charles Dickens’s novel The Old Curiosity Shop. The 166‑mile route has been meticulously researched by Alistair, who for many years has questioned whether this fictional adventure could ever be mapped onto real Engli...

Clare joins Marian Spain and Paula Brunt as they explore a stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path in West Sussex. After more than forty years working in environment and conservation, Marian is retiring later this year from her role as CEO of Natural England, the organisation responsible for creating and delivering this route which, at almost 2,700 miles, is the longest managed coastal...

Clare meets Marlon Patrice for a walk up The Wrekin in Shropshire. Marlon is the founder of We Go Outside Too, a community organisation he created in Birmingham after the death of his 17 year old son who was killed by knife violence. In the aftermath of this loss, Marlon turned to nature as a way to cope with the overwhelming grief. He soon recognised how powerful these experiences could be for ot...

Clare walks with a group of British Mountaineering Council volunteers who’ve been working to repair footpaths in Eryri, formerly known as Snowdonia National Park. These ‘Get Stuck In’ events give people a chance to spend time with like-minded folk, in beautiful landscapes, improving the paths that walkers depend upon. The work takes place over two days under the guidance of experienced volunteer l...

Clare explores the south side of Anglesey / Ynys Môn with friends Emily Coates and Nic Parry. Beginning on the wide sands of Newborough beach, they follow the shoreline toward Holy Island / Ynys Llanddwyn, famed for its links to St Dwynwen - the Welsh patron saint of lovers. After enjoying the sweeping views across the water to the Eryri (Snowdonia) mountain range, they leave the island behind and...

Clare Balding joins the Garioch 50+ Men’s Walking Group for a stroll through the scenic Fetternear Estate near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. This long-running group was founded to support men adjusting to life after retirement, offering not just exercise but companionship and conversation. Over the past twelve years, the group has become a lifeline for its members, many of whom have faced health challe...

Clare heads up Mither Tap, a distinctive hill in the Bennachie range in Aberdeenshire. Leading the way are the Bailies of Bennachie, a group of volunteer conservators formed over 50 years ago as a “Voice for the Hill.” Peter Stock, Allan Will, Stella Gauld, Lorna Bell and Anne Watson are just some of the many Bailies who care passionately about Bennachie - its wildlife, archaeology, landscape, his...

Clare Balding heads to Brockley and Ladywell for a leafy London wander with Hana Sutch, co founder of the walking app Go Jauntly. Growing up in a family that didn’t walk for pleasure, Hana discovered the joy of rambling in her twenties, when a visit to her husband’s native Northumberland showed her the calming power of putting one foot in front of the other. Later, as a new parent in the city, she...

Clare joins Ian Teasdale in the north Lake District for a very personal walk. Ian and his wife, Catherine, are on a mission to climb all 214 Wainwright fells as part of their 'Terminal Hillness' project which they started following Ian's diagnosis of incurable bowel cancer. He wants to raise awareness of the lack of cancer support facilities in their region and he decided the best way to do this w...

Clare joins writer Nicola Chester for a circular walk from her home in the village of Inkpen in West Berkshire. Despite recently breaking her leg in an unfortunate tangle of dog zoomies, Nicola is back on her feet and eager to share the landscapes that have shaped both her life and her books. Their route takes them through Manor Farm, the setting for her latest work, and up towards Inkpen Beacon,...

Clare hikes up Bredon Hill with Steve Boycott, founder of the Be You Programme, an outdoor‑based initiative that helps young people build confidence and resilience. Steve explains how his work grew from his own experiences of insecurity, bullying, military service and years spent travelling the world. He reflects on how the outdoors can transform young people, why taking “one more step” can shift...

Clare Balding meets the adventurer Pom Oliver for a woodland wander near her home in West Sussex. As they stroll amongst the trees, Pom recalls extraordinary chapters from her life: polar and desert expeditions, an epic hitch‑hiking journey from Cape Town to Sydney, and her time in the film industry working on much‑loved productions such as Biggles and Picnic at Hanging Rock. Their conversation al...

Clare joins Glenn Meyer in Surrey’s Happy Valley for a walk that celebrates resilience and recovery. During lockdown, Glenn suffered a serious spinal injury after a simple movement on a sun lounger. Over time he lost the ability to walk and became reliant on a wheelchair. Three major operations at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital rebuilt his spine with an internal frame anchored by bolts in...

Clare Balding joins Rob Curtis for a walk across the dramatic landscape of Rhossili Bay on the Gower Peninsula. Rob, an electrician with a passion for nature and adventure, has worked with the British Antarctic Survey on five separate expeditions. Now, despite a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes which he was sure would stymie his plans, he’s training for yet another trip to the Halley Research S...

Clare is walking in the Cotswolds with author Corinne Fowler and historian Raj Pal, whose family has roots in both Britain and India. Corinne is leading the way, recreating and extending the “Indian Walk in the Cotswolds” walk she originally took with Raj for a chapter in her book Our Island Stories: Ten Walks through Rural Britain and its Hidden History of Empire. As they ramble, they reflect on...

Clare joins Earth Scientist and author Anjana Khatwa for a cliffside walk in Dorset exploring the landscapes that shaped her life, and her book The Whispers of Rock – Stories from the Earth. Starting at Spyway Barn near Langton Matravers, the route takes in clifftops, caves, and the fossil-rich coastline, revealing stories of geology and belonging. Anjana shares her journey from growing up in Slou...

Clare joins Nick Wilson for a circuit around Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire. A former soldier, Nick now uses a powerchair after a spinal injury and years of chronic pain made walking impossible. He has experienced homelessness and battled depression, yet has found the strength to launch his ‘Disabled Adventurer’ project. Through this initiative, Nick creates social media videos about the a...

Clare joins writer Kate Morgan on a walk from Monsal Head to Tideswell in the Peak District. Along the way, they explore how the use of gallows and gibbets in public punishment has influenced rural place names. Gibbet Rock, a striking limestone outcrop also called Peter’s Stone for its resemblance to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was once used to ‘gibbet’ or display the bodies of execu...

Clare explores a six-mile loop of the Chater Valley in this week’s Ramblings. Her companion is Will Hetherington who wrote to the programme inviting Clare to join him. He wanted to share his story of sudden bereavement, and the positivity that ultimately emerged from it. Tragically, in 2017, Will’s first wife, Wendy, took her own life. It was an enormous shock, bringing with it what Will describes...

Clare Balding’s In Town! To kick off the new series, Clare is walking in Rutland with comedian Mark Steel. Since they’re in the same place at the same time, Clare is also making a cameo appearance on Mark’s hugely successful Radio 4 show, Mark Steel’s In Town, in Oakham, Rutland’s largest town. Mark has been making In Town for 450 years (he told us) and each show involves intense research before h...

Clare is in Northumberland today for the final episode of this Camino de Santiago themed series. She’s walking along a section of Hadrian’s Wall with a fabulous group of women - the Ciao Ciao Girls - celebrating the 10th anniversary of their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since then, they've become a tightly bonded unit who gather every year to complete another walking challenge. For today’...

Clare is in Penicuik for the penultimate episode of this Camino de Santiago themed series. The first five programmes were recorded in Spain, and the final two episodes are in the UK with people reflecting on their past experiences of The Way. Today Clare meets a true Camino veteran: Rev. Nick Bowry has walked it seven times, and on different routes, including when he was making the decision to giv...

On Clare’s last day of walking sections of the Camino, she arrives into Santiago de Compostela with a wonderful group of friends who have been following the Portuguese route, starting in Vigo. The women became friends after meeting in their local gym, and discovered they were all working their way through challenging personal issues. They decided they wanted to do something for themselves to celeb...

Clare is walking on the Camino Inglés today with Jannine Stoodley who is pushing her mother, Sally, in an off-road wheelchair. This entire series of Ramblings is themed around the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage trails that stretch across western Europe and converge on the world famous Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in northern Spain. The Camino Inglés, or the English Way, is one of...

Clare meets a man who completely changed his life after walking the Camino de Santiago. Andrea Abbatemarco is originally from Milan, and first completed The Way in 2005 in memory of a friend who died a year earlier in the Indian Ocean tsunami. A few years later, he walked it again with his girlfriend and just a matter of months after returning to Italy, they packed up their lives, bought a house a...