Ramblings

Clare joins Hannah Engelkamp and her donkey, Chico, for a ramble in the Dyfi Valley a few miles east of Machynlleth in Powys. On the way Hannah tells Clare about the extraordinary adventure she shared with Chico when they walked 1000 miles around the perimeter of Wales. She did this despite having no previous experience of donkeys, or horses, or any animals really. It took twice as long as she int...

A cliff edge walk at St. David's in Pembrokeshire with artists Jackie Morris and Tamsin Abbott who are creating a book of illuminated folk stories. Jackie is writing the words and Tamsin is creating original pieces of stained glass for the book's artwork. Jackie is an artist and writer possibly best known for her illustrations in The Lost Words, a large and beautiful book about language and nature...

Clare joins PE Teacher Julie Ford for a bracing walk on the Seven Sisters near Eastbourne. It's a walk with a difference. Following a brush with breast cancer Julie was keen to keep fit but no longer wanted to go to the gym. As a passionate walker she was getting good exercise but needed to maintain her upper body strength. So through a process of trial and error Julie has created a way of walking...

A joyful hike up Castle Hill near Huddersfield with We In Front, an inspirational group of walkers. Leading the way is Errol Hamlet who, having retired, felt bored, unhealthy and wanted a new challenge. He spotted a neighbour out walking during the pandemic and decided to join her. Then, one by one, more people joined until they eventually had a decent sized group. Most are senior citizens from th...

Clare chooses some favourite moments from her Ramblings year: Join brothers Manni and Reuben Coe who amble down to Hive Beach in Dorset on a calm summer's day. On the way they recall the emotional story of how Reuben, who has Down's Syndrome, was nurtured back to health partly by walking that very route. Head to Orkney where Clare battles 60mph winds in one of the wildest episodes we've yet record...

In 2019 Anita Sethi was on a trans Pennine train journey when she was racially abused by a man who later pleaded guilty to the offence. During the attack he told her to go back to where she belonged. Having been born and raised in Manchester Anita feels very strongly that the North of England is where she belongs and as a way of working through the shock and trauma of the incident she began a jour...

Rose Mac moved to the North West from London a year ago and is constantly delighted by the nature and walking possibilities of her new home. Ainsdale Nature Reserve houses a rare species of sand lizard as well as natterjack toads. A walk through the pine woodland close to the town's railway station brings you out into beautiful sand dunes and a massive expanse of beach with views of Blackpool Towe...

Clare walks with Mike Gunton, the man in charge of Planet Earth III, another blockbuster series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit. Mike’s a passionate walker and he takes Clare on a favourite local route around Oldbury on Severn where he courted his wife, and once filmed a sequence in a graveyard about the grim sounding ‘burying beetle’. He also shares stories of his many years working with Sir...

On a beautiful late summer's day Clare and guests explore a coastal walk on a remote peninsula in southern Scotland - the Rhins of Galloway. Walking with her are Peter Ross, who runs a walking for health group, and Margaret Hughes who is one of the members. They start their hike in Portpatrick and head along the coast for a few miles before dropping down into Sandeel Bay and returning to Portpatri...

Clare joins two friends on what could possibly be the slowest walk between Land's End and John O'Groats. Hiking one week at a time (with a gap of several years when the Welsh coastline wasn't fully navigable) it's taken Iain McHenry and David Rowe 18 years to reach the coast of Dumfries and Galloway. That's where Clare joins them, on a beautifully sunny day, as they approach the village of Portpat...

Sunshine and summer downpours on a hilly Cheshire hike with great views. On the way Clare hears from two friends about how walking has helped them cope with life changing events. Linda Ashworth only discovered walking after her children left home but it became a stress-relieving necessity when her husband suffered a serious accident. Her love of putting one foot in front of the other grew to such...

Ali Allen takes Clare for a sunny hike just outside Kington, a town she would like to be renamed 'WalKington' because it's such a magnet for ramblers. Ali runs a tiny walking shop where her dog, Roo, keeps a look out from the window display full of boots and socks and maps. She lived in Utah for thirty years, working as a nurse, but returned six years ago with no firm plan. Somehow she landed in t...

Clare joins a group of friends as they climb Shutlingsloe as part of their preparation for the much bigger adventure of trekking up Kilimanjaro later this year. Known as the 'Matterhorn of the Peak District' Shutlingsloe is around 500 metres high, where Kilimanjaro is closer to 6000 metres, but it's not a bad training ground with its steep incline as well as the reward of beautiful views from the...

Martin Hügi is taking an unconventional approach to his long distance hike from Land's End to John O’Groats. He’s planned the route so he can visit as many ancient and veteran trees as possible. It’s a busman’s holiday as his day job is with the Woodland Trust and it's their Ancient Tree Inventory, created in collaboration with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Register, that he’s using to guide...

Two friends, Karen and Emma, who say they met when both were post-Covid slumped on the sofa and doing no exercise, take Clare for a walk along the Thames Path near Reading in Berkshire. Their friendship is based on walking and they’re notching up the miles, including the Grand Union Canal (188 miles), the Ridgeway (72 miles) and 150 miles of the Portuguese Camino. Karen says that “Emma has gone fr...

Clare joins brothers Manni and Reuben Coe as they amble for a mile and a half to Hive beach at Burton Bradstock in Dorset. Reuben has Down’s Syndrome and enjoys short, slow walks something that Manni, a professional walking guide more used to long hikes at an active pace, has learned to enjoy. Manni lives between Spain and Dorset and, during Covid, was in Spain while Reuben was in a care home in t...

The group Clare walks with see Ashdown Forest as a national treasure in its own right – and largely an unsung one. They think it’s remarkable that this ten square miles of open access land has survived, only thirty miles south of London. Estate agents in the past even described it as ‘Scotland in Sussex’. A local resident and podcaster Eka Morgan is keen to reconnect visitors from far and wide bac...

When Freddie was adopted by Tina and Cas he was not in a good way. The first three years of his life left him with anxiety, trauma and PTSD. Tina and Cas discovered that walking is a great way of relieving some of the symptoms and in the six years he has been with them they have already completed several long distance routes including the West Highland Way - twice! They are currently walking the T...

Retirement villages, recently made very famous by the Thursday Murder Club series of books, are becoming a popular choice for older people who want to, and can afford to, live within a supportive community environment but still retain their independence. For this episode of Ramblings, Clare is walking with Stephen Walsh and his partner, Pat, who live at Great Alne Park retirement village not far f...

Walking your dog in the countryside can be tricky: What if you need to cross a field of cattle or horses? Should you let your dog off the lead or keep it on? Is it best to poo-pick or ‘stick and flick’ in a remote area? Steve Jenkinson has a unique job, having studied the psychology of people and their pets he now works with a range of organisations helping them develop a harmonious relationship w...

On a windy hike from the Stones of Stenness to the Ring of Brodgar, Clare discovers Orkney's standing stones are as impressive and mysterious as Stonehenge. Her guide is Sandra Miller from Historic Environment Scotland. Their route takes them past the Watchstone and across the Brodgar Peninsula which has a fresh water loch on one side, and a salty one on the other. Sandra, born and brought up on O...

Clare explores the wild and stormy west coast of mainland Orkney in the company of beachcomber, conservationist and former Polar-guide, Martin Gray. Their plan to walk along the cliffs between Yesnaby and Marwick Bay were stymied by consistently high winds of around 60mph. Instead they watched the churning ocean at Yesnaby, drove to the Bay of Skaill for a walk along the rocky beach, then headed u...

Sam and Roger met through a walking group on social media. Both were already keen walkers and Sam posted on the Walking In Wales page looking for a walking companion for a walk she wanted to do. Roger offered to go with her... and the rest is history. Reader, they got engaged. They take Clare on one of their favourite walks in Waterfall Country in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales on a beautiful f...

Sara Rickard takes groups of local people on a walk through the forest to write, draw and take photographs and simply observe their surroundings. Canopy Arts was set up during Covid when the artists who live in the forest found themselves especially isolated and now runs monthly or fortnightly walks for both seasoned artists and walkers who want to be creatively inspired by the magical atmosphere...

Clare joins three walkers from the village of Timsbury in Somerset who have created several books detailing100 walks for local people to enjoy in the area. Peter Bradshaw, Larry Cunningham and Sue Fraser stress the books are very much a community project with any proceeds going back into the village. On an extremely wet and windy winter day they take Clare from the village centre around the valley...