Ramblings

On a hot day, Clare and Alice Roberts walk from the village of Draycott in Somerset up through the Draycott Sleights Nature Reserve with views opening out across the Bristol Channel to Wales and across the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor. Alice says she finds the ancient landscape fascinating and imagines the inhabitants of past centuries who would have lived on the small settlements on the Levels.Producer: Maggie Ayre

Dom Joly, famous for Trigger Happy TV, takes Clare on a walk near to his home in Gloucestershire. Leaving the village of Winchcombe, they walk up Spoonley Hill to see the remains of a Roman Villa. As they walk, Dom talks about his love of walking, discovered later in life after he became a travel writer. Recently he walked the entire length of Lebanon where he was born. His book The Hezbollah Hiking Club is an account of the 27 day walk. And he has been an avid walker since moving to Gloucestershire. Produced by Maggie Ayre for BBC Audio in Bristol

Clare Balding digs into the archives to find the most dramatic weather conditions she's recorded in; she also hears from those walkers who've had had the biggest adventures.The highlights include: Satish Kumar who covered 8000 miles when he walked from India to North America in the 1960s, to protest about nuclear arms; retired RAF officer, Lucy Newcombe, who has walked around the British coastline; and back in 2012 Clare found herself in the wildest of conditions on Dartmoor, luckily she was with a group from the Search and Rescue Dog Association.Please scroll down to the 'related links' box to click through to the featured programmes.Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding continues her exploration of the archives and finds a selection of entertaining highlights which give some good advice to walkers both experienced and novice.Writer, Simon Ingram, recommends walking at 'guide's pace' when climbing steep hills; bothy-bagger, Phoebe Smith, discusses the etiquette of staying in these remote shelters; and experienced long-distance walker, Jenny Walters, tells Clare how best to prepare when tackling a mammoth route.Please scroll down to the 'related links' box to click through to the programmes featured.Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding recalls her favourite walks with a colourful variety of writers and singers including Bill Bryson, Toyah Wilcox, folk duo Ninebarrow, and the choral group Werca's Folk. Clare has been walking on air since 1999, and for this lockdown series of highlights has been digging into the archives to retrieve some of her most memorable moments: Today she gets dressed with Bill Bryson, takes a lift across a small puddle with Toyah, discovers that Dorothy Wordsworth avoided marriage so she could continue walking, and hears from author Emma Mitchell about exactly why our mood is lifted when we spend time in nature.Scroll down to the 'Related Links' box where you can click through to all the featured programmes.Producer: Karen Gregor

In a joyful celebration of 20 years spent walking on air, Clare Balding digs deep into the exhilarating archives of Ramblings to share the best moments from her favourite walks.This week's highlights showcase the diverse landscape that Clare has explored since the series began. From the Sands of Forvie in Aberdeenshire to the Wicklow Mountains in the Republic of Ireland via a moonlit night walk across the South Downs to the unique landscape of Alderney. Please scroll down to the 'Related Links' box to click through to the programmes featured today. Producer: Karen Gregor

In a joyful celebration of 20 years spent walking on air, Clare Balding digs deep into the exhilarating archives of Ramblings to share the best moments from her favourite walks. This week she explores the theme of Health and Happiness to discover how walking can provide a real boost to both our physical and mental health.The featured programmes include The Diamond Ramblers, a group who discuss their achievements with weight loss; the positive and uplifting Forget Me Not dementia group; and Dr. Kate Harding who persuades Clare to walk in silence, always a challenge, however this was an encounter that proved very meaningful for Clare and it's a walk she's never forgotten.Please scroll down to the 'Related Links' box to access the full programmes included in this edition. Many, many more are available on BBC Sounds.Walking for Spiritual Renewal Mental Health Walking Group Black Men's Walking for Health Group (now Walk4Health) The Diamond Ramblers Up to the Labyrinth on St. Catherine's Hill 'Forget Me Not' Dementia Group Producer: Karen Gregor

In a joyful celebration of twenty years spent walking on air, Clare Balding digs deep into the exhilarating and exhausting archives of Ramblings to share her favourite walks. This week the theme is Friends and Family as Clare finds the moments that best illustrate how walking is a fantastic way of drawing people together. Please scroll down to the 'Related Links' box to click through to the programmes featured:The Nidderdale Way: Gouthwaite to Bewerley Going Wild in the West Country An Aussie Walkabout... in Norfolk Hopetoun with the Monday Walkers Reigate, Surrey (Refugees) Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding walks across a section of The Malverns, from Hollybush car park towards British Camp, with members of the Herefordshire Interfaith Group. In a world that feels increasingly divided, this group draws together Muslims, Quakers, Buddhists, Bahá’ís, Methodists and more. It's a leisurely stroll, with many pauses to reflect and share readings on the themes of Pilgrimage and Nature. Note: when we walked this route, in early March 2020, it was affected by flooding in the lower lying sections.In this series, Clare has walked with people and groups of many faiths and none to discover how being in the natural world can affect our inner lives. Producer: Karen Gregor

In one of the rainiest Ramblings we've ever recorded, Clare Balding discovers a brand new waymarked walking route in South Wales which has been established on the path of an ancient pilgrimage. It's called the Penrhys Pilgrimage and connects Llandaff to Penrhys.As Clare hears, while walking (and getting soaked) along the final five mile stretch from Trebanog to Penrhys, a huge amount of work from local volunteers has gone into making this project happen. Penrhys is the site of an ancient well and a statue of Mary and already has a pilgrimage passing through from east to west (the Cistercian Way) but from March 25th 2020 this new route , running south to north, will be available to all comers, pilgrims or not. Please scroll down to the 'related links' box to find out more.(Please note: the launch events mentioned in the programme have now been cancelled due to Covid-19)Producer: Karen Gregor