Ramblings

In the second of two walks in the Republic of Ireland, Clare meets rock climber, mountain instructor and walking guide, Iain Miller, to explore a stretch of the wild, rugged and spectacular Atlantic coastline of County Donegal.They meet at what Iain describes as the most remote place in Ireland, An Port, and the route they take from there affords them views over what he says is Ireland’s last great wilderness including some ‘monster’ sea stacks.Iain is originally from Scotland, but has lived in Co. Donegal for years, making it his place of work as well as his – as he puts it – playground. The two are intertwined as Iain’s business involves leading rock climbing, hillwalking, and other outdoor adventures. The route he shares with Clare is more gentle coastal stroll than vertiginous technical climb but the experience and views are no less impressive.If you want to look at their location on a map, they met here: WhatThreeWords: ///simplicity.school.escalates Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

In the first of two episodes recorded in the Republic of Ireland, Clare travels to Moyle Hill in County Donegal to meet adventurer and motivational speaker, Nikki Bradley. Diagnosed with a rare bone cancer at just 16 years of age, Nikki (now in her 30s) has defied expectations by living a very active life. She was the first person on crutches to climb four Irish mountain peaks, which took her 32 hours. She scaled the Sólheimajökull glacier in Iceland, and has completed the Fan Dance, one of the toughest endurance challenges in the UK including two ascents of Pen y Fan. Her latest enormous challenge has been to undergo a very unusual leg amputation. The damage caused by the cancer led to two hip replacements in her twenties, but her pain and discomfort continued so ultimately her medical team suggested a procedure known as a rotationplasty. Her upper leg was removed, and her lower leg was turned 180 degrees, raised and attached to the top of her thigh to become her ‘new’ upper leg. Her foot faces backwards at knee height, with the idea that it acts as the knee joint itself. It’s been emotionally very difficult coming to terms with her change of appearance and the pain associated with the procedures and rehab. But, in characteristic spirit, she has continued to push forward and after many months of recovery is now back walking again. Producer: Karen Gregor Presenter: Clare Balding

David Almond marks 25 years of his extraordinary book, Skellig, with a walk from Seahouses to Bamburgh in Northumberland. As he tells Clare, it's a landscape that has long inspired his imagination and writing. Skellig tells the tale of Michael, a young boy who befriends a magical creature - part owl, part angel – that needs Michael’s help to survive. The book has won multiple awards, been adapted for stage, film, radio and opera and translated into 40 languages. As they walk, David tells Clare how his childhood in the north-east shaped both his character and writing, and discusses why walking is a necessary pleasure. The stretch of coastline they’re exploring is rich with historical, religious and cultural significance and the entire region has provided inspiration for David’s writing over the years.They met at Seahouses Harbour and walked through sun, rain and wind to the most dominant man-made feature in the area - Bamburgh Castle.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare walks to a glorious display of bluebells to capture them in watercolour in the company of artist Shelly Perkins.On a beautiful day in mid-May they set off into Mortimer Forest near Ludlow to find several acres of bluebells that stretch across high meadlowland. Shelly is an artist and while Clare is not known for her painting prowess, they take a moment to stop, take in the bluey purply haze and capture it in vivid watercolours en plein air. Clare and Shelly met at the Black Pool Car Park and hiked a roughly five mile circular loop through a conifer plantation, into open hay meadow with skylarks hovering overhead, and then onto a huge field full of bluebells. You can see their artwork on the Ramblings instagram page: @bbcramblingsPresenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Nadeem Perera is not your conventional image of a birdwatcher. In fact growing up in inner city London he was not raised as or encouraged to be a 'nature boy'. But dropping out of school as a troubled teen he had a revelation. One day he was sitting in woodland and saw a green spotted woodpecker in front of him and his passion for birds was born. Now he can be seen on BBC 1 on the One Show talking about birds and has moved to Bristol to further his career in wildlife presenting. He takes Clare for a walk along the River Frome starting in Eastville Park. It's a grey Winter's day but they are overjoyed to be accompanied along the river by kingfishers lighting up the landscape. Along the way he talks about the project he runs called Flock Together and about his passion for combining young people of colour with the outdoors and nature. They walk from Eastville Park to Snuff Mills and the Stoke Park EstateProducer: Maggie Ayre

When author Annabel Abbs suffered a series of bereavements she found herself unable to sleep. Eventually she began getting up and walking around her garden and neighbouring fields around 3am. But when she heard about Caroline Whiteman who runs guided walks at night without head torches, she just had to go along on one. Caroline began the walks as an experiment in overcoming her fear of the dark. She has found other people keen to get out at night and experience the dark in a totally different way under her care and supervision. Although Clare is walking on a winter's night with barely any moon visible it's amazing how quickly the landscape lights up and the chalk cliffs stand out against the sea. They walked in a loop starting and ending at South Hill Barn Car Park BN25 4JQ near SeafordProducer: Maggie Ayre

The beautiful Borders of Scotland is the location for Clare’s walk this week. She’s exploring the area around Innerleithen with Stewart Wilson. After a career in finance Stewart made a handbrake turn in his early 40s and became a tour guide and travel blogger. He says most visitors to Scotland bypass the Borders for Edinburgh or the Highlands and Islands but – in doing so – are missing out on gorgeous scenery and fascinating history. So today Stewart wants to share what it is about the Borders, and Innerleithen in particular, that should make people want to stop and explore. He grew up there in a family who, for generations, had worked in the textile industry. It’s a sector that has all but disappeared, apart from a few high-end makers, so the area has to try and develop a new identity. History, mountain biking, and of course hiking are all a draw, including the challenging long distance Southern Upland Way which passes nearby.Stewart begins today’s walk at Innerleithen Parish Church on Leithen Road. From there he then leads Clare over Leithen Water at Cuddy Bridge and, after a couple of stiff climbs through a forestry plantation with trees creaking in the wind, arrives at the disused relic of Kirnie Law reservoir. It's a great view point, which thanks to the rainy, sunny, sleety weather, created a full rainbow over the heathery hills beyond. It's a circular route that takes them back down to Innerleithen, just over five miles in total.Producer: Karen Gregor Presenter: Clare Balding

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 intended and was much harder than she ever imagined. The idea of 'carrot or stick' doesn't work, Hannah says, so the first thing she learned was when a donkey stops you just have to wait and stand and look and wait until the moment seems right to move off again. Hannah also tells Clare about her involvement with 'Slow Ways'. It’s a Community Interest Company whose aim is to map, improve, and promote walking routes between Britain’s towns, cities and villages. Clare and Hannah met at Grid Ref: SH 850 027, and walked a section of a Slow Way known as ‘Maccar One’ near Chico’s home at Dyfi Donkey Woods. Maccar One is 23 miles long and connects Machynlleth with Carno. Slow Ways are named for the first three letters of the place at either end of a route e.g. Mac for Machynlleth and Car for Carno.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

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. Tamsin is an established stained glass artist and illustrator inspired by the natural world.As they ramble along the coast, Clare hears about their new project - Wild Folk: Tales from the Stones - seven ‘fables of transformation and power summoned from the ancient stones beneath our feet’. Inhabiting the pages are selkies and salmon, a great white raven, a huge black fox and a woman who lives as an owl.Wild Folk doesn’t exist quite yet… It’s being crowd-funded and will be available in 2025.They began their walk at Whitesands carpark and walked cliff-side towards the Coetan Arthur burial chamber on St. David's Head. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

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 with resistance bands. She takes Clare on a walk on the South Downs on a beautiful sunny Winter's day to show her how to tone her arms while she walks as well as to appreciate health and fitness in the outdoors.Producer: Maggie Ayre