Ramblings

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 an extent that she went onto gain hill and moorland leadership qualifications and set up a business leading walks for ‘ladies of my age’.Tracey was diagnosed, age 40, with acute myeloid leukaemia. The treatment, she says, 'turned my bones to sugar' and she broke her back in five places. This left her unable to walk properly for years, relying on a mobility scooter to get her into the countryside. However, as she slowly recovered, she discovered rambling was a good way to rebuild strength, balance and coordination. To mark her 50th year she went with a group of supportive friends and family on a celebratory three day hike around the Lake District. Linda led the way.For today’s walk, Linda and Tracey take Clare along a section of the Sandstone Trail. It’s a 34 mile long route stretching from Frodsham in Cheshire to Whitchurch just over the Shropshire border. They started at grid ref SJ494526 and headed north. The map they used: OS 257 Crewe and Nantwich.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

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 the tiny town of Kington in Herefordshire where she opened her shop which now has a B&B above it, mostly serving ramblers trekking along Offa's Dyke. On today's walk she leads Clare up Bradnor Hill - crossing the highest 18 hole golf course in England - and onto a stretch of Offa's Dyke. On the way she shares her story of life and love in Utah, making a home back in the UK, and coping with rheumatoid arthritis which, despite the problems it causes, doesn't stop her outdoor adventures.The starting grid reference is SO297566

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 top.Leading the group is former Royal Engineer, Sean Milner, who has arranged the Kilimanjaro trek for his adventurer father, Frank Milner, who plans to reach the summit on his 82nd birthday. Although unable to join the Ramblings hike, also going up Kilimanjaro will be two of Frank's grandsons, making it a three generation event. The starting grid reference for today's walk is SJ 952 715 which is just by the Leather's Smithy pub in Langley, about 15 mins drive from Macclesfield. Producer: Karen Gregor

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 him. He’s taken a four month sabbatical from work and Clare is joining him in the early stages of his trek near Marlborough in Wiltshire.Producer: Karen Gregor

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 from a neighbour I sort of knew to my very best friend. We have laughed so hard together we could barely stand; we have howled with pain together; we have picked each other up when the other could barely go on; we have gotten so grumpy with each other that we could barely speak to each other but always found a way back to friendship”. Clare hears their inspirational story of building a supportive and healing friendship as they ramble riverside one morning in late Spring. They start at the end of the Kennet and Avon canal and walk for around 9 miles to Henley on Thames. This is a section of a long distance route the friends are completing, coast to coast, from Bristol to the Isle of Grain on the Thames Estuary.Producer: Karen Gregor

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 the UK. This took its toll on Reuben who became isolated and lonely. It all came to a head when, one day, Manni received a text from Reuben saying simply “brother do you love me”. Manni knew this was a cry for help, and as soon as he could returned to the UK to visit Reuben who had become very depressed, insular and had stopped talking. As Manni puts it he “broke Reuben out of his care home” and went to live with him in the cottage where today’s walk starts. There he gradually saw Reuben’s mental health improve, and says that love, nature and walking was key to this. Producer: Karen Gregor

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 back to the natural world of Ashdown Forest. Many of the 1.5 million annual visitors don’t understand that it’s actually not a forest at all, but a heath – one of the rarest habitats in the world, rarer than tropical rainforest. So, she is using audio to tell stories of the Forest with a podcast. Joining Eka on the walk are Tom Forward a wildlife guide and bird mimic, James Adler of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest and Kari Dunbar, whose new job focuses on raising dog owners’ awareness of the impact of dogs in wildlife habitats. In memory of James Adler Chief Executive Officer Ashdown ForestProducer: Maggie Ayre

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 Thames Path - 185 miles of the river from sea to source in preparation for walking the Portuguese Camino this Summer. Clare joins the family on a stretch of the Thames Path in Oxfordshire. Meeting at Wallingford just over the border from Berkshire they follow the path to Dorchester-on-Thames as Freddie talks about his knowledge of trees and plants and introduces her to his amazing assistance dog Garlic.Producer: Maggie Ayre

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 from Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Along with the village’s visiting fitness instructor, Tania Skerritt, they lead Clare around a four mile route directly from the centre of the village into the local countryside.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

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 with dog walkers who use their land. He lives on Orkney where Clare met him and his dog, Teal, for a coastal walk which passes by the Broch of Gurness. This Iron Age settlement is around 2000 years old and is on the north eastern edge of Orkney’s west Mainland. The St. Magnus Way, a 58 mile long-distance walking route passes by. This is the third of three consecutive walks that Clare recorded on Orkney where she explored its landscape, rich history and archaeology. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer, for BBC Audio in Bristol: Karen Gregor