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by BBC Radio 4
Clare Balding and guests share inspiring conversations while walking in the great outdoors. Fresh air and nature, wonderful views and uplifting chat, each week Clare hikes in a different part of our glorious countryside. Walking side by side is the perfect way to cover a huge range of subjects: literature, art, wildlife, nature, taking on personal or physical challenges, dealing with grief, confronting preconceptions about the kind of people who love to ramble. The conversations are as varied as the landscapes we find ourselves in. If there's a recurring theme, it's the accepted truth that 'solvitur ambulando' - 'it is solved through walking': The sense of wellness, the benefits to mental health, easy companionship, or sometimes just the sense of solitude that being alone in nature brings. Few things are better than going for a good walk. That's what we aim to share each week on Ramblings with Clare Balding.
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- 1 weeks ago23 min
Seatoller to Castle Crag
Clare meets Jamie Stott, an Emergency Medical Technician, for a circular walk to Castle Crag in the Lake District. Joining them are members of his North West Ambulance Service walking group which he founded in 2025. Jamie wanted to give colleagues, friends and family a chance to explore the fells together. The routes vary from gentle valley trails to steeper climbs which Jamie always reccies alongside Ellie his Springer Spaniel. As a child, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and inspired by the care her received, Jamie wanted to become a nurse. However a dramatic event where he intervened to help save a man’s life made him change course. He became a Volunteer First Responder, while working in the care sector, then left that career to train fulltime as an EMT. He’s now part-way through his Paramedic apprenticeship. Jamie says that the walking group offers a rare chance for ambulance staff from across Cumbria to decompress and share stories away from the pressures of twelve-hour shifts. They met in Seatoller, Grid Ref NY245137, and spent much of the time hiking in the pouring rain... although spirits remained high throughout!Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor
- 2 weeks ago23 min
From Limpsfield Common to Everest with David Sullivan
Clare explores a circular route in the woodland of Limpsfield Common near Oxted in Surrey. With her is David Sullivan who recalls a recent adventure when he hiked 19,000 feet up Mount Everest to deliver a defibrillator to a Nepali village. David taught the villagers how to use it, and shortly afterwards received a phone call from Passan, one of his guides, telling him the life of a young French climber had been saved by its use. David’s motivation was losing four friends to sudden cardiac arrest, and the subsequent experience of helping to save the life of another man who had collapsed on a local golf course. This led him away from his longstanding career in traditional roofing. He became obsessed with learning all he could about CPR and defibrillators, and now runs a business that involves training others and trying to improve the technology of defibrillator boxes. Clare and David began their walk at What3Words: search.fields.lovely Part of their route was on The Greensand Way, a 108 mile long distance trail that starts in Haslemere, Surrey and ends in Hamstreet, Kent. It’s named after sandstone rock which contains the green mineral, glauconite, also known as green sand.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor
- 3 weeks ago23 min
Ham and Petersham, Richmond upon Thames
Clare Balding joins Zoe Mallett and Rose Eskafi for a walk in Richmond, London, exploring how urban green spaces can offer connection and community. Zoe and Rose are both psychologists and founded the walking group, City Daze, with the purpose of combatting loneliness. At the beginning of each walk prompt-cards are handed out with suggestions of questions to ask the other walkers. The idea is that everyone has something in common and this is a short-cut to finding out what that is. It started in London as a small Community Interest Company, and has now spread to Berlin and Amsterdam with hundreds of people walking each week at the same time. As they wander, Clare hears from Zoe and Rose about their shared background in psychology, mindfulness and community building. Clare also meets regular City Daze walkers to find out how the group benefits them.This scenic circular walk begins at Ham House, follows the River Thames past Petersham Meadows, and climbs into Terrace Gardens for panoramic views. The loop then winds inland through Ham Common and Ham Lands before returning to the start. They met at Ham Street Car Park, Richmond, TW10 7RSPresenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor
- Jul 2, 202623 min
In the Footsteps of Little Nell
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 English landscapes.Preparing for the walk has taken him deep into Dickens’s world: re‑examining the novel, studying nineteenth‑century maps, and delving into many decades of Dickensian research. He has even carefully traced Dickens’s own travels through the Midlands using the author’s diary entries and letters.Alistair hopes to complete the walk in eleven days. As a veteran of long‑distance trail walking, including a 1,514‑mile hike from Cape Cornwall to Cape Wrath, the challenge is well within his reach, although averaging a little under fifteen miles per day represents a considerable test.Clare joins him for part of day six, walking from Wroxton in Oxfordshire to Warmington in Warwickshire, and asks how his twin passions for walking and the works of Charles Dickens have come together in this, his latest adventure.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor
- Jun 25, 202623 min
Bosham to West Itchenor in West Sussex
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 walking path in the world. She says that overseeing its completion is her proudest achievement.Marian’s lifelong connection to nature goes back to childhood walks with her mum, who taught her the folklore of flowers. She also recalls an inspiring biology teacher who opened her eyes to the science of the natural world. Growing up, walking was central to family life and a way of keeping up with older siblings. In her working life she enjoys taking colleagues on walking meetings, where conversations flow more freely.They began their walk in Bosham and walked to West Itchenor, via the Itchenor Ferry which crossses Chichester Harbour. Paula Brunt, a campaigner with Disabled Ramblers, joined them midway to test a section of the route for accessibility. Tree roots prove an issue and cut the walk a little short.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor Ramblings is a BBC Studios Audio Production
- Jun 18, 202623 min
The Wrekin with Marlon Patrice
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 others who lacked access to green spaces. What began as a personal lifeline grew into the group he runs which takes people of colour into the outdoors.Clare met Marlon and his group in The Wrekin car park, postcode TF6 5BH. It’s a famous hill in the region, so much so that ‘around the Wrekin’ is a Midlands expression meaning ‘around the houses’. Joining them was Tanya Matthews who led the group in a silent-disco style warm up, and a breathwork meditation session on the summit.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer for BBC Studios: Karen Gregor
- Jun 11, 202623 min
Mending Footpaths in Eryri
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 leaders and a local ranger, followed by a shared walk, giving the group a chance to enjoy the landscape they've been working in. Clare joined volunteers and staff from the BMC and the National Trust at the start their walk on the shores of Llyn Ogwen at Grid Reference SH659602 on OS Map OL17 Yr Wdffya/Snowdon. They hiked under the dramatic peak of Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley.https://www.thebmc.co.uk/en/get-involved-volunteeringPresenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor Ramblings is a BBC Studios Audio production.
- Jun 4, 202623 min
Anglesey/Ynys Môn
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 complete their circular walk with a stroll through Newborough Forest’s Corsican pines.Along the way, Emily and Nic share what makes this corner of Wales so special to them, and Emily recounts a recent Nepalese adventure that came close to disaster.They started their walk at the Newborough Lighthouse and Cross car park - What3Words: ///loudness.bucked.post on OS Explorer 263, Grid Ref: SH405634Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen GregorRamblings is made in Bristol for BBC Studios.
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About Ramblings
Clare Balding and guests share inspiring conversations while walking in the great outdoors. Fresh air and nature, wonderful views and uplifting chat, each week Clare hikes in a different part of our glorious countryside. Walking side by side is the perfect way to cover a huge range of subjects: literature, art, wildlife, nature, taking on personal or physical challenges, dealing with grief, confronting preconceptions about the kind of people who love to ramble. The conversations are as varied as the landscapes we find ourselves in. If there's a recurring theme, it's the accepted truth that 'solvitur ambulando' - 'it is solved through walking': The sense of wellness, the benefits to mental health, easy companionship, or sometimes just the sense of solitude that being alone in nature brings. Few things are better than going for a good walk. That's what we aim to share each week on Ramblings with Clare Balding.
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