Episodes
| Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brecon Beacons, Art In The Park | 20120308 | 20120310 (R4) | Clare Balding walks part of the Beacons Way in the Brecon Beacons National Park to find out how people are being inspired to create their own response to the surrounding landscape. The Park's landscape has inspired artists for generations and today Clare is joined by Robert Macdonald, one of 8 artists to create a series of images which are set into stone along sections of the footpath as part of a project called 'Art in the Park'. Groups from schools and colleges, as well as people from outside of the Park boundaries, have been encouraged to walk sections of the Beacons Way and gain inspiration themselves from the art work and from the landscape around them. Leading the walk today are some of the people involved with the project from both National Park and the Brecon Beacons Park Society and, as they walk, Clare talks to members of a group from Drugaid Cymru to find out how the project is helping, and inspiring, them. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare Balding is in the Brecon Beacons for the fifth in a series of inspirational walks. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |
| Kent, Octavia Hill Centenary Trail | 20120209 | 20120211 (R4) | Clare Balding returns with a new series of Ramblings in which she joins people who have either been inspired, or have inspired others, to walk in the British countryside. In the first of the series Clare joins keen walker and Director General of the National Trust, Dame Fiona Reynolds, to walk a section of the new Octavia Hill Centenary Trail in Kent. Co-founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill passionately believed that green space was essential for a healthy lifestyle and spent her life campaigning to save these disappearing open spaces from development. Beginning at Toys Hill in Kent, one of the places that Octavia managed to save, Clare and Fiona set off to walk part of the Trail which has been created to mark the centenary of Octavia's death. A keen walker herself, Fiona tells Clare why she finds Octavia Hill's legacy so inspirational and why walking and the British landscape is so important to her. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. In the first of a new series, Clare walks along the Octavia Hill Centenary Trail in Kent. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |
| Kinder Scout | 20120301 | 20120303 (R4) | Almost 80 years since the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout, Clare Balding joins ramblers from Manchester and Sheffield to mark this inspirational moment in walking history. On April 24th 1932, around 400 ramblers from Lancashire set off from Bowden Bridge quarry near Hayfield to walk up onto the plateau of Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Derbyshire Peak District, in protest at the lack of the right to roam on open land. As they scrambled upwards towards the moorland plateau of Kinder, the trespassers were met and confronted by the Duke of Devonshire's gamekeepers. A group of ramblers from Sheffield, who had also set off that morning from Edale, did eventually reach the plateau and the two groups met up before turning and retracing their steps. The following day six of the Manchester ramblers were arrested and imprisoned, a move which was to outrage many people and serve only to highlight and sympathise with the ramblers cause, resulting finally in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2000 Today Clare joins members of the Sheffield Ramblers, as well as Manchester-born broadcaster and avid walker, Mike Harding. They represent the two groups of ramblers that set off from Edale and Hayfield respectively, to take part in the Mass Trespass back in 1932. Leaving from Bowden Bridge, just as the original trespassers did, the group walk towards Kinder Reservoir and on to William Clough, where the Duke of Devonshire's gamekeepers were waiting. As they walk, the old cross-Pennines rivalry is still in evidence as the Sheffield walkers remind Clare that it was their group that had actually reached the top all those years ago. But everyone on that day 80 years ago shared a common passion for the hills and the moors around which, as folk singer Ewan Maccoll wrote, no one man should have the right to own. The Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout was one of the most inspirational moments in the history of the rambling movement, inspiring walkers and campaigners of access to open land for years to come. It wasn't the only trespass to take place - there were others before it and many more inspired by it. But it lives on in the memory of all those who believe that all should have the right to roam. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare Balding presents a series of inspirational walks in the British countryside. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |
| Northern Ireland, The Wee Binnians | 20120216 | 20120218 (R4) | In the second in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding joins members of the Wee Binnians, Northern Ireland's biggest walking club. The walking club was set up in 1987 by Veronica McCann who, over the years, has inspired countless people to join her in walking the hills and valleys of Northern Ireland's Mourne Mountains. Described by Veronica as 'a social group that walks, the Wee Binnians Walking Club is open to anyone over 16 and the club is the embodiment of a cross-community, cross-border group whose members share a passion for walking. Today Clare joins just some of the 300 club members to climb to the summit of Slieve Binnian, the third highest mountain in Northern Ireland. She hears from Veronica, a self-confessed non-walker beforehand, about what inspired her to set up the group, why it is so important to her and then from some of the members about what the club - and Veronica - mean to them. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare joins members of the Wee Binnians, Northern Ireland's biggest walking club. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside In the second in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding joins members of the Wee Binnians, Northern Ireland's biggest walking club. The walking club was set up in 1987 by Veronica McCann who, over the years, has inspired countless people to join her in walking the hills and valleys of Northern Ireland's Mourne Mountains. Described by Veronica as 'a social group that walks, the Wee Binnians Walking Club is open to anyone over 16 and the club is the embodiment of a cross-community, cross-border group whose members share a passion for walking. Today Clare joins just some of the 300 club members to climb to the summit of Slieve Binnian, the third highest mountain in Northern Ireland. She hears from Veronica, a self-confessed non-walker beforehand, about what inspired her to set up the group, why it is so important to her and then from some of the members about what the club - and Veronica - mean to them. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare joins members of the Wee Binnians, Northern Ireland's biggest walking club. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |
| Sir Andrew Motion | 20120315 | 20120317 (R4) | In the final programme in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, to walk around the village of Stisted in Essex. As they walk around the village, Sir Andrew tells Clare about his memories of growing up in the village where he was first inspired to write poetry. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside In the final programme in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, to walk around the village of Stisted in Essex. As they walk around the village, Sir Andrew tells Clare about his memories of growing up in the village where he was first inspired to write poetry. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |
| Storytelling In Cornwall | 20120223 | 20120225 (R4) | In the third in a series of inspirational walks for Ramblings, Clare Balding is in Cornwall where she is joined by writer and storyteller, Anna Maria Murphy. Inspired by the story of Mary Kelynack, an 84 year old Cornish fishwife who walked from Newlyn to London in 1851, Anna decided to walk all over Cornwall meeting people along the way and gathering stories to inspire her writing. Using ancient routes and seldom used footpaths, Anna set off with a notebook and pen and describes her journey as possibly the single most inspirational thing she has ever done in her life. Today, Clare joins Anna to walk from the small coastal fishing town of Looe to Polperro, the village where Anna was born. Although this route usually forms part of the popular South West Coast Path, Clare and Anna choose to head inland following woodland footpaths and the 'roads less travelled' of Cornwall before heading to Talland Bay where they pick up the coast path for the last section of the walk. Who will they meet along the way? Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare joins writer and storyteller Anna Maria Murphy on a walk in Cornwall. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside In the third in a series of inspirational walks for Ramblings, Clare Balding is in Cornwall where she is joined by writer and storyteller, Anna Maria Murphy. Inspired by the story of Mary Kelynack, an 84 year old Cornish fishwife who walked from Newlyn to London in 1851, Anna decided to walk all over Cornwall meeting people along the way and gathering stories to inspire her writing. Using ancient routes and seldom used footpaths, Anna set off with a notebook and pen and describes her journey as possibly the single most inspirational thing she has ever done in her life. Today, Clare joins Anna to walk from the small coastal fishing town of Looe to Polperro, the village where Anna was born. Although this route usually forms part of the popular South West Coast Path, Clare and Anna choose to head inland following woodland footpaths and the 'roads less travelled' of Cornwall before heading to Talland Bay where they pick up the coast path for the last section of the walk. Who will they meet along the way? Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd. Clare joins writer and storyteller Anna Maria Murphy on a walk in Cornwall. Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside |