Ramblings

Clare joins a lively primary school walking club as they ramble through the Dorset countryside. Pupils, teachers, local farmers and parents join the group which has been helping to draw the local community together for twelve years. Starting at a farm near the school, Trent Young's C of E near Sherborne, they walk on footpaths and over private farmland - made accessible by the farmers who help lead the walk - learning about the countryside as they go. Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks from the famous dragon at Bures on the Essex/Suffolk border to Assington in Suffolk. Joining her is a group of volunteers from the Colchester branch of the Samaritans charity. It's a supportive walking-group which helps volunteers to bond and decompress, something that's necessary in an emotionally challenging although rewarding role.Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding explores Loughrigg Fell, in Cumbria with the writer and journalist, Simon Ingram. With all the passion of a convert, he explains to Clare how he became bitten by the mountain climbing bug and why he wants to pass on his obsession to anyone who'll listen. In the space of a morning they are hit with torrential rain and howling winds but nothing deters them from their walk and Simon also explains how to stay safe while enjoying the mountains of Britain, no matter what the weather. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins Jenni Williams and her disabled three year old daughter, Eve, as they take their daily walk in the Surrey Hills. These walks are the highlight of their day as both enjoy being outside, admiring the views and watching the antics of their young and exuberant, golden retriever, Scout. Jenni talks candidly to Clare about how she and her husband, Steve have come to terms with Eve's condition and how they feel blessed to have such a happy and life affirming child. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Carolyn Savidge, an artist who channels her grief into creativity, joins Clare Balding on a poignant walk through North Somerset. Carolyn shares how walking and art helped her cope with the loss of her husband, creating the Embrace DNR project that intertwines photography, sound, and writing. The conversation flows through the emotional landscapes of love and loss, emphasizing nature's healing power. Her tales of cherished memories and the bittersweet journey of walking through grief are both inspiring and uplifting.

Clare Balding has been exploring Artists' Ways in this series of Ramblings. This week she walks with Matthew Hopwood whose project 'A Human Love Story' takes him walking through England as a pilgrim, seeking hospitality where it is offered, meeting people where they are; on the path, in the pub, around the corner, on the street, in prison, in church, on the towpath. The people he meets share their love stories, which Matthew records and publishes on his online audio archive. Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding goes in search of Nun Appleton House in North Yorkshire, the subject of one of Andrew Marvells most famous poems. She's accompanied by contemporary landscape poet, John Wedgwood Clarke and Stewart Mottram a Lecturer in Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Hull University. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding walks along the Forth and Clyde canal to the spectacular Kelpies - 30 metre high statues of horses' heads, modelled on Clydesdales. Walking with her is a group led by Jan Bee Brown - the Reader in Residence at Falkirk Libraries.Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding heads out across Windsor Great Park in the company of writer and prolific walker, Bill Bryson. He explains how he developed a passion for exploring both Britain and parts of America on foot. They discuss how ones notion of distance changes dramatically when you walk.'A mile becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles whopping, fifty miles at the very limits of conception. The world, you realize, is enormous in a way that only you and a small community of fellow hikers know. Planetary scale is your little secret.'Bill takes Clare on one of his very favourite walks around Windsor Park, a place he has enjoyed walking with his family.Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding discovers the essential role walking plays in contemporary artist's work. In this programme she walks with Louise Ann Wilson, a sceneographer, who has created a walking guide and artbook specific to, and created in, Warnscale, an area of fells to the south of Buttermere Lake. Louise explains to Clare that this 9 kilometer walk and the accompanying guide, are aimed at women who are childless by circumstance. Society offers no rituals or rites of passage through which women who have missed the life-event of biological motherhood can be acknowledged and can come to terms with that absence. Louise created this project to offer imaginative and creative ways through which women can engage with landscape to reflect upon and even transform their experience of this circumstance. It provides a multi-layered yet non-prescriptive means for the walker - whether walking alone, with a partner, friend or in a group - to make and perform their own journey, and can also be used by others who are in sympathy with women in this circumstance and persons in comparable situations. They are joined by Zakyeya Atcha, who has undertaken the walk before and found it a consoling and affirming experience and Dr Celia Roberts of Lancaster UniversityThe route can be followed on OS Explorer - The English Lakes North Western Area Grid reference NY 196 150 www.louiseannwilson.comProducer Lucy Lunt.