Clare and the ‘blind adventurer’ Amar Latif explore a circular route in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire. As the current President of the Ramblers, Amar is keen to promote the message that walking is for absolutely everyone, from all backgrounds and abilities.

He lost most of his vision by the time he was 18 and found it very hard to accept. He began to believe that he wouldn’t be able to continue doing all the things he enjoyed but after spending a year of his university course in Canada, decided that travelling was definitely for him and went onto make a career out of it. He set up ‘TravelEyes’ a company specialising in tourism for blind and sighted people travelling together, including walking trips.

One of his greatest adventures was walking 220 miles from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua across to the Pacific Ocean, crossing a shark-filled lake and scaling a 5000ft volcano.

Also on the walk are Rayyah McCaul, who is guiding Amar, and Ramblers volunteer and walk leader, Stephen Down.

The Ramblers is a charity with around 100,000 members. Established in 1935, one of their main aims is improving access to the countryside for everyone to enjoy.

Clare met Amar in Toft Gate Lime Kiln car park, at the top of Greenhow Hill, and completed a five mile circular walk.

Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare meets the founders of Walking Post on a hike from Oaks Park to Kingswood in Surrey. Walking Post is a not-for-profit website run by friends who have designed, mapped and now share multiple walking routes around London, Surrey, Kent, Essex and beyond. Every walk is accessible by public transport, something key to web-designer Lucy Maddison who doesn’t own a car.

The project has expanded from a personal project into what is now a free public resource, and even though Lucy and her friend, Emily Morrison, both have ‘proper’ jobs they even offer monthly walks to anyone who wants to come along.

Find them at walkingpost.co.uk

Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

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

Clare Balding is joined by singers Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh of the band Deacon Blue to walk one of their favourite coastal routes in Fife. Starting at Elie they walk along the beach passing through the village of St Monan's ending in the picturesque fishing town of Pittenweem. Ricky and Lorraine have been married for over thirty years and perform together as part of the band, as well as having their own careers in broadcasting and acting. They say the secret to their enduring relationship is doing things together as a couple and sharing the same interests, one of which is walking. One of their favourite areas to walk is the East Neuk in Fife reputed to have some of the driest sunniest weather in the UK because of its sheltered position between the Rivers Forth and Tay.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding joins a unique family ramble in Dorset. She is walking from Osmington Mills to Weymouth with Simon Waley and his three Dutch sons-in-law. They are here, from their home in the Netherlands, for a three day hike along a stretch of the South West Coastal Path. Simon is British; he met and married a Dutch woman and moved to the Netherlands more than twenty five years ago. They have three daughters and each met a Dutch man. For the first time, Simon – a very keen walker, who regularly comes back to the UK – is bringing his three Dutch sons-in-law to experience long-distance British trekking. He says the culture of walking is very different in the Netherlands where every square inch of land has a specific purpose, there aren’t many public footpaths, and agricultural land is out of bounds. When people do walk, it’s usually in huge, organised groups along a network of rural roads. Simon wants his family to experience both the freedom of British walking and the unique delight of youth-hostelling, something they haven’t done before.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding walks with sisters Georgina and Rebecca - both mothers of young children - who started a group called Go Wild Go West to help inspire other young families to get out and enjoy the outdoors. They have happy childhood memories of exploring and adventuring in nature and are concerned that children today are losing touch with the thrill of walking and playing outdoors. They take Clare on a circular route around from East Harptree in North Somerset. It's a walk designed to delight and entertain the children who build a den, climb trees and find a rope swing along the way. The children are free to roam and explore with the mums a safe distance behind.

There are more walks and ideas for days out on their Facebook page GoWildGoWest

The walk is from East Harptree Woods up Smitham Hill and down Harptree Combe

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding meets a group of native American women who live and work in the UK. A sense of isolation and homesickness led them to the Rainmaker Gallery in Bristol seeking connection with other indigenous people. They now meet regularly. Clare joins them on a walk around Henley in Arden in Warwickshire and hears how despite different tribal affiliations, the common cultural and spiritual backgrounds they share bring great comfort to them thousands of miles from home. Leandra Nephin is from the Omaha tribe of Nebraska and grew up on the reservation there. Sarah Sense is a Chitimacha artist who met her husband while she was exhibiting her work at the Rainmaker Gallery in Bristol run by Joanne Prince, while Stephanie Pratt is an academic and art historian from the Dakota Crow Creek tribe. Melinda Schwakhofer is Muscogee Creek and through her artwork is attempting to reconnect with her culture from her home on Dartmoor.

The walk: Start Henley in Arden Centre ending Preston Bagot Church. Distance approximately four miles OS grid reference SP151660

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare gets lost in the rain as she walks to meet two extraordinary sisters in their 90s. Both were code-breakers during WW2, and one invented the TV classic, Ask the Family.

Pat Davies and Jean Argles both worked in espionage during WW2. Pat helped the Royal Navy intercept German Naval Traffic at coastal stations, while Jean was a code and cipher officer based in Cairo, then Italy.

Throughout the war, their father was a Prisoner of War. He was Lt Colonel Cary Owtram who was in charge of the infamous Chungkai Japanese Prisoner of War camp. There, he found himself responsible for the wellbeing of thousands of other prisoners including those used to build the notorious Death Railway which featured in the film, Bridge on the River Kwai. Incredibly, Lt Col Cary Owtram managed to keep a secret diary which Pat and Jean have recently published: "1000 Days on The River Kwai" (scroll down to 'related links' to find out more).

Following the war, Pat worked in TV. She produced University Challenge and the Sky at Night. She also devised and produced ‘Ask the Family’. Pat and Jean grew up in the Dolphinholme area of Lancashire and have fond memories of walking, riding horses and fishing with their family. They still enjoy walking, although the routes they take are now understandably shorter than they once were.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding joins singer Feargal Sharkey for a river walk on the south London/Surrey border along the River Hogsmill one of just 200 chalk streams in the world. He's always been a rambler and is currently walking all of the river routes of London. He is often dismayed and pleased in equal measure at the state of our rivers as he is a passionate advocate for water health and quality. The walk is part of the London Loop and starts from Ewell West Station and ends at Kingston upon Thames passing through Old Malden.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding goes walkabout with a group of Australian women who call themselves The Norfolk Broads. They include a Colman, of mustard fame, and one ‘honorary Aussie’, actually a Texan who once dated John Wayne’s son. They’ve all ended up living in this eastern corner of England and have discovered fun and companionship by exploring their new home on foot. They walk a stretch of Norfolk’s Boudicca Way from Diss to Shimpling. On the way, Clare discovers what brought them here, how they've adapted to their new home, and how to pronounce local town names... Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare is walking to a land-based lighthouse on today’s Ramblings. Smeaton’s Tower was originally on the Eddystone Reef, twelve miles out to sea on Plymouth Sound but when it was replaced by a new structure in 1882, the Tower was moved onshore and now stands on Plymouth Hoe. Tom Nancollas is Clare’s guide. He has written a book - Seashaken Houses - which tells of his passion for lighthouses and their many extraordinary stories. Also joining them on the walk is Tom’s friend Michael O’Mahony. He joined Tom on two of his research trips to lighthouses, which, as he recalls, ended in an undignified fashion!

On their walk, Tom discusses his fascination for lighthouses and a strange family coincidence that emerged unexpectedly during his research: he discovered an ancestor had visited Smeaton’s Tower before him – as part of the team who dismantled the tower and moved it to the mainland.

They start their walk by the Devonport Column, take in interesting parts of Plymouth and its coastline and end at the distinctive red and white 'winning post' of Smeaton's Tower itself.

If you're reading this on the Radio 4 webpage, you can scroll down to the 'related links' section to find out more, including about Tom's book.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding is taking a poem for a walk on today’s Ramblings. Joining her is Jean Atkin, the newly appointed Troubadour of the Malvern Hills. Jean takes Clare, stanza by stanza, to each of the locations featured in one of her poems. Joining them is Peter Sutton who has translated into modern English the famous mediaeval poem ‘Piers Plowman’ which starts with the poet asleep on the Malvern Hills. Also walking is David Armitage who works for the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; he discusses the similarities he sees between the Malverns and some African landscapes, and shows Clare a field packed with the most extraordinary amount of ant hills.

The Troubadour of the Hills is a project devised by the Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Malvern Hills AONB. If you're reading this on the Radio 4 website, please scroll down for some photos from the walk and some related links which you can follow to find out more.

Clare Balding walks across Dartmoor with a former soldier whose retirement has taken him in a surprising direction.

Andy Salmon is a former soldier who now runs creative events which he hopes will inspire peace and reconciliation. As the former Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Andy has much experience to draw upon. He spent 36 years in the Marines and served in many global conflicts.

It might sound unlikely, but the ‘Journey Through Conflict’ events he now stages are a mixture of art, music and storytelling during which he and other former soldiers share their wartime experiences.

In this edition of Ramblings, he takes Clare Balding for a challenging walk across a section of Dartmoor – which is a significant training location for the Royal Marines - on the way, they discuss what led him into such an unusual retirement.

If you are reading this on the Ramblings webpage, you can scroll down to the 'related links' section to find more information about Andy's project.

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

The writer, Emma Mitchell, takes Clare Balding for a walk around the woods at the back of her house in Cambridgeshire and explains why exposure to the natural world can have a mood-lifting effect on us all.

While acknowledging that she relies on antidepressants and talking cures to prevent her depression from becoming overwhelming, she says that walking several times a week, even on days when she feels well, has a cumulative effect and helps to make the dips in her mood less vertiginous.

She says “For me, taking a daily walk among plants and trees is as medicinal as any talking cure or pharmaceutical”. But it’s not just because she has a “fondness for looking at bonny bosky views” rather, she says “I am experiencing real physiological responses that affect my body and mind”.

As they walk, Emma explains to Clare why they both feel their stress levels falling... it’s not just the physical act of walking, it could be, partly, because they’re breathing the volatile compounds and oils emitted by the plants and trees that surround them. Emma discusses this and other ideas that she explores in her book The Wild Remedy.

She also talks about her cow parsley tattoo...

If you're reading this on the Radio 4 webpage, please scroll down for photos from the walk of hibernating ladybirds, Annie the Lurcher and Emma's tattoo... There is also a link to the Woodland Trust page for Reach Wood, where we walked. Also more detail on Emma's book.

NB: If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information 0800 066 066.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Why climb a snowy Cumbrian hill in a long dress, cloak and bonnet? Clare Balding finds out.

It's all down to Dorothy Wordsworth, the sister of poet, William. In her own right Dorothy was a writer and a pioneering walker. Just over 200 years ago she and her friend, Mary Barker, became the first women to both climb and write about Scafell Pike in the Lake District. This wouldn’t have been easy in their long dresses, cloaks and bonnets. To mark this achievement the artist Alex Jakob-Whitworth and some friends decided to follow in Dorothy’s footsteps. They dressed in period costume and tried to get to the top of England’s highest mountain. It wasn't easy, as they tell Clare on today's walk, which starts in Seathewaite in Borrowdale and progresses up to Stockley Bridge, through the snowline, and beyond.

Alex took on this challenge as part of a bigger project. If you are reading this on the Radio 4 webpage, you can scroll down the page to the 'related links' section to discover more about Alex, Harriet and The Wordsworth Trust.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Our original plan for today’s walk fell apart. David Bradbury had invited us to join his lunch-time walking group. Instead of eating a sandwich at their desks, he and his colleagues would make the effort to go for midday rambles which were bonding, supportive and great exercise. He says the group held him together when some difficult personal problems arose. But then David left the company and, therefore, his walking group. However, he remains a keen walker, so we kept our date to walk with him near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. Instead of colleagues, he brought along his daughter, his mother and his friend, Ron the Human Google.

Together, they take a circular route which starts at the Rushbrooke Arms in Sicklemere, passes Nowton Church which has some truly beautiful Flemish stained glass windows, plus views of the British Sugar factory and its huge plumes of steam. They bypass a shoot (quickly), and enter Nowton Park where there is a colourful totem pole which - uniquely - includes a wolf holding the severed head of St. Edmund himself. The walk ends back at the pub. Clare is quite certain that the landscape contains only gentle slopes. In Suffolk, David says, they are definitely hills.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding starts the 20th year of Ramblings by walking with a listener who is so committed to exploring the countryside that she creates and publishes her own walking routes.

Elaine Steane ran out of walks, so decided to invent her own. She's published a number of books including Milestones to Millstones and it's a route from this that we follow today. It skirts the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border and takes in Mapledurham Watermill - a working Mill that not only produces its own flour but also supplies 140 local homes with electricity. The Mill became famous when it featured in the film version of The Eagle Has Landed; Michael Caine's signature is apparently carved somewhere into the building's wooden structure. Later on, we skirt past (but can't quite see) Hardwick House. This was the inspiration for EH Shepard's illustrations of Toad Hall in Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows. From there we head up into the Wild Woods, where we hear a reading from Wind in the Willows, before climbing a steep hill which takes us back to where we started at Whittles Farm.

Elaine's love of mapping comes from her father. He was Harold Fullard, a renowned cartographer who was Editor of the Phillip's Modern School Atlas, the blue-canvas book that generations of school-children used to learn about the world. Elaine recalls earning a little pocket money by helping to create the index at home... it was a painstaking process.

If you are reading this on the Radio 4 website, you can scroll further down to see links to Elaine's books, Mapledurham Water Mill and some photos of the walk.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare joins a group of recently graduated students of Agriculture from Newcastle University who are walking and canoeing along the Speyside Way from source to sea in memory of their friend Rob who was tragically killed in their final year. Their summer wild camping trip is a way to bring the group of friends together once a year to talk and remember Rob who was such an integral part of their university life.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding meets the writer Tom Cox for a walk on Dartmoor, the setting for many of his musings on walking and nature that are a humorous sometimes spooky take on the countryside and the creatures that inhabit it. His book 21st Century Yokel is full of Devon folklore, haunted landscapes and humorous observations about the people and animals he encounters. Their walk takes them from Manaton Church near Bovey Tracey up to Bowerman's Nose and Hound Tor, stopping off to pay their respects at the grave of Kitty Jay a 17th century farm girl along the way.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding walks the final part of the Whithorn Way with a local group of walking enthusiasts. It's an an an ancient pilgrim route from Glasgow down along the west coast ending at the holy site of St Ninian's Cave on the southern tip of the peninsula looking towards the Isle of Man. Pilgrims have been making the journey for centuries until they were banned from doing so after the Reformation during the 16th century, but the tradition has been revived and with the restoration of the walking route, more people are expected to do the 146 mile route through some of Scotland's most beautiful but often overlooked landscapes.

Pictured left to right: Ian Gemmell, a retired local vet from Whithorn, Clare Balding, Finn McCreath local farmer and trustee of the Wigtown Book Festival and Jessica Fox, former NASA storyteller.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Clare Balding hears the uplifting story of how walking helped a young man recover from a brain injury.

At the age of 23, Matt Masson fell off a roof during a night out. He was in a coma for six weeks and, when he awoke, couldn't walk, talk or sit-up. When his voice returned, so did a determination to return to his previously active life. Walking formed a central part of his rehab; his first goal was to walk just 300 metres but by 2014 Matt had walked the Amsterdam Marathon which took 9 hours and 37 minutes.

In this edition of Ramblings, Matt and his mother, Anne, walk a stretch of the Centurion Way in Chichester and recall his many endeavours. The Centurion Way is a route between Chichester and West Dean which follows the line of part of the disused Chichester to Midhurst Railway.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding is walking in someone else’s shoes for this edition of Ramblings.

She’s joined, on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, by the artist, Clare Patey and the author, Roman Krznaric. They are – respectively – the Director and Founder of The Empathy Museum. On their walk from Gravesend Station to the Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve, Clare and Roman describe one of the Empathy Museum’s projects: “A Mile in My Shoes”.

Inspired by the saying: “Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins” the project travels the UK, and the world, in a shipping container which is decorated as a gigantic shoe-box. Inside are rows of other people’s shoes, and audio-recordings of their own personal stories. The idea is that visitors wear a pair of shoes, and go for a walk, while listening to the shoe owner’s story.

The stories range from a Herefordshire farmer discussing his search for love (you wear a pair of his old work boots to walk and listen) to a former sex worker (red high heels). For part of this walk, Clare Balding will wear a pair of fluffy pink slippers and hear a powerful tale.

The idea behind the project is to expose listeners to the stories of people they wouldn’t otherwise meet, in order to promote empathy. The project has a podcast – the link is further down on this web-page.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding walks on Hergest Ridge in Herefordshire with Dr. Kate Harding, who has a moving story to tell.

This is the second time Clare has walked with Kate. Their first ramble was around five years ago. The run-up to that recording had been stressful and Clare wasn't really up for it. She recalls - 'I was grumpy with the weather and grumpy with life. Not myself at all'.

However, when Kate and Clare started that walk, Clare realised it was what she needed most. Kate's advice about the power of mindfulness resonated strongly. It's an encounter that Clare has never forgotten.

Now, Clare is returning to Herefordshire to walk with Kate once more. However, Kate's circumstances have changed significantly. Last year, her husband killed himself. A consultant anaesthetist and specialist in intensive care, he had been suffering from crippling depression. Kate and her teenage children have, obviously, been left devastated. They had emigrated to New Zealand as a family of four. Shortly after Richard's suicide, they returned to Herefordshire, as three.

Since Richard's death, Kate has become determined to highlight the higher than average suicide rate amongst the medical profession, and would like to see a swifter process of complaint handling by the General Medical Council. This is why she's chosen to walk again with Clare; as well as to celebrate Richard's life by walking in one of the places he loved the most, Hergest Ridge, where his memorial was held.

Kate regards the openness and beauty of Herefordshire as something of a balm.

NB: If you are feeling emotionally distressed following this broadcast and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, you can access this site: bbc.co.uk/actionline

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

A musical walk around the Cairngorms National Park with the self-taught composer, Alexander Chapman-Campbell. Alexander's latest album is inspired by a 650km pilgrimage through Norway in the summer of 2015. He had intended to have a break from composition but, en route and completely by chance, Alexander came across pianos in the farmhouses he stayed in, and the churches he visited. So began the instinctive process of creating an album, 'Journey to Nidaros' (Nidaros is the Cathedral in Trondheim, where his trek ended.) He recounts this adventure to Clare, as they walk in the Cairngorms National Park, a place that reminds him very much of Norway.

Their walk is a five mile circular route around the Glen Tanar estate, near Aboyne, a village on the edge of the highlands, just 26 miles west of Aberdeen.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks in beautiful sunshine with one of the longest standing groups we've had on Ramblings. For over 30 years, Derek Fawcett and friends have met for an annual walk. They've known each other since they were at medical school and, despite going into different specialities, have retained a strong connection; they say this is best enjoyed while out walking. Today, they are in Laugharne in south west Wales. They follow a route from Laugharne Castle which takes in Dylan Thomas's former home. Thomas once described Laugharne as the 'strangest town in Wales' and based Llareggub in Under Milk Wood ('bugger all' spelt backwards) on the place.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks to the extraordinary Dashwood Mausoleum, near High Wycombe, with Julia and Lee Clements and their daughter, Cerys. Cerys is nearly six years old and has cerebral palsy, so joins the walk in her off-road buggy. Together Julia and Lee discuss how they have adapted to life with a profoundly disabled child; Julia says she has become a 'fighter', especially for the right to give her daughter blended 'real' food, through the tube in her stomach, and not just formula milk which is the accepted norm. Lee says he once defined himself by his achievements at work, or in running marathons, or going for very long walks whereas, now, he values even the shortest of outings with Cerys - navigating kissing-gates, or pushing her weighty buggy uphill is a joy and a challenge in itself.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding is off to Little Switzerland in this week's programme, but she's not travelling far: Church Stretton, in Shropshire, earned its nick-name in Victorian times because of the area's Alpine feel. Her companions are Mark and Debbie, who met after both lost their spouses to cancer. Together with Ted, the wire haired Dachshund, they are attempting to complete every route listed in the book "50 walks in Shropshire". They have just passed the 20 mark. Today's walk takes them to the trig point of the Long Mynd, from there they retrace their steps back to the top of Town Brook Hollow and return over the top of Yearlet Hill and Ashlet Hill and back into Church Stretton.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Today Clare is walking in Surrey with a group of asylum seekers who are former detainees of the Gatwick Immigration Removal Centres. Alongside them are volunteers from "Refugee Tales" which is a project run by the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group; it involves monthly walks as well as an annual event which combines walking and storytelling. The idea, they say, is to "reclaim the landscape for the language of welcome". Over 50% of those held in Immigration Removal Centres are released back into the UK community though their cases may be unresolved, their living conditions precarious, and their future uncertain. These walks give the former detainees a chance to meet up with their friends, enjoy the countryside and - for just a few hours - forget their challenging and unknown future.

Today the group is in Reigate. The group will walk from the station to the top of Reigate Hill, then along the North Downs ridge where there are views towards Gatwick and the detention centres. They then work their way back along the Pilgrim's Way, and return to the station..

All photos by John Barrett

Producer: Karen Gregor.

A chaotic and lively dog-walk on Hembury Fort near Honiton in Devon kicks off the new series. Nigel, the rebellious Golden Doodle, upstages Clare Balding and guests.

Clare's human companions are Amy, Jenny, and Anna. They met at the school-gate and formed a strong bond that has helped them through many health challenges. Jenny's thyroid problems led unexpectedly to her launching a successful dog-walking business.

They take Clare on one of their regular walks, across Hembury Fort near Honiton, and explain what friendship through walking means to them.

Produced in Bristol by Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding takes a walk along the banks of the Severn in the company of the country's most prolific travel writers, Christopher Somerville who's also the walking correspondent of The Times. They begin their six and a half mile walk in the Gloucestershire village of Purton which lies on the east bank of the River Severn, Christopher's childhood village of Leigh is not far upstream. He talks to Clare about the role walking has played in his life and how it became a way that he could reconnect with his late father.

The route can be found on OS Explorer OL 14 , map ref for the starting point : SO 684021

Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins Gill Callow, a teacher from York who takes her on a favourite six mile route around the city. Walking has always been an important part of Gill's life; a joy to share with friends, a way to appreciate the wonders of the British countryside, a stress - buster from intense days in the classroom and now vital to help her come to terms with the loss of her partner, Martin. Gill talks to Clare about how she introduced him to the joys of walking , the long distance routes they tackled and the plans they had for the future. She finds walking a good way to remember him and the many happy times they shared. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding walks in the Peaks with Maxwell Ayamba, who founded a rambling group for other black men, from Sheffield, to help improve their health and well being. Clare joins the group as they leave the Moorland Discovery Centre and set off across the Moors. They explain to Clare how the group has helped improve their relationships as well as their health and Maxwell describes the art of riding crocodiles. Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins archaeologist, Charlotte Frearson and her dog, Indy, on their daily, five mile walk to work. A few years ago Charlotte was suffering from crippling anxiety, her doctor suggested medication or a dog. After detailed research Charlotte decided a whippet would be better than drugs and she bought Indy, short , of course, for Indiana Jones. Everyday they walk from their home in Crouch End, across London to UCL's Institute of Archaeology in Bloomsbury. It's hard to know who enjoys the walk more as Charlotte has the chance to reflect on the antiquities that might lie beneath their feet and Indy has the chance to hunt out tasty morsels on the pavement. As they take their favourite route from park to park Charlotte explains to Clare how Indy is now being assessed to be a Pet As Therapy dog, not just for her but for the students who sometimes find it easier to talk to him than their tutors. Producer Lucy Lunt.

A joyful hike up Castle Hill near Huddersfield with We In Front, an inspirational group of walkers.

Leading the way is Errol Hamlet who, having retired, felt bored, unhealthy and wanted a new challenge. He spotted a neighbour out walking during the pandemic and decided to join her. Then, one by one, more people joined until they eventually had a decent sized group. Most are senior citizens from the local West Indian community and they can often be heard singing as they disappear into the countryside surrounding Huddersfield.

As they walk Clare hears about Carriacou, the Caribbean island where nine of the walkers spent at least some of their childhood. Apparently everyone on that island knows someone in Huddersfield... the two places are closely linked. There's also an unexpected conversation about the niche hobby of bottle-top collecting...

The group started today's walk at grid reference SE155152 from where they followed a circuitous route up to Castle Hill.

Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare explores the beautiful beaches of Aberlady Bay, East of Edinburgh. She joins the pupils, parents and staff of Saltersgate school which supports children and young people who have additional learning needs. Mary Higgins is the outdoor learning teacher and she's discovered that for some pupils, a long walk on a Monday morning sets them up for the week. She's thrilled by how far and well they ramble and joy they derive from being outside whatever the weather. With special dispensation, some of the parents come along to explain to Clare the pleasure and benefit their non-verbal sons gain from this weekly adventure. Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins Christina Edwards as she returns to her childhood home in Greens Norton, Northamptonshire, to retrace the walk she took most nights as a teenager, when suffering from anorexia. Christina lived with her mother in a small cottage on the village green. At seventeen Christina stopped eating and as she explains to Clare, as hunger would wake her in the middle of the night, she'd slip out of the house, always accompanied by their dog Jamie and set off on a long walk around the village to try and tire herself out and soothe her mind. Jamie would never leave her side as she strode across the fields and along footpaths, always listening to the same album on her Walkman, The Waterboys, This is the Sea. Christina now lives in New Zealand with her husband and three children, she talks to Clare about the strength it took to overcome her condition and how she still needs to battle with it today.

If you need support with eating disorders, help and support is available. Visit the BBC Action http://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/a-z

Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins comedian Ed Byrne as he takes her for one of his favourite walks in the Peak District; to Stanton Moor and Robin Hood's Stride from Winster. They discuss how he became an enthusiastic hill walker and a passionate Munro bagger. Munro bagging is the ideal hobby for Ed as it combines a love of the outdoors and his nerdy desire to tick things off lists. Ed and Clare compare notes on their passion for kit, walking clothing and gadgets. The route for their seven mile walk can be found on OL 24 , grid reference SK241605. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding meets a group of five friends from Stoke on Trent who have been walking The Two Saints Way www.twosaintsway.org.uk , a route that's taken them from Chester to Lichfield. All retired or semi-retired professional women, they all have very personal reasons for taking this pilgrimage. They like to mark various stages of the walk with a song, taking it in turns to decide on the type of music required for the particular location. They are accompanied by Buddy, a Border Terrier cross Jack Russell who has been with them for every step of the way. They women call themselves The Fast Girls Walking Group on account of the brisk pace they like to keep, so Clare will not be dawdling as they explain to her their love of their home town and why they believe The Potteries are wrongly overlooked as a great walking area. The route can be found on OS Explorer 258 Stoke on Trent and Newcastle Under Lyme . The walk takes them from Stoke Minster to Lord Sutherland's Monument. Ful Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding continues her exploration of The Isle of Man by travelling south to walk the coastal path from Kallow Point to the Sound. She's joined by locals Jane and Peter Gunn and archaeologist, Andrew Foxon. Despite the wind and rain setting in, there are still wonderful views to be had of the Calf of Man and Jane explains the many vagaries of living on the island, she appears to know everyone or at least all those they meet en route.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding's long-held wish, to sample the walking delights of the Isle of Man, is finally satisfied as she heads to the north of the Island to explore Glen Dhoo and Ravensdale. She walks in the company of local artist, Michael Starkey and guide Chris Callow, two proud Manxmen.

The walk can be found on 0S Landranger 95.

Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding joins Multiple sclerosis sufferer, Jo Fielder, on a training walk, just before she attempted to cover the entire length of the Ridgeway in just seven days. They were joined by Jo's husband, Jake and former track and field athlete, David Hemery. Winner of the 400 metres hurdles in the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, David has been a source of inspiration and training advice to Jo as she prepares for this challenge. Tune in to find out if she made it.

Map ref: SU 09358 68848 OS Explorer 157 Marlborough and Savernake Forest.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.

In this series of Ramblings, Clare Balding is walking with people or in places recommended by listeners. Eryl Davies wrote to the programme suggesting a walk in the hills of North Wales with her father, Tegid. He lives near Blaenau Ffestiniog and loves to explore the area every day, usually alone with his dog Twm. Not that unusual except that Tegid has no sight and relies on his memory and his canine companion to find the way. He has always loved walking and when he can, likes to share his passion with the rest of the family. Today he's joined by Eryl and his sixteen year old grandson, Llewellyn.

Their route can be found on OS Outdoor Leisure map 18

Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding takes the Cornish coastal path from Constantine Bay to Harlyn, in the company of two women for whom walking has been the cement in their friendship. Sarah Rossiter and Rebecca Newsom met at university and although their lives have taken them in very different directions; Sarah works for an investment bank , Rebecca for Greenpeace, they try to ensure they get together every few months to do some challenging hiking while putting the world to rights. In this repeat from earlier in 2017, Clare will be walking with listeners who have recommended people or places the programme should feature. Sarah wrote to Ramblings wishing to share their enthusiasm for walking and walking together.

The route they take can be found on OS Explorer 106 Newquay and Padstow.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding sadly says goodbye to The Nidderdale Way as she embarks on the last leg of this fifty three mile circular walking route. Her guides for the day, Margaret Lawrenson, Chris Bennett and John Byrom, persuade her to take a small detour to explore Brimham Rocks, an enchanted natural play park for children and a nightmare for grandparents. Once back on track they walk through some of the most picturesque villages and hamlets of North Yorkshire to arrive back in Pateley Bridge once more. Clare receives a badge for her efforts. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare chooses some favourite moments from her Ramblings year:

Join brothers Manni and Reuben Coe who amble down to Hive Beach in Dorset on a calm summer's day. On the way they recall the emotional story of how Reuben, who has Down's Syndrome, was nurtured back to health partly by walking that very route. Head to Orkney where Clare battles 60mph winds in one of the wildest episodes we've yet recorded. Hike up Shutlingsloe with Frank Milner, in training to climb Kilimanjaro on his 82nd birthday. Hear David and Iain recall some youthful misadventures as they stroll along the cliffs towards Portpatrick on the remote Rhins of Galloway. And meet Sam and Roger by the waterfall in south Wales where their romance began thanks to an online walking group.

Boff Whalley of Chumbawamba leads his Commoners Choir in song as they march up to Gaddings Dam in Calderdale. On the Thames Path, Tina and Cas share how their adopted son's way of coping with the world is by long distance hiking. The inspirational Halifax Hikers lead Clare on their favourite local route. And Ali Allen, in Herefordshire, takes time out from running her tiny walking shop to march with Clare up to a section of the Offa's Dyke footpath.

Please scroll down to the 'related links' box on the Ramblings page of the Radio 4 website for links to all these individual episodes.

Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Clare Balding nears the end of her walk along The Nidderdale Way, a fifty three mile route, that starts and finishes in Pateley Bridge. Today she walks the most easterly stretch passing through the Ripley Estate, home to the Ingilby family for over seven hundred years. Sir Thomas Ingilby a keen long distance walker, and his wife Lady Emma, explain how they welcome ramblers through the estate and have constructed new paths to ease their way. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding is walking The Nidderdale Way in North Yorkshire for this series and here she completes the fourth leg of the route from Bewerley to Dacre Banks. She's accompanied by three members of the Tordoff family. Keith, came to the town of Pateley Bridge, that lies in the centre of the dale, twenty five years ago with his wife, Gloria. He gave up the stress of being a police officer in Leeds and took to running the local sweetshop, the oldest in the country. He is now a spokesman for the town and the area and does all he can to promote it, concerned as he is, that small rural towns like this, can die without the whole community pulling together. His son Alex is a local fireman and his partner Kirsty also works in the family business. Kirsty and Alex explain to Clare that their love of walking has taken them traveling all over the world, while Keith explains his love of Pateley Bridge means he no longer wishes to go anywhere else. Their walk starts at Bewerley Grange Chapel where Keith's parents are buried and ends in the village of Dacre Banks, right on the banks of the river Nidd. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding is walking the whole of The Nidderdale Way, a circular fifty three mile walking route in North Yorkshire. In this edition she walks from Heathfield to Bewerley in the company of Robin Hermes and Simon Dunn, two self-styled, grumpy old men. They have been walking together, along with their friend Richard, every month for over thirty-five years and this is the first time they've actually invited anyone to join them. The Ramblings team don't make the most auspicious start by being several minutes late, a sin Robin holds against them right until the end when the joys of the afternoon allow him to forgive and forget! This section of the walk takes in the site of the disused lead mines at Ashfold Side Beck. Robin and Simon discuss their walking history with Clare, their favourite and least favourite routes and how they score the perfect walk. The route can be found on OS Explorer 298 Producer Lucy Lunt.