Ramblings BBC Radio 4

Clare joins two friends on what could possibly be the slowest walk between Land's End and John O'Groats. Hiking one week at a time (with a gap of several years when the Welsh coastline wasn't fully navigable) it's taken Iain McHenry and David Rowe 18 years to reach the coast of Dumfries and Galloway. That's where Clare joins them, on a beautifully sunny day, as they approach the village of Portpatrick on the remote Rhins of Galloway.

This is the first of two episodes recorded in the area: next week Margaret Hughes and Peter Ross take Clare on a section of the Southern Upland Way, starting in Portpatrick and heading north.

Producer: Karen Gregor
Presenter: Clare Balding

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