The group Clare walks with see Ashdown Forest as a national treasure in its own right – and largely an unsung one. They think it’s remarkable that this ten square miles of open access land has survived, only thirty miles south of London. Estate agents in the past even described it as ‘Scotland in Sussex’. A local resident and podcaster Eka Morgan is keen to reconnect visitors from far and wide back to the natural world of Ashdown Forest. Many of the 1.5 million annual visitors don’t understand that it’s actually not a forest at all, but a heath – one of the rarest habitats in the world, rarer than tropical rainforest. So, she is using audio to tell stories of the Forest with a podcast. 
Joining Eka on the walk are Tom Forward a wildlife guide and bird mimic, James Adler of the Conservators of Ashdown Forest and Kari Dunbar, whose new job focuses on raising dog owners’ awareness of the impact of dogs in wildlife habitats.  In memory of James Adler Chief Executive Officer Ashdown Forest Producer: Maggie Ayre

Ashdown Forest

Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside

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Nadeem Perera is not your conventional image of a birdwatcher. In fact growing up in inner city London he was not raised as or encouraged to be a 'nature boy'. But dropping out of school as a troubled teen he had a revelation. One day he was sitting in woodland and saw a green spotted woodpecker in front of him and his passion for birds was born.  Now he can be seen on BBC 1 on the One Show talking about birds and has moved to Bristol to further his career in wildlife presenting.  He takes Clare for a walk along the River Frome starting in Eastville Park. It's a grey Winter's day but they are overjoyed to be accompanied along the river by kingfishers lighting up the landscape.  Along the way he talks about the project he runs called Flock Together and about his passion for combining young people of colour with the outdoors and nature.
They walk from Eastville Park to Snuff Mills and the Stoke Park Estate Producer: Maggie Ayre

Kingfishers on the River Frome with Nadeem Perera

When author Annabel Abbs suffered a series of bereavements she found herself unable to sleep. Eventually she began getting up and walking around her garden and neighbouring fields around 3am.  But when she heard about Caroline Whiteman who runs guided walks at night without head torches, she just had to go along on one. Caroline began the walks as an experiment in overcoming her fear of the dark. She has found other people keen to get out at night and experience the dark in a totally different way under her care and supervision.  Although Clare is walking on a winter's night with barely any moon visible it's amazing how quickly the landscape lights up and the chalk cliffs stand out against the sea.
They walked in a loop starting and ending at South Hill Barn Car Park  BN25 4JQ near Seaford Producer: Maggie Ayre

Walking at Night on the South Downs near Seaford

The beautiful Borders of Scotland is the location for Clare’s walk this week.  She’s exploring the area around Innerleithen with Stewart Wilson.  After a career in finance Stewart made a handbrake turn in his early 40s and became a tour guide and travel blogger. He says most visitors to Scotland bypass the Borders for Edinburgh or the Highlands and Islands but – in doing so – are missing out on gorgeous scenery and fascinating history.    So today Stewart wants to share what it is about the Borders, and Innerleithen in particular, that should make people want to stop and explore.  He grew up there in a family who, for generations, had worked in the textile industry.  It’s a sector that has all but disappeared, apart from a few high-end makers, so the area has to try and develop a new identity.   History, mountain biking, and of course hiking are all a draw, including the challenging long distance Southern Upland Way which passes nearby. Stewart begins today’s walk at Innerleithen Parish Church on Leithen Road.  From there he then leads Clare over Leithen Water at Cuddy Bridge and, after a couple of stiff climbs through a forestry plantation with trees creaking in the wind, arrives at the disused relic of Kirnie Law reservoir.  It's a great view point, which thanks to the rainy, sunny, sleety weather, created a full rainbow over the heathery hills beyond.  It's a circular route that takes them back down to Innerleithen, just over five miles in total. Producer: Karen Gregor
Presenter: Clare Balding

Creaking Trees and a Full Rainbow at Innerleithen

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

On the Hoof with Hannah and Chico

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

Ashdown Forest

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