Ramblings

Clare meets ‘Woman with Altitude’ Lise Wortley who recreates the adventures of overlooked and forgotten female explorers.

As Lise takes Clare on a walk around her childhood village of Boxford in Suffolk, she tells Clare why she doesn’t just follow in the footsteps of these incredible women but even wears the same kind of clothing and footwear. Her latest expedition, in woollen skirts and specially made hob-nail boots, was an attempt to climb Mont Blanc on the same route as the French adventurer, Henriette D'Angeville. In 1838 Henriette was the first woman to summit Mont Blanc unaided, in other words without being lifted across the tricky parts as a previous female walker had done.

Lise's adventure didn't work out quite as expected and led to her taking a long and unexpected diversion up a completely different and less well known mountain.

Find out more about Lise on her website: www.womanwithaltitude.com/

Presenter: Clare Balding

Alan Titchmarsh takes Clare Balding for his favourite stroll across Tennyson Down on the Isle of Wight. A keen and regular walker, Alan splits his time between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, and has a lot to share with Clare about this place that he loves. Best known as a TV gardener, interviewer and romantic novelist, Alan grew up in a family that took regular Sunday walks and as a young child developed an affinity for the natural world.

Presenter: Clare Balding

Clare hikes along a section of the GM Ringway, Greater Manchester’s new walking trail. It’s a 200 mile route split into 20 stages, starting and ending in Manchester city centre. It goes around the edge of the county through all 10 boroughs of the region, and it’s linked with public transport so people can easily access the linear stages.

Joining Clare as she walks part of Stage 6, which is Strines to Marple, is Andrew Read whose brilliant idea this was. He was awarded £250k of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to make it happen.

The project also depends upon a legion of keen volunteers, several of whom join Clare for today’s walk. One of these is ‘Stage Guardian’ Roz Hughes who explains how important volunteer involvement is to keep the walk maintained in the long term.

The starting point of the walk, Strines Station, was described in The Railway Children. Craig Wright joined the group to share his enthusiasm for this classic children’s book, and - while reading a short section - points out aspects of a view that can be recognised from Edith Nesbit's descriptions.

Presenter: Clare Balding

Clare explores the Lower Tavy Valley in Devon with Sharon Gedye a physical geographer who's spent years discovering how the area's rich history has shaped its landscape and people.

Sharon takes Clare on a circular walk starting on West Down, on the western edge of Dartmoor, heading down towards the River Tavy and eventually reaching Double Waters, the confluence of the Tavy and Walkham. On the way they see evidence of arsenic mines, copper workings and discuss long forgotten but fascinating fish weirs.

Sharon is also interested in how humans shape landscape and how landscape shapes us. Thinking of her grandfather, she says: He was a quarry-man on Dartmoor and by picturing him working and polishing the granite, I feel closer to how he experienced the world.

Also on the walk are two of Sharon's friends who bring their own areas of expertise to their interpretation of the area: archeologist Chris Smart, and heritage consultant, Andrew Thompson

Sharon writes a blog which you can find at www.awalkinenglishweather.com They met at WhatThreeWords: grin.tend.negotiators / Grid Ref: SX479708

Presenter: Clare Balding

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

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

Clare is in the Cotswolds this week with a fantastic group called Every Body Outdoors. They begin their walk in the village of King’s Stanley, Gloucestershire and complete a five mile circuit taking in a stretch of Stroudwater Canal, before heading up to the top of Selsley Common.

Co-founded by Steph Wetherell, Every Body Outdoors is a walking group specifically aimed at plus size people who want to build confidence in the outdoors. Many had tried to join conventional groups but either didn’t feel welcome or had bad experiences.

Another aim of the group is to work with outdoor brands and retailers to encourage them to provide better designed plus-size kit and clothing . Most technical gear, Steph says, stops at a size 16-18 and there’s little available above a size 20.

The group has been so successful they’ve recently trained a group of volunteers who now lead plus size walks all around the UK.

Presenter: Clare Balding

In the second of two walks in the Republic of Ireland, Clare meets rock climber, mountain instructor and walking guide, Iain Miller, to explore a stretch of the wild, rugged and spectacular Atlantic coastline of County Donegal.

They meet at what Iain describes as the most remote place in Ireland, An Port, and the route they take from there affords them views over what he says is Ireland’s last great wilderness including some ‘monster’ sea stacks.

Iain is originally from Scotland, but has lived in Co. Donegal for years, making it his place of work as well as his – as he puts it – playground. The two are intertwined as Iain’s business involves leading rock climbing, hillwalking, and other outdoor adventures. The route he shares with Clare is more gentle coastal stroll than vertiginous technical climb but the experience and views are no less impressive.

If you want to look at their location on a map, they met here: WhatThreeWords: ///simplicity.school.escalates

Presenter: Clare Balding

In the first of two episodes recorded in the Republic of Ireland, Clare travels to Moyle Hill in County Donegal to meet adventurer and motivational speaker, Nikki Bradley.

Diagnosed with a rare bone cancer at just 16 years of age, Nikki (now in her 30s) has defied expectations by living a very active life. She was the first person on crutches to climb four Irish mountain peaks, which took her 32 hours. She scaled the Sólheimajökull glacier in Iceland, and has completed the Fan Dance, one of the toughest endurance challenges in the UK including two ascents of Pen y Fan.

Her latest enormous challenge has been to undergo a very unusual leg amputation. The damage caused by the cancer led to two hip replacements in her twenties, but her pain and discomfort continued so ultimately her medical team suggested a procedure known as a rotationplasty. Her upper leg was removed, and her lower leg was turned 180 degrees, raised and attached to the top of her thigh to become her ‘new’ upper leg. Her foot faces backwards at knee height, with the idea that it acts as the knee joint itself. It’s been emotionally very difficult coming to terms with her change of appearance and the pain associated with the procedures and rehab.

But, in characteristic spirit, she has continued to push forward and after many months of recovery is now back walking again.

Producer: Karen Gregor

David Almond marks 25 years of his extraordinary book, Skellig, with a walk from Seahouses to Bamburgh in Northumberland. As he tells Clare, it's a landscape that has long inspired his imagination and writing.

Skellig tells the tale of Michael, a young boy who befriends a magical creature - part owl, part angel – that needs Michael’s help to survive. The book has won multiple awards, been adapted for stage, film, radio and opera and translated into 40 languages.

As they walk, David tells Clare how his childhood in the north-east shaped both his character and writing, and discusses why walking is a necessary pleasure. The stretch of coastline they’re exploring is rich with historical, religious and cultural significance and the entire region has provided inspiration for David’s writing over the years.

They met at Seahouses Harbour and walked through sun, rain and wind to the most dominant man-made feature in the area - Bamburgh Castle.

Presenter: Clare Balding