A fascinating wander through Coventry, the 2021 UK City of Culture. Ian Harrabin is a Trustee of the City of Culture so is the perfect guide to lead Clare Balding along a richly historic urban route. He is also Chair of the 'Historic Coventry Trust' which is running a host of projects designed to preserve, and make more accessible, some of the most interesting and little known parts of the city.

The walk began at Nauls Mill Park, Coundon Road, Coventry CV1 4AR. Map: OS Explorer 221 Coventry & Warwick. Grid Ref for Nauls Mill Park - SP 328 796

Producer: Karen Gregor

Debbie North uses a motorised wheelchair and is a powerful advocate for making the countryside accessible for all. Debbie had always been a keen walker but, in her 40s, was diagnosed with spinal degeneration. Very quickly she became a wheelchair user yet made the decision that this wasn’t going to stop her accessing the countryside that she loves. Today she takes Clare on one of her favourite rambles in Mallerstang. It starts at The Thrang, south of Outhgill. Although officially at the eastern edge of Cumbria, the walk is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Their destination is the 'Water Cut' stone sculpture which overlooks some of the area's most beautiful and expansive scenery.

Grid Ref for start of walk: NY783004

OS Map: OL19 Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley

Producer: Karen Gregor

Bex Band was not an outdoorsy person, but one day she decided to hike the length of Israel. Whilst there she noticed very few women walking the 1000km National Trail so, on her return, decided to do something about it. She set up Love Her Wild, an organisation that encourages women to become more adventurous. The community now has over 25,000 members. On today’s walk, she takes Clare for a loop around King Alfred’s Tower near the Stourhead Estate, not far from Shepton Mallet in Somerset. As they walk, Bex discusses her forthcoming book; why women need encouragement and support to access the outdoors; and the other adventures she’s completed including kick-scooting the length of the United States.

Car Park Grid Ref: ST749354

Producer: Karen Gregor

Kay Mellor is one of our most successful screenwriters. On today's ramble she takes Clare on her favourite route at Harewood House in her home city of Leeds. En route they discuss The Syndicate, Kay's hit drama series on BBC One and the iPlayer, which tells the story of a group of people who have won a huge amount of money on a lottery. Kay also discusses how walking helps her in the writing process, her desire to nurture more new writers, and how she started directing her own work.

The walk they do is on land which is free to enter, but there is a charge to enter the main house and grounds of Harewood. They met at Grid Reference: SE 325 431 by large iron gates.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Rhiane Fatinikun takes Clare on one of her favourite walks in the Peak District. Starting in Edale they take in Hollins Cross, Lose Hill and Mam Tor. Rhiane set up Black Girls Hike to provide a safe space for black women to explore the countryside. It’s been such a success that there are now three branches: in the North West, the West Midlands and London. As she tells Clare, it’s a way of building confidence and increasing diversity in the outdoors. It's an exhilarating and challenging walk, made more so by the changeable weather they had on the day... from bright sunshine to snow and strong, biting wind.

We started at the main car park in Edale, which is near the railway station (station grid ref: SK 123 853)

Producer: Karen Gregor

The best-selling author Cressida Cowell takes Clare for a nostalgic walk near Chichester in West Sussex. As well as writing the whoppingly successful ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series, Cressida created ‘The Wizards of Once’ books which draw upon her childhood memories of roaming across the South Downs. She grew up in London but during school holidays would visit her grandparents where she found the freedom of the Sussex countryside intoxicating. Clare and Cressida walk for roughly six miles on a route known as The Trundle Loop, which begins and ends in the village of Charlton.

Grid Ref for start of walk: SU 888 130

Producer: Karen Gregor

Glass artist, Arabella Marshall, takes Clare for a walk at Minsmere in Suffolk. Their focus is an old chapel ‘bleak and broken’ which provided Arabella with the inspiration for a major work of art: a new stained-glass window fitted into one of the ruin’s old apertures. It’s a striking modern feature in the abandoned building. The idea came to her when out walking which, alongside her artistic practice, is the thing she loves best in life. She says rambling alone provides creative inspiration and a space for problem solving.

Producer: Karen Gregor

Sound Recordist, Ellie Williams, takes Clare for an audio-rich wander at Abbots Pool in North Somerset. Walking, she says, is as essential to her as food and sleep and – whether she’s recording, or not – she’s always super-aware of the richness of the sounds around her. En route she contemplates why her profession is still so male-dominated and how it can be opened up to more women.

Grid Ref for Abbots Pool Car Park: ST 537 730

Producer: Karen Gregor

Do big cats roam the British countryside? It’s a long running debate, one that’s never far from the headlines. A few years ago on Ramblings, Clare saw what she described as an “enormous black cat” on a walk near Ross on Wye. Several newspapers followed this up, as did the ‘Big Cat Conversations’ podcast which is hosted by Rick Minter: he set up a camera trap close to Clare’s sighting and made contact with Ramblings. So, for today’s walk, Clare and Rick explore the area around Selsley Common in Gloucestershire and discuss why he’s so sure big cats do exist in rural Britain.

Grid Ref for the layby where we parked: SO830027

Producer: Karen Gregor

How many times have you been out for a walk and spotted intriguing shapes in the landscape? Your instinct tells you that these dips, hollows, lumps, bumps and oddly shaped stones aren’t natural features, but what on (and under) the earth are they? Mary-Ann Ochota is an anthropologist who writes about these curious archaeological forms and how to understand them. In her book, Hidden Histories, she shows how anyone can become a landscape detective, and start to read the history of the countryside from the clues around them. On today’s Ramblings she takes Clare Balding for a walk around the Pegsdon Hills on the Hertfordshire-Bedfordshire border, and through 6000 years of British history.

Grid Ref for where we parked: TL133301

Producer: Karen Gregor