Clare Balding walks on Cannock Chase with Tara Bariana who recalls his extraordinary walk home to India.

Tara Bariana was born in Punjab, and at the age of 13 came to the UK with his mother. His father and older brother had arrived four years earlier, in 1958.

In 1995 Tara decided he needed an adventure and made the decision to walk from the Midlands - where he'd grown up, married and settled - back to his home village in India.

He walked to Southampton where he caught the ferry to Cherbourg. There he realised he didn't speak any French, he couldn't even say 'bonjour'... but, despite being hit by the reality of what he'd decided to do, he couldn't turn back.

Nineteen months later, of almost non-stop walking, he arrived in his home village but instead of returning home, remembers thinking 'is that it?', and stayed in India for a further 18 months.

On this walk, around Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Tara is accompanied by his son, Clive, Clive's wife, Jodie, and their two children.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks a section of the West Highland Way, north from Balmaha, with twin sisters Pauline Walker and Fiona Rennie.

Pauline and Fiona are both 'ultra runners' and they haven't, before, walked the West Highland Way. However they have run the entire route, non-stop, several times. It's one of their favourite challenges on the ultra-runner calendar; running through the night, dealing with hallucinations, and pushing themselves to the limit is all part of the experience.

Clare hears about their adventures, their close and supportive relationship, and Fiona's recent battle with mouth cancer as they slow to an unfamiliar pace to enjoy the beautiful scenery north of Balmaha.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks with the celebrated author and academic, Robert Macfarlane who takes her from his home in Cambridge out onto the Icknield Way. For a man known to love mountains, Robert explains how he's slowly come to love the tame lowlands of Cambridgeshire and how he now relies on climbing trees to give him height and views. While Clare is not tempted to join him at the top of an accommodating beech tree, she's happy to admire the graffiti left on the bark.

Clare Balding goes rambling, near Machynlleth, with the writer and environmentalist, George Monbiot. The theme of this series of Ramblings is 'In Search Of.' and, together, George and Clare are walking in search of wildness.

George's new book, 'Feral', is partly a personal story about his attempt to stave off the monochrome nature of modern-day life: "I could not continue just sitting and writing, looking after my daughter and my house, running merely to stay fit, watching the seasons cycling past without ever quite belonging to them. I was, I believed, ecologically bored".

In this walk, George explains how he has attempted to 'rewild' his own life and describes what he believes needs to be done in order to reintroduce true wildness to our countryside through the large-scale restoration of ecosystems. He says "researching it felt like stepping through the back of the wardrobe".

Using OS Explorer OL23 - Cadair Idris and Llyn Tegid - George takes Clare to his favourite place in mid-Wales, a rare stand of ancient native woodland, which stirs him to his very soul.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding meets those who have found love and companionship through walking when she joins a group to walk a section of the Greensand Way in Surrey.

She speaks to Liz and James who explain how walking side-by-side took the awkwardness out of their first meeting. Liz said she knew James liked her when he started flirting like a teenager over lunch, even though she was wearing her Mum's over-sized waterproof at the time.

Margaret explains how walking transformed her retirement and led to a wider range of social activities. She adds, "London can be very lonely when you live on your own".

Clare hears how walk-leader Roger met his wife Sue thirty years ago on a walk, and that this history can provide a map of a relationship both literally and metaphorically. Although they walk at a different pace, Sue's keen to point out that Roger never forgets she's on the walk.

Producer: Toby Field.

In this new series of Ramblings, Clare Balding will be walking in search of new places, new people and new experiences. In this first programme she joins the Chilterns American Women's Club hiking group, who walk in search of learning more about their new home and meeting other ex-pat spouses. The club offers a range of activities for ex-American and International women who find themselves living in Britain but the walking group is one of the most popular allowing them to discover and explore their adopted home.

Michael Weltike tries to persuade Clare Balding of the benefits of barefoot walking on a wintry wander in the West Country.

They meet at the church of St Andrew in Compton Bishop, near Weston-super-Mare, and walk from there to Crook Peak. Accompanied by Michael's permanently barefoot companion, Woody, Clare and Michael strip off from the ankles down and revel in the unusual pleasure of walking barefoot.

Michael is certain that by 'earthing' himself regularly he maintains a high level of health and well-being.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

David Sedaris, the American author and comedian, takes Clare Balding on a litter-picking walk in West Sussex.

When David Sedaris was a child he would clear up around the house, and keep his own bedroom perfectly tidy. This obsession has, in recent years, been transferred to the outdoors and Sedaris is now a devoted daily litter-picker, cleaning the roadside verges of Pulborough and the surrounding area.

Clare imagined that this edition of Ramblings might take her across the South Downs, occasionally reaching for a stray bottle or piece of paper. In reality it involved walking less than two miles, and filling six bin bags full to bursting with all manner of filthy rubbish. All while wearing a fetching hi-viz jacket. A very unusual edition of Ramblings!

Actress and singer, Toyah Willcox, takes Clare Balding for a walk in rural Worcestershire.

The theme for this series of Ramblings is 'self-improvement' and for Toyah - who has always had problems with her joints, including a recent hip replacement - walking is the perfect exercise. She says it helps her keep her weight down and remain active.

Clare met Toyah at Croome Landscape Park, a National Trust Property famous for its stunning grounds designed by Capability Brown. Unfortunately Toyah was injured - 97 pantomime performances over Christmas had taken their toll - but, crutch in hand, the ramble went ahead.

By the end of the walk, during which Toyah discussed her serendipitous route into show business and forthcoming performance in a 'bawdy' show called Hormonal Housewives, she actually felt better. Proof, she said, that walking is one of the best ways to remain healthy.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding explores the beautiful Longdendale Trail in Derbyshire, joining long -term friends, Tracey Standring and Christine Valentine. They explain the vital role walking has played in their lives, cementing their friendship and keeping them sane and healthy. They've been walking together for over a year now and they explore new places each week. Neither are keen or particularly competent map readers and Clare tries to convert them with her own expertise, although with a gale blowing along the valley, it's not all that easy.