Ramblings

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. Producer Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding is walking for self improvement in this series of Ramblings and today she hopes to find a new inner calm with the help of Dr Kate Kirkwood. Kate attempts to lead Clare on a path of spiritual renewal by teaching her to walk silently. Silence is not a state that comes naturally to Clare but as she and Kate walk where the mood takes them, in the Herefordshire countryside just outside Hay on Wye, they discover why walking can be one of the bet forms of stress relief. Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding is walking for self improvement in this new series of Ramblings; in six weeks time she hopes to be smarter, fitter, calmer and cleverer. In this first programme she joins a walking book group in North London, who find wandering on Hampstead Heath much more conducive to discussing literature than sitting round a coffee table. The walking book group is the brainchild of Emily Rhodes from the local Daunt book shop.Emily explains to Clare how she chooses the books each month and why she thinks the group attracts a growing and enthusiastic following. The book under discussion today is Elizabeth Taylor's Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. Clare, an English graduate, joins in enthusiastically with her opinions on the novel as well as discussing with fellow group members the issues of aging, loneliness and retirement homes. Archie, her Tibetan Terrier accompanies Clare but is sadly, not improved by the experience. Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Clare Balding walks with naturalist, author & TV presenter, Steve Backshall. Together they stroll along his favourite stretch of the Thames from Bourne End to Boulter's Lock in Buckinghamshire.Steve is best known for presenting CBBC's 'Deadly 60', and has recently started writing children's fiction - his first book is 'Tiger Wars', about a group of renegade children who become involved with tiger poaching in India.He spends a lot of time filming abroad so Clare was lucky to catch up with him on his home patch. As they wander along the Thames, Steve explains that his love of the outdoors began when - as a child - his parents sent him and his sister out to play and told them not to come back until it was dark. This kind of 'feral' (as he put it) freedom developed in him an enduring passion for the natural world.Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding walks with Simon Evans and his family along a tributary of the Usk, in the shadow of the Sugar Loaf. Simon is a passionate fisherman and river conservationist who works for the Wye and Usk Foundation.Simon's wife Hazel and their two children - Freya and Arlo - also joined in... Freya contributing musical accompaniment (Peter Rabbit had a fly upon his nose...) and Arlo narrowly avoiding tree-branches from his elevated position in Simon's backpack. A highlight was discovering otter spraint under a bridge - concrete evidence of recent otter activity. It's lilac-scented although perhaps not (as Clare pointed out) enough to warrant taking it home and putting it in her chest of drawers...An extraordinary 1000 year old sweet chestnut tree loomed into view towards the end of the walk... one of the boughs as big as a sizable tree. Clare's attempts to create a human circle ended in tears.. not her's... rather Freya's nose got rather too close to the trunk.We started at the Red Lion pub in Llanbedr, the wa

Clare Balding walks with the actor, and passionate bird-watcher, Samuel West around one of his favourite birding spots, the RSPB reserve at Rainham Marshes in Essex.Currently in rehearsals for a West End production of Uncle Vanya, Samuel West takes a day off to share with Clare Balding his deep love of birding.He's drawn to birdlife because, he says, it reflects human-nature so well, "birds interact with the world through colour and song, both of which we - as humans - really get."A trip to Kenya at the age of 14 ignited this passion; "In Britain, birds were 3 inches long and brown.. in Kenya they were 7ft tall and couldn't fly, or bright blue... they were easy to tell apart... that's where it all started".Producer: Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding continues her series of wildlife walks with a visit to the Irish Coast. Today it's "Ramblings reunited", as she is joined again by Irish naturalist and broadcaster Eanna Ni Lamhna and her husband John Harding. Clare Balding last walked with her on a 'holiday hike' in the Wicklow mountains in September 2002. Today expert naturalist and broadcaster Eanna, takes her on a beautiful tour of the diverse wildlife havens of her home city, Dublin. They dig for lugworms and talk Ulysses in Sandymount strand. They discover the unlikely winter stopover of flocks of thousands of Brent geese - Fontenoy Football Club (the geese have a taste for the well mown turf!)On they walk to Ringsend Nature Reserve. In this a wonderful elevated wooded area, built on reclaimed builders rubble, they find a haven for linnets, goldfinches, blackbirds, wrens, curlews and egrets in the surrounded by wonderful views of the Dublin mountains and city spires.As they walk, they revisit their walk, conversations and friendship built

Environmentalist and well-known broadcaster Eanna Ni Lamhna takes Clare into the fabulous walking country of the Wicklow Mountains. She's a mine of information on many subjects and keeps Clare entertained as they climb - to be rewarded by a view of the lakes of Glendalough.

In this series Clare Balding is going on wildlife walks around the UK. Today Clare meets taxidermists and life long friends Dave Astley, Mike Gadd and James Dickinson. They follow Mike's daily route along the river Wharfe in West Yorkshire to observe the rich variety of local animals, insects and birds. Taxidermists might not be the first people who spring to mind when you think about wildlife-lovers. However, the intimate knowledge of the anatomy and behaviour of birds and animals that a successful taxidermist needs, can only be developed through detailed observation of the natural world. So for a taxidermist a walk can become a valuable research trip.Dave, James and Mike are three of the UK's leading taxidermists. They have worked with exotic animals, repaired museum specimens of extinct creatures and worked with international British Fine artists. They've even created mythical beasts. Over 20 years the trio have worked and walked together. Clare joins them to find out more about their close and unusual fri

In this series of Ramblings Clare Balding is going on wildlife walks around the UK. Today she is in Richmond Park in London with internationally renowned sculptor and artist Nicola Hicks M.B.E. Nicola's work focuses on animals sculpted in straw and clay and drawn on huge sheets of paper. Dynamic and distinctive, it has gained wide critical and public acclaim. Her statues of a dog in Battersea Park and a giant beetle in Bristol have become local landmarks.Twenty years ago, Hicks grew tired of the pressures of the London art scene and decided to make her artistic love of wildlife a reality. She decided to move her growing family to Cumbria and become a sheep farmer. It was steep learning curve with many joys and setbacks. As Clare and Nicola explore the surprisingly rich wildlife habitats of Richmond Park, she discusses her acclaimed artwork, her deep love of British countryside and wildlife and the highs and lows of adapting to rural living. Having just taken the decision to sell the farm and the rolling hills

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) throughout this series of Ramblings.Prog 6 - Whitley Bay with Barry StoneIn this week's programme Clare Balding meets author Barry Stone, his partner Paul and their dog, Bonzo the black Lab. Barry's childhood was coloured by the secret of his father's homosexuality and alcoholism; both parents had been traumatised by their experiences during the second world war and Barry had a deep personal struggle in coming to terms with his own sexuality. Over the years he attempted to write his story - eventually burning one manuscript of 300,000 words - and it was only at his mother's funeral that he was struck by the need to write through the 'voice' of Brucie (his childhood pet dog). The resulting book, a semi-autobiographical novel called 'Barking at Winston' was initially self-published with local distribution but was quickly picked up commercially and is now selling successfully around the country.Barry and Paul take Clare on a favourite local walk through Whitl

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) throughout this series of Ramblings.Prog 5: Pen Farthing on Dartmoor Pen Farthing is a former Royal Marine; while serving in Afghanistan he rescued an Afghan fighting dog which he named NowZad after the village where his unit was based. He brought NowZad back to the UK (which in itself required military-style planning) and when he left the Marines started a charity which runs a shelter in Afghanistan for stray and abandoned animals. The central aim of the charity is to catch, neuter and release stray dogs to prevent the population growing yet further. Pen lives in Tiverton in Devon and, for this edition of Ramblings, he takes Clare Balding on a wild walk across Dartmoor. Accompanying them is Patchdog (a massive Afghan Kuchi) and Maxchap (rescued from Iraq). Sadly Nowzad is a little old for such a long walk, but his story is central.Producer Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) throughout this series of Ramblings.Prog 4: Larkhall, South Lanarkshire.This week Clare Balding travels to Larkhall in South Lanarkshire to meet Scott Cunningham. A veteran of some of Britain's long-distance walks (including the West Highland Way, the Pennine Way and the Southern Upland Way) as well as the bagger of multiple Munroes, he never walks without the dog, he describes as his 'best-mate', Travis. On this walk around the Larkhall area, he describes the intensity of their relationship and the joy of his companionship. This will be a particularly moving walk for Scott, as Travis - who is a guide-dog - is retiring the following day, and a new dog, Milo, will take over. Scott was awarded an MBE last year for his achievements, which include raising over £150,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Producer Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) in this series of Ramblings. Programme 3: Alnmouth, Northumberland If you go walking with a dog, something extraordinary happens: complete strangers will talk to you. Sometimes this doesn't go any further than a regular 'good morning' but occasionally strong friendships are formed. On this week's Ramblings Clare Balding goes walking in rural Northumberland with Kelly Smith and her friend Carolyn Ryan. They met while dog-walking and struck up a close friendship which is mirrored by the incredibly strong connection between their dogs: Mel the Border Terrier and Kizzy the Lurcher.The walk begins in Kelly's kitchen, where her partner (the author Val McDermid) explains why a Border Terrier was such an obvious choice of dog for this neck of the woods. Then (leaving Val behind to make bacon sandwiches for their return), Clare, Kelly and Carolyn head down to the beach for a bracing, uplifting walk. Kelly and Carolyn explain how their friendship works, and how - de

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) in this new series of Ramblings. Prog 5: Dartmoor with Alex Lyons who is a search and rescue dog handler.Alex Lyons is a dog handler with the Tavistock-Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team. He and several members of his team - and their dogs - take Clare for a wild, wet and windy walk on Dartmoor. Clare sees how the rescue dogs work, and asks why anyone would want to spend their leisure time doing a voluntary job which is exhausting and occasionally upsetting. The answer? A sense of fulfilment, the opportunity to spend time in beautiful and remote countryside, and - of course - the joy of working with highly trained and intelligent dogs (who make their presence felt, and heard, throughout the programme). Producer Karen Gregor.

Clare Balding is walking with dogs (and their owners) in this new series of Ramblings. Programme 1: Flamborough Head to Bridlington with Stuart Jessup, Kate Atkin and Poppy the springer spaniel.Stuart Jessup and his springer spaniel, Poppy, started an 8 month, 2,500 mile walk around the English coast in October 2011. Occasionally joined by Stuart's wife, Kate, Stuart is walking as part of a campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and to raise money for Sane and Anxiety UK. Clare Balding joined Stuart, Kate and Poppy for a stretch of the walk from Flamborough Head to Bridlington on the Yorkshire Coast, to hear more about his adventures. Poppy has been central to the success of the walk; her friendliness encourages conversations between Stuart and other walkers, who often reveal their own problems with depression - both parties leaving the encounter enriched. Producer Karen Gregor.

In the final programme in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, to walk around the village of Stisted in Essex. As they walk around the village, Sir Andrew tells Clare about his memories of growing up in the village where he was first inspired to write poetry.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd.

Clare Balding walks part of the Beacons Way in the Brecon Beacons National Park to find out how people are being inspired to create their own response to the surrounding landscape. The Park's landscape has inspired artists for generations and today Clare is joined by Robert Macdonald, one of 8 artists to create a series of images which are set into stone along sections of the footpath as part of a project called 'Art in the Park'. Groups from schools and colleges, as well as people from outside of the Park boundaries, have been encouraged to walk sections of the Beacons Way and gain inspiration themselves from the art work and from the landscape around them.Leading the walk today are some of the people involved with the project from both National Park and the Brecon Beacons Park Society and, as they walk, Clare talks to members of a group from Drugaid Cymru to find out how the project is helping, and inspiring, them.Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd.