Folk on Foot

The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and his band LYR perform poems and music inspired by the stories told by the people of the West Yorkshire Village of Marsden, where Simon grew up. It’s all part of the annual “Cuckoo Day” festival in the village, celebrating the myth that local people thought they could keep the spring going all year round if they could only capture a cuckoo. Amongst the poetry there are outbreaks of morris dancing,...

The great Peggy Seeger is Matthew’s guest on this month’s show as she prepares to celebrate her 90th birthday later this month. She says her current tour and album will be her last, so what will she miss about performing? Has her lifetime of protesting secured progress? And does she feel that time is running out for her? There’s also music from Kate Rusby, Skinny Lister, Merry Hell, Màiri Morrison, Alasdair Roberts and Pete Johnsto...

Come with us on a fascinating walk in the historic City of London with rising stars of the folk world Goblin Band. From an ancient church ringing to the Castleton Carol, via an underground car park where the remains of the Roman Wall form the backdrop to “The Twa Corbies” and onto the banks of the River Thames for some mudlarking and a beautiful “Grey Funnel Line”, these talented young performers share their passion for passing on ...

A violin made from the floorboards of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s home - a climb to the top of the Happisburgh lighthouse - and a song about whales stranded on the shore - just three of the highlights of this glorious sunny seaside walk with the Norfolk singer and fiddle player Georgia Shackleton. So kick off your shoes, roll up your trousers or hitch up your skirts and paddle along the beach with us.

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Bob Dylan described Ashley Hutchings as “The Godfather of English Folk Rock -he gave us a genre we couldn’t refuse”. Bass player Ashley was behind the formation of three great bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. As he celebrates his 80th birthday, Ashley joins Matthew Bannister on stage at Cecil Sharp House to look back on his life. He recalls the heady days of the 1960s, supporting Pink Floyd, being join...

Cole Stacey’s album “Postcards from Lost Places” was recorded in atmospheric locations around Dartmoor. In this episode Cole retraces his steps - taking us back to some of those places and performing the songs inspired by them. We hear about his journey into folk music, his partnership with Joseph O’Keefe in India Electric Co - and his experiences of touring with Midge Ure. But most of all we enjoy a spectacular cold and sunny day ...

The history of the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy in Bristol are at the heart of this episode. It features West Country singer Reg Meuross, concertina player Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and kora player Modou Ndaiye performing music from Reg’s powerful “Stolen from God” song cycle as we follow the route taken by the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston which was toppled from its plinth by Black Lives Matter protesters ...

The Brighton based band Bird in the Belly take us for a walk on the South Downs Way during the Tremula Festival of Outdoor Podcasting. For the very first time, we’re joined by an audience of Folk on Foot fans. The band (Laura Ward, Adam Ronchetti Tom Pryor and Jinwoo) share a song about a day out in Brighton in 1813, a love song to a Welsh Ploughboy and music inspired by the nature writer Richard Jefferies' 1885 post apocalyptic no...

Ho Ho Ho! Enjoy traditional Christmas carols, midwinter Morris dancing, a peal of bells and a recipe for Christmas pudding set to music as we head for the Three Tuns pub in Bishop’s Castle with squeezebox maestro John Kirkpatrick MBE, the Castle Carollers and the Shropshire Bedlams. Along the way we’ll discover the story behind ancient winter customs like wassailing and find out why John is so passionate about the festive season.

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Delve into the history of madness as we walk with the “broken folk” duo Lunatraktors in the 200 acre grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London. Clair le Couteur and Carli Jefferson are fascinated by the story of the hospital which was founded in the 13th century by monks - and nicknamed “Bedlam”. They perform songs inspired by the place including a mash up of “Tom O’Bedlam” with “Mad Maudlin” and “Through Moorfields”. T...

For four hundred years, Stourbridge in the West Midlands was at the heart of Britain’s glass making industry. The local landscape was dotted with distinctive brick built cones, or chimneys, where the glass was made. The local singer and songwriter Dan Whitehouse made an album called “Voices From The Cones” based on recordings of the memories of glass workers. In this extraordinary episode he takes us to a former glass works - now a...

The cellist, singer and environmental campaigner Sarah Smout takes us for a beautiful summer walk along the River Wharfe in North Yorkshire. Along the way she explains how her love of the natural world inspires her music and stops to play, sing and read one of her poems. Then we head up to Fleet Moss where a five-year-long project has been restoring the badly damaged peat bog - which is vital for carbon capture. Jenny Sharman of th...

The Anglo-Irish band Ranagri take us for a walk on the farm that gave them their name. The family of guitarist and singer Dónal Rogers have worked this land in County Carlow since the 1600s. His Mum, Lena, still lives there and tells stories of growing up in the three room thatched farm house she shared with her mother and ten siblings. There was no electricity or running water and all cooking was on the open fire. Horses were used...

On a beautiful day in May the novelist, nature writer and podcaster Melissa Harrison and the composer and multi instrumentalist Laura Cannell take us for a walk in the glorious Suffolk countryside. Laura plays a recorder duet with a nightingale, Melissa reads from her acclaimed novel “All Among The Barley” - appropriately enough in a field of ripening barley - and we hunt for barn owl pellets “like dark Kinder Eggs” as Melissa has ...

Frankie Archer brings traditional folk tunes rushing into the 21st Century. The singer, fiddle player and electronics wizard made an acclaimed appearance on Later With Jools Holland, who described her music as “astonishing”. In this episode, Frankie takes Matthew for a walk in Consett and the surrounding countryside, pausing to set up her loop pedals and perform in the lee of an abandoned crucible, the engine shed of the world’s ol...

Our wettest episode ever features the wonderful duo Megson (Stu and Debs Hanna) walking, talking and playing along the River Tees between Stockton and Middlesborough. This is where Stu and Debs grew up, began making music and fell in love. Their powerful songs tell vivid stories about the industrial heritage of the area through the eyes of the people who live there. With instruments wrapped in bin bags and recording gear hidden und...

The singer and fiddle player Jackie Oates is joined by the squeezebox maestro John Spiers for a walk along the mighty River Thames in Oxfordshire. Between a song or two from the lace making industry, and a gorgeous “Lament To The Moon” Jackie talks about her passion for folk song and her recent training as a music therapist which took her into a hospice to help those nearing the end of their lives capture memories in song. She also...

The trans pipe and fiddle player Malin Lewis grew up on a magical island off the West coast of Scotland. There were no roads or cars and their family were the only permanent residents. Home schooled till the age of seven, Malin had an idyllic childhood roaming the forests, building dens and splashing in the shallows on the white sand beaches. In this episode this rising star of the Scottish folk scene - with a hotly anticipated deb...

Joe Boyd and John Wood were the producer and sound engineer behind some of the greatest folk rock albums of the 1960s and 70s. They worked with Pink Floyd on their first single Arnold Layne, with Fairport Convention on Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief and with Nick Drake on Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon. John produced John Martyn’s Bless The Weather and Solid Air while Joe worked with the Incredible String Band. In ...