Folk on Foot

Enjoy this classic episode from January 2020.

The guitarist, singer and songwriter Kris Drever was born and brought up on Orkney, the archipelago off the Northern coast of Scotland which is steeped in history. The walk starts in the main town of Kirkwall with its huge sandstone cathedral commemorating St Magnus who came to an untimely end. In the graveyard Kris sings “Winter Moon”. Then they head off to the shores of the great n...

The latest album from Welsh triple harpist Cerys Hafana is called “Angel”. It’s inspired by the story of an old man who goes for a walk in the forest and hears an angel singing so beautifully it makes him fall asleep for three hundred and fifty years. That’s almost what happened to me on our glorious summer walk with Cerys near Corris Uchaf in mid Wales. We stumbled across a strange concrete replica of an Italian village, found the...

Enjoy this classic episode from July 2020.

Kitty Macfarlane is known for her pure voice, poetic song writing and passion for the natural world. On this unexpectedly sunny January walk, she and Matthew Bannister climb the historic Burrow Mump Hill. Here she sings a song inspired by the view, “Man Friendship”.  As they walk along the nearby river, Kitty stops to sing her song about migration: “Glass Eel”. Then it’s off t...

Former Trembling Bells bandmates Alex Rex and Lavinia Blackwall take us first to Govan Old Church in Glasgow to see ancient Viking burial stones - and sing in unaccompanied harmony in the glorious acoustic. Then its off to the hutting community at Carbeth in the countryside outside the city where residents lovingly decorate their wooden homes. Alex shows us the hut he’s curating in memory of his younger brother Alastair who sadly d...

Where does Chris Packham want his ashes scattered after he dies? Find out as he takes Martin Simpson and host Matthew Bannister for an enlightening walk in sun-dappled woodland near his home in the New Forest. He points out a goshawk on her nest and other glorious flora and fauna and is delighted when Martin sings his songs “Ken Small” and “Skydancers”. The most emotional moment comes when Martin sings “Ridgeway” under the special ...

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,...

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...