BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Ramblings, Series 12, Episode 1

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Last broadcast on Thu, 28 May 2009, 15:02 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts).

Synopsis

Clare Balding explores walks that are good for the mind, body and soul.

Clare joins The Times' music critic Richard Morrison, who shares with her the inspirational landscape of Benjamin Britten's Suffolk - journeying from the rich sounds of the ocean crashing on the shingle beach at Aldeburgh to the watery reed beds of Snape Maltings, the site of the annual Aldeburgh Festival.

Britten would often walk this land, consuming the sights and sounds and composing great works that were later notated at his piano back at The Red House, the Aldeburgh home that he shared with partner and collaborator Peter Pears. It was at this house that, as a student, Richard first met Britten, shortly before his death in 1976.

Travelling along the historic Sailor's Path, infused with the sounds of Britten's Peter Grimes, Richard recalls this first meeting and discusses the relationship between music, mind and the landscape.

Times Music Critic Richard Morrison and Clare Balding

Walk Details
Distance: 6 miles approx.
Landscape: On the flat, watery. sections, beware of A road crossing.
Start Point: Maggie Hambling's 'Scallop Sculpture' on the sea front.
End Point: Snape Maltings.
How to get there: From the A12 at Farnham, take the A1094 to Aldeburgh.
Points of interest: RSPB's North Warren Nature Reserve and The Red House, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pear's former home.
Map:Saxmundham, Aldeburgh and Southwold (OS Landranger Map 156).

Walk In Brief: Start on shingle beach, cross road to the Suffolk Coast path marker, head up towards the Aldeburgh Golf Course, crossing to The Red House, joining the Sailor’s Path and then on through the woods above the Alde estuary to Snape Maltings and concert hall.

Walk in Detail