Audiobooks narrated by Clare Balding

Isle of Dogs: A canine adventure through Britain

Brought to you by Penguin. Every dog must have his day. There's nothing the British love quite as much as their dogs. From hunting to our hearths, and from herding sheep to guiding humans, our dogs have accompanied us through centuries of change, and that special relationship is still evolving today. So, just what is it that makes our bond so special? In this fascinating adventure across Britain, Clare Balding explores our unique heritage of canine tradition and meets just some of the many people who live, work and innovate with their dogs. From the mysteries of extinct breeds to the ancient dogs still thriving today, and adventuring from Battersea Dogs Home to Shetland via Buckingham Palace, we journey through the beloved canine story of our nation. A tale of hard work, companionship and a great many long dog walks, Isle of Dogs is an unmissable read for anyone whose life has been transformed by a faithful hound. ©2023 Clare Balding (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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Go Wild: A BBC nature collection

22 BBC radio programmes celebrating the great outdoors, introduced by Harriet Noble Spending time in nature is good for both our bodies and minds - but with our hectic lives (not to mention the unreliable British weather), it can be hard to get outside as much as we'd like. But fear not: we've selected some of BBC Radio 4's best nature documentaries to transport you to the great outdoors - and encourage you to take your own trip into the wild. Discover the tranquility of canoeing down the River Waveney; go rambling in the countryside with Clare Balding; explore al fresco cooking with the Food Programme team and learn the history of Cornwall's colourful flower fields. Or why not go surfing in Scotland, off-grid in Wales or on a journey of a lifetime with Paralympian cyclist Karen Darke? These captivating programmes will let you experience the sights and sounds of nature - from an oak woodland to a rainforest canopy and a rock pool - and introduce you to some remarkable naturalists, such as filmmaker Roger Deakin, author Robert Macfarlane, pioneering ornithologist Emma Turner, writer and poet Nan Shepherd, and perfumer and mountain photographer Walter Poucher. Whether you're an intrepid explorer, a weekend micro-adventurer or simply a nature lover, you're sure to be inspired - so step away from your screen, get out into the open air and enjoy the beauty of the natural world. Contents Cigarette on the Waveney - presented by Roger Deakin Ramblings: In Search of the Old Ways with Robert Macfarlane - presented by Clare Balding Open Country: Nan Shepherd's Cairngorms - presented by Helen Mark The Food Programme: Outdoor Cooking - presented by Sheila Dillon and Simon Parkes One to One: Isabel Hardman on nature and depression Ramblings: George Monbiot in search of the wild - presented by Clare Balding The Life Scientific: Sky at Night with Maggie Aderin-Pocock- presented by Jim Al-Khalili Open Country: Off Grid in Mid-Wales - presented by Ian Marchant A Guide to Coastal Wildlife: Rock Pools - presented by Brett Westwood and Phil Gates Sound recordist: Chris Watson Soundstage: The Oak Woodland Sound recordist: Chris Watson Costing the Earth: Cycle City - presented by Tom Heap Open Country: Surfing on Scotland's North Coast - presented by Helen Mark Journey of a Lifetime - Karen Darke: From Source to Sea via Me Nature: The Rainforest Canopy Recorded by wildlife cameraman John Aitchison Nature: Emma Turner - A Life in the Reeds Sound recordist: Chris Watson The Flower Fields - presented by Michael Bird The Perfumed Mountaineer - presented by Hayden Lorimer Living World: Winter Seashore - presented by Trai Anfield Open Country: The Boat Builders of Pin Mill - presented by Helen Mark Ramblings: Bonding Walks: Stiperstones, Shropshire - presented by Clare Balding Open Country: Somerset Wassail - presented by Helen Mark Winter Starlings Sound recordist: Chris Watson © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Clare Balding, George Monbiot, Harriet Noble, Robert MacFarlane, Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin (Author), Clare Balding, Harriet Noble, Jim Al-Khalili, Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin, Tom Heap (Narrator)

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Roger Deakin: A BBC Nature Collection: The legendary naturalist on wild swimming and nature, plus a

An anthology of programmes hosted by and about Roger Deakin, the legendary naturalist, introduced by his friend Robert Macfarlane. Author, filmmaker and conservationist Roger Deakin first came to fame with his bestselling book Waterlog, which brought wild swimming into the mainstream and pioneered the 'new nature writing' genre. Published posthumously, his second travelogue, Wildwood, and collected journals, Notes from Walnut Tree Farm, were also hailed as classics. The collection is introduced by Robert Macfarlane, a dear friend of Roger Deakin's as well as his literary executor. Deakin's life at Walnut Tree Farm is the subject of the two radio soundscapes that open this collection. In The House, he introduces us to his home of almost 40 years, presenting an atmospheric sound portrait of this ancient, timber-framed Suffolk farmhouse - from the sighing of the wind to the scuttling spiders and the chirpings of the swallows up the chimney. The Garden takes us on a tour of the untamed land surrounding it - with its moat, shepherd's hut and the walnut tree that gave the farm its name - offering us an intimate record of the changing seasons. Cigarette on the Waveney sees Deakin paddling his canoe, Cigarette, from the source of the River Waveney at Redgrave Fen in Suffolk to Geldeston Locks in Norfolk. Recorded over several days and nights, this evocative audio diary charts his journey as he captures the sounds of the waterway and its wildlife. Next, in a 5-part abridged reading of Wildwood by Sean Baker, we journey with Deakin from Suffolk in the spring to the Australian outback, in search of what lies behind humanity's profound connection with wood and trees. A radio tribute to Waterlog follows, as anthropologist and wild swimmer Alice Roberts joins friends and fans of Deakin, including Robert Macfarlane, Sue Clifford and Richard Mabey, to celebrate the book's enduring legacy. And in a pair of travel documentaries, we take two delightful day trips with Roger Deakin. In Ramblings, he takes a walk with presenter Clare Balding around his home patch of Diss in Suffolk, and in On the Beach, he spends a summer day on the Essex coast near Clacton, revisiting one of the places he described so vividly in Waterlog: Jaywick Sands. © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd The House Presented by Roger Deakin Produced by Sarah Blunt First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2 February 2004 The Garden Presented by Roger Deakin Produced by Sarah Blunt First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 December 2005 Cigarette on the Waveney Presented by Roger Deakin Produced by Sarah Blunt First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 July 2005 Wildwood Read by Sean Baker Abridged by Julian Wilkinson Produced by Amber Barnfather First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18-22 June 2007 Waterlog Presented by Alice Roberts Produced by Sarah Blunt With: Sue Clifford, Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Joe Minihane and Kate Rew First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2019 Ramblings Presented by Clare Balding Produced by Mark Smalley First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 May 2005 On the Beach Presented by Roger Deakin Produced by Jane Greenwood First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 November 2003

Roger Deakin (Author), Alice Roberts, Clare Balding, Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin (Narrator)

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The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance written and read by Clare Balding. Charlie's racehorse has certainly earned the name Noble Warrior: he won the Derby against all odds and bested a bunch of nasty kidnappers. But now Noddy is facing his greatest challenge yet . . . Charlie's best friend Polly is still recovering from an accident that left her almost paralysed. But Polly has a real talent with horses - and she and Charlie are determined not to let it go to waste. Can the two best friends find a way to make Polly's equestrian dreams come true, and forge a new path for the racehorse who wouldn't gallop?

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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The Racehorse Who Disappeared

Penguin presents the audio download edition of The Racehorse Who Disappeared written and read by Clare Balding. Life is slowly getting back to normal for Charlie after her reluctant racehorse, Noble Warrior, won the Derby and saved her family from financial ruin. But drama soon returns to Folly Farm when thieves break into the farmyard in the dead of night and kidnap Noble Warrior! With the police baffled and no trace of the prizewinning thoroughbred to be found, Charlie launches her own investigation...

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop: How Successful Women Make the Most of their Time

Puffin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop, written and read by Clare Balding. Charlie Bass is a horse-mad nine-year-old who dreams of owning her own pony. So when her eccentric parents announce that they are going to buy a racehorse, Charlie is thrilled. The horse they buy, Noble Warrior, looks the part: strong, fit and healthy. There's just one problem - he won't gallop. In fact, he won't even trot round the field without his best friend, Percy, a naughty palomino pony, at his side. But Charlie is convinced that Noble Warrior has what it takes to be a champion - he just needs the right motivation... A classic, funny animal story perfect for fans of Dick King-Smith and My Family and Other Animals.

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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Walking Home

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Walking Home, by Clare Balding. In Clare Balding's family, walking just took too long - she galloped through the countryside and she galloped through life. Then, in 1999, Clare took a call from a BBC producer looking for a presenter for a new radio series. 'Do you walk?' she asked. 'Well, I walk the dog . . .' That series, Ramblings, is still going strong - and Clare's caught the walking bug. Now she wants her family to share some of that pleasure. Her and her brother Andrew are determined to conquer the Wayfarer's Walk, a 71 mile route. What could possibly go wrong?

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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My Animals and Other Family

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of My Animals and Other Family, Clare Balding's wildly funny and deeply moving childhood memoir, read brilliantly by the author herself. 'I had spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and I suspect I had aged in dog years. By the time I was ten I had discovered the pain of unbearable loss. I had felt joy and jealousy. Most important of all, I knew how to love and how to let myself be loved. All these things I learnt through animals. Horses and dogs were my family and my friends. This is their story as much as it is mine' Clare Balding grew up in a rather unusual household. As her father is a champion trainer, she shared her life with more than 100 thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies, as well as an ever-present pack of boxers and lurchers. As a toddler she would happily ride the legendary Mill Reef and take breakfast with the Queen. She and her younger brother came very low down the pecking order. Left to their own devices, they had to learn life's toughest lessons through the animals, and through their adventures in the stables and the idyllic Hampshire Downs. From the protective Candy to the pot-bellied Valkyrie and the frisky Hattie, each horse and each dog had their own character and their own special part to play. The running family joke was that 'women ain't people'. Clare had to prove them wrong, to make her voice heard - but first she had to make sure she had something to say. My Animals and Other Family is a funny, brave, tender story of self-discovery.

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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Sport And The British

Apart from the English language itself, the invention of modern sport has been our major cultural legacy to the rest of the world. In this 30-part narrative history series, with the help of the academic team from the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, Clare looks at the unique and vital role sport has played, and continues to play, in our national life. Clare travels to Rugby, which can claim to be the birthplace of the modern Olympics, and she also investigates the role our sporting heroes play in shaping national identity - and rivalry. She discovers the vital role gambling has played, as well as the change from amateur to professional sport. From the birth of broadcasting to the way television has changed our relationship with sport forever - via the British Empire and the importance of sport between both world wars - this is a historic series about our national passion and how the British took sport to the world. Due to copyright reasons, this contains edited versions of the episodes that were originally broadcast.

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding, Various (Narrator)

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The Ration Book Olympics

The 1948 Olympics were very different from the impressive spectacle that London put on in 2012. Three years after the end of the Second World War, Britain was still gripped by austerity. Rationing was still in force, severe bomb damage was still much in evidence and no new sports facilities could be built. Visiting athletes were put up in schools and RAF camps. Yet the Games were a resounding success and actually made a profit. Clare Balding meets athletes who competed in 1948, including cyclist Tommy Godwin, who won two bronze medals, and Dorothy Manley, who won silver in the athletics. She also talks to Roger Bannister who saved the day for the British team in the opening ceremony. The programme also includes fascinating voices from the archives, including Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold medals.

Clare Balding (Author), Clare Balding, Various (Narrator)

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Rosie

Tilly spends every spare minute at Silver Shoe Farm getting to know Magic Spirit and discovering more about her special gift with horses. But she longs for a pony of her own, and often helps her friends Cally and Mia take care of their pony, Rosie. Then Cally has some news and though it takes everyone by surprise, Tilly realises that sometimes good things happen when you least expect. For every girl who has ever longed for a pony of her own, these delightful, warm and engaging stories are packed with Pippa's expert advice on everything you ever wanted to know about horses. (P)2004 Orion Publishing Group.Ltd

Pippa Funnell (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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Samson

It's nearly Christmas and everyone at Silver Shoe Farm is excited about the Olympia horse show - especially Tilly. It's a chance to see some of the top show jumpers in the world, as well as some wonderful displays. But her enthusiasm is overshadowed when her favourite horse, Magic Spirit, gets ill and needs every possible attention. Then, at Olympia a chance encounter with Samson, a highly-strung stallion, means Tilly's special gift with horses is not only in demand at home, but at the show too! (P)2004 Orion Publishing Group.Ltd

Pippa Funnell (Author), Clare Balding (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Clare Balding