Adventurer Pom Oliver in the Low Weald

Ramblings

BBC

Nature, Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Science

4.5 • 768 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Clare Balding meets the adventurer Pom Oliver for a woodland wander near her home in West Sussex.

As they stroll amongst the trees, Pom recalls extraordinary chapters from her life: polar and desert expeditions, an epic hitch‑hiking journey from Cape Town to Sydney, and her time in the film industry working on much‑loved productions such as Biggles and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Their conversation also turns to Pom’s latest adventure - a challenging three‑month trek across Saudi Arabia, tracing the footsteps of traders along the ancient incense route.

The walk begins at Pom’s home, but listeners keen to explore the woodland can enter it from The Blue Ship pub in the tiny hamlet of The Haven (postcode RH14 9BS).

Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.7	Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked.
0:12.7	But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes,
0:18.2	The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Rylan, and comedy specials
0:22.2	from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffle and Rommashranganathan. However, and maybe I'm biased,
0:27.9	it's really all about the traitors uncoaked. So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts,
0:33.4	listen only on BBC Sounds. The rain is falling steadily and the ground underneath our feet is a little soggy.
0:42.7	But we must walk because POM Oliver is leading me on what you would call, I mean, is this a training walk for you?
0:50.5	Yeah, I call it a utility walk.
0:53.1	I'm not quite sure why, but it's just a walk that I do all the time,
0:57.3	either a walk or I run it because it's got a few nice little hills,
1:01.5	not too long, so I don't get too puffed.
1:03.5	And nice fields, it's close by, I can just go from home,
1:07.2	straight out onto the footpaths, and off I go.
1:15.6	And we are in the woods around us very few leaves remaining on the branches and it's giving us a little bit of protection from the rain. A herd of
1:20.4	barking up ahead. We're in the low wheeled in Sussex, not far from Billingshurst,
1:26.1	Horsham if you know that area. That's right. And we're walking through largely Hornbeam woods. Hi, Clivey. Hello, what's a bit growling? What's that all about? This is Sydney. Hello, Sydney. He's a Carpathian sheepdog. Is he? You see how waterproof his coat is? I know. Look at the drops just sitting on the surface. And he has this wonderful bark. Whoa. You know, kind of rolls over the hills. Good boy, Sydney. Nothing to be frightened on. Now this training walk is particularly relevant for you. Utility walk, if you like, because you are building up to a
2:02.7	big distance and we'll talk about your next adventure in a while but I wanted to reflect on the
2:09.2	walks that you have done and how this arrived in your life because not many people have
2:16.1	done the things you've done, POM.
2:19.3	And they're probably more sensible.
2:22.2	Well, I sort of always been a bit of an adventurer.
	...

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