Summary
In the final programme in a series of inspirational walks, Clare Balding is joined by the former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, to walk around the village of Stisted in Essex. As they walk around the village, Sir Andrew tells Clare about his memories of growing up in the village where he was first inspired to write poetry.
Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Helen Chetwynd.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I want to tell you why I love podcasting. Hi, my name's Tommy Dixon, |
| 0:06.3 | and I make podcasts for the BBC. I'm a big fan of stories, always loved a good book. But when I started |
| 0:12.0 | commuting for my first job, I discovered podcasts. I was blown away by how a creative idea and the right |
| 0:17.8 | mixture of sounds could take you into a whole new world full of incredible stories. You know, the type that make you go, wow. And that kind of inspired me to |
| 0:25.2 | give it a go myself, which to cut a long story short led to a BBC training scheme and a whole |
| 0:29.9 | new career giving other people that exact same feeling. So if you want to hear amazing stories |
| 0:34.1 | that make you go wow like I did, they're just a tap or click away on BBC sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | This is a podcast download from the BBC. It's ramblings on Radio 4 with me, Claire Boulding. |
| 0:48.6 | Well, here we are in a beautiful English country churchyard, |
| 0:56.1 | Brooks in the trees, Flint Church behind us, |
| 0:59.6 | looking at the graves of my parents, |
| 1:03.5 | Catherine Gillian Motion and Andrew Richard Motion, |
| 1:06.4 | she was always called Gillian, he was always called Richard. |
| 1:10.5 | She died in 1978, quite a long time before my father, who didn't until 2006. |
| 1:16.6 | And I feel that every time I close my eyes, this is where I always am in my mind's eye, |
| 1:24.6 | and actually always where I am when I'm writing to this little fragment of an acre is |
| 1:30.5 | because my great-grandfather and my grandfather are just behind the grades of my parents here. |
| 1:35.9 | This is kind of it. |
| 1:37.6 | I've always thought that I knew where I came from, |
| 1:41.0 | even if I don't always know where I'm going and where I've come from is here. |
| 1:44.7 | And that makes it the perfect place to start a walk together. |
| 1:49.3 | Exactly. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.