Back in August we met up with Clare Balding up on Ventnor Downs.
Why would we be up on St. Boniface Downs with a well-known TV and radio presenter?
Sounds a little random, but it had all come about because the production company making a new TV series had been in touch with VB to help them find out the interesting parts of the Island.
In more pleasant weather than we’re in now, we chatted to her about a new six hour-long part TV series that she was filming called Britain By Bike.
Britain By Bike – The book
It was inspired by a number of out-of-print 1940s Cycling Touring Guides written by a fellow called Harold Briercliffe.
One of his books covered the Isle of Wight, an area he clearly loved very much, which he described as “Cultured in every sense.”
Briercliffe had used Ventnor as his base to explore the rest of the Island, so Clare wanted to chat to us about a little bit of the history of Ventnor, in particular the radar station.
We told her what we knew – aided largely by the excellent information gathered together by the Ventnor Historical Society – eventually riding down with Clare from the Downs to the seafront, at quite some speed.
The podcast
So what can you expect to hear during the podcast?
Although Clare has been to the Island for Cowes Week, she hadn’t ventured further, so this trip gave her a chance to really appreciate what the Island can offer as you can tell, “I do think it’s magical. I’m beginning to see why the like of Darwin, Dickens and Tennyson came here.”
On her views of why people should come to the Isle of Wight, she doesn’t hold back in her enthusiasm, “If you’re keen on cycling, this is it. Cycling heaven. If you’re keen on walking a great place to come to too as well. If you’re keen on festivals – well, there’s one every other day. There’s masses going on.”
Finishing with, “You can either be in the heat of the action, or you can get away from it and I think that’s a tremendous gift for anyone who’s escaping work for a week.”
Grab a cupper and have a listen. It’s only five minutes long and she’s a jolly sort.
When are Clare’s Britain By Bike shows on TV?
The series is scheduled to start in February 2010 on BBC4.
Who knows if our segment will get used? We did a bunch of work and filming for the Ben Southall, best job in the world TV show and ended up on the cutting room floor, so there’s no telling.
Fickle world, TV.
