There is a deep magic between music and landscape
Broadcasting legend Matthew Bannister wants to take you on a walk with Britain’s finest musical storytellers…
AS THE CONTROLLER of BBC Radio 1 during the mad epoch of the Nineties, Matthew Bannister brought us Chris Evans, Zoe Ball and Britpop. So it might come as a surprise to learn that his real passions all along were somewhat gentler: folk music, and walking.
And now he’s setting out to celebrate both of them.
In a new series of podcasts called Folk on Foot, Matthew goes hiking with some of Britain’s best-known and hottest-tipped folk musicians, exploring the places that inspired their songs and hearing them performed in situ. Think Radio 4’s Ramblings with added acoustic guitars. Twanglings, perhaps.
“Folk music very often has a definite sense of place,” he tells CW.
“Because folk is ultra-local, it’s very often rooted in particular landscapes. The job of this series is simply to walk you through them, and hear the music that they generated, be it hundreds of years old or composed last month.”
Each 30-minute episode features a different musician. Steve Knightley, of folk icons Show of Hands, takes Matthew along the Exe Trail from Exmouth to Topsham. Eliza Carthy, of the Waterson-Carthy folk dynasty, takes him to Robin Hood’s Bay on the Yorkshire coast. He goes singing with nightingales on the South Downs with Mercury Music Prize nominee Sam Lee, and wanders wild Fala Moor in Midlothian with Radio 2 Folk Award winner Karine Polwart.
“This has been my dream project,” says Matthew.
“It unites the three things I’m really passionate about: walking, folk music and broadcasting. When everyone I asked said yes to the idea, I couldn’t contain how delighted I was.” Matthew’s love of walking blossomed in childhood. Growing up in Sheffield, his parents took him “tramping over the moors”.
“Walking has been important to me ever since; I have so many wonderful memories from walking with my own family,” he says.
“Every Easter we team up with some friends and follow a pilgrim route to a cathedral city somewhere around the UK, like Canterbury, York or St Davids. I love walks that are journeys; walks that take you somewhere and teach you something as you go, whether it’s about the place you’re in, the people around you, or just yourself.”
Matthew’s interest in human stories will come as no surprise to anyone who’s heard him presenting Last Word, Radio 4’s weekly obituary programme. In it, he unearths amazing and touching tales from the lives of anyone from major celebrities to unsung heroes of science, industry or sport.
“Stories are my thing,” he says. “There are incredible stories in the music we are featuring.”
Take Steve Knightley’s The Dive. It’s about a father and son who worked as fishermen on the Devon coast. One day, the son dives deep under the sea, but his
Songs take on a new dimension when they are heard in the landscapes that inspired them.”
father’s boat goes adrift, and the two are separated for many hours – the son surviving by tying himself to a marker buoy – before being rescued.
“I actually met the son, who is now in his 40s,” says Matthew.
“His dad pleaded with him not to tell his mum what had happened. So when she went to Steve’s concert and heard him performing The Dive, that was the first she knew about it.”
Sean Cooney’s Theo Jones takes Matthew to Hartlepool, scene of the only First World War battle to take place on British soil. In December 1914 a German warship shelled the town, killing 117 people. The first victim was Private Theophilus Jones, who had rushed to help defend the town. As told in Sean’s song, he became the first soldier to die on British soil since the Civil War in the 17th century.
“Songs take on a new dimension when they are sung – and heard – in the places that inspired them,” Matthew believes.
“It brings the characters to life. And I find when you’re walking with people, they confide in you more because you are side by side. They don’t have to look you in the eye or try to read your facial expressions; they can just be honest.
“Also there are no time constraints. Walking is one of the few activities where you don’t have to be thinking ‘what’s happening next?’”
Matthew’s home turf is the South Downs, having lived in Sussex for the past 30 years. And although he has walked widely around Britain over the years, many of the podcasts will take him to brand new places.
“I haven’t been to Robin Hood’s Bay for about 50 years, so to go with Eliza Carthy, who knows it so well because she grew up there, will be fantastic,” he says.
“And I’ve never been to Fala Moor or the Derry countryside, so exploring them with Karine Polwart and Cara Dillon will be a joy. Using music to broaden your walking horizons can be a wonderful thing – and folk music is a particularly enriching guide.”