Mark Forrest
Country Walking has teamed up with brand new Scala Radio to explore great walks and great music – and presenter Mark Forrest has a passion for both…
Presents the 4-7pm show on new classical station Scala. We meet him at his Swaledale farm, to broadcast the first in a regular slot about walking.
WHEN SIMON MAYO kicked off the first broadcast of new classical radio station Scala a few weeks back, he played a montage of great moments in history to show how they were underscored by classical music.
We reckon it’s the same with great walks. Ever come across a sensational view and had the tune from 2001: A Space Odyssey* leap into your head? Or heard a snippet of Mozart or John Williams and been reminded of a favourite walk?
The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams – a piece inspired by one of the signature sounds of a walk on Britain’s uplands – has been voted Britain’s favourite piece of classical music. And dozens of composers have cited walking as their inspiration or salvation: Beethoven, Copland, Vivaldi, Holst, Britten and Jerry Goldsmith to name but a few.
And that’s why you can now hear CW dep ed Nick chatting with presenter
Mark Forrest on his Scala Radio show every Wednesday at 4.30pm.
Mark understands the link between music and landscape perfectly, because he broadcasts live from his farm in the Yorkshire Dales. So to celebrate our new friendship, we chatted about walking, life in the Dales, and music that stirs the soul…
CW: Can’t believe that this (a hillside above Reeth in Swaledale) is your studio! How did that happen? MF:
I grew up in Yorkshire and it was always in my heart to get back here. I loved being outdoors as a kid, and my partner Richard even more so: he was born on a farm 1000ft up a hill in Malhamdale, where his parents were tenant shepherds. So it was always the ambition to get back here, get some land, get some sheep and do some farming before we were too old to do it.
CW: Where did your passion for radio come from?
I loved listening to Radio 1 and Radio Tees as a kid. I just loved the idea that if you were massively into music you could choose records and share them with a listener. So after university I started out on Metro Radio in Newcastle, then I went to Virgin Radio, and from there to Classic FM, where I did eight years on Drivetime and two on Breakfast. Then I joined the BBC, just as we bought our home up here. I was happily presenting concerts on Radio 3 when I got a call about a year ago, sounding me out about a new classical station. And here we are!
CW: I’m guessing you can’t love the Dales and not love walking too.
Absolutely. It began when I was kid. Even when I was in London, I spent as much time as possible escaping. I got a Travelcard and worked out all the quick escapes: the South Downs, the Ridgeway, the North Downs, the Kent coast. I’d get the train out and walk from one station to another. Eventually I thought, what’s the point in spending all my time leaving the city? Why don’t I try going out into the countryside, building a little radio studio and seeing if any radio stations will let me work from there? Happily they did, and that’s how we came to be here.
CW: So between broadcasting and farming, do you still get time to walk?
Oh yes. We have two sheepdogs – Tess who’s six and Skye who’s seven months – and I walk them for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in
‘When you think about what walking does for you: clears your head, cleanses the soul… I think music does all that too.’
the evening. Three hours a day! I must know every nook and cranny of this end of the dale.
CW: Your sheep are Herdwicks – that’s unusual for the Dales, isn’t it?
Yes, they’re a Lake District breed; in fact, 95% of the Herdwick flock is within 20 miles of Coniston. They suit the fells, because they can cope on ground that doesn’t give them much to eat. The downside is they take a long time to be ready to sell on, so commercial farmers use breeds that can get fatter more quickly. But we’re not doing it on a purely commercial basis. We wanted a special project that would produce really high-quality, pedigree sheep. Richard is the true expert of course, but for me it’s a voyage of discovery.
CW: You could say the same about a walking slot on a classical radio show…
You could, and it very much reflects what Scala wants to do. There has been a tradition on classical stations that you
only talk about the music. I don’t know if that’s because classical music is seen as being a bit intellectual and scary and you have to be ‘taught’ about it. But Scala decided it was going to be ‘come as you are’, no specialist knowledge needed. We love classical music, but we want to talk about anything and everything – including walking.
CW: But it helps that there are great links between walking and music.
It’s a very real connection. Many of the great English composers turned to the landscape for inspiration. Vaughan Williams and Holst ventured out into the Surrey Hills, the South Downs and the Cotswolds collecting folk songs. Elgar went walking in the Malverns and the Yorkshire Dales; in fact there’s a plaque to him above one of the old banks in Settle. Often their interest was in saving traditional songs from being lost. Back then people didn’t travel as much: you were born, you lived and you died in your own community. So unless a composer came in and noted down these tunes, they might never get out of the dale. So these guys came here, went walking, drew on their experiences, and gave us the extraordinary orchestral music that we love today.
CW: Does a good piece of music have the same effect as a good walk?
It really does. When you think about what walking does for you: clears your head, cleanses the soul, makes you feel better, allows you to escape phones and technology; I think Scala’s music does all that too. Scala is a companion that’s going to go on that walk with you and be by your side, having a conversation, and Country Walking’s input just makes that conversation all the richer.