Folk on Foot was launched by the broadcaster and former BBC executive Matthew Bannister in August 2018, bringing together his three passions: folk music, walking and telling stories in sound.
Podcast episodes
Folk on Foot Classic: Martin Simpson in Scunthorpe
23 Aug, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from July 2019. Regularly voted one of the world’s greatest guitarists, Martin Simpson has been nominated for an astonishing 23 Radio 2 Folk Awards – and won artist of the year twice. He was brought up in the North Lincolnshire s…
40
Jenn Butterworth at Whithorn
13 Aug, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Come for a wild and windy walk in the Scottish borders with the brilliant guitarist Jenn Butterworth. We visit the remote farmhouse where she grew up, the pub where she worked as a teenager, the otter statue commemorating Gavin Maxwell and the ancient arch…
85
Official Folk Albums Chart Show—4th August 2026
4 Aug, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
On this month’s show, Kellie While joins Matthew Bannister to launch a call for entries for the 2026 Folk Album of the Year Award. There are also songs old and new from Emily Portman, Peggy Seeger, Natalie Wildgoose, Phil Odgers and John Kettle, Fink, Sam …
30
Folk on Foot Classic: Cara Dillon in Dungiven
26 Jul, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from September 2018.The multi award winning singer Cara Dillon and her husband and musical collaborator Sam Lakeman take Matthew on a walk through the countryside around the Northern Irish town of Dungiven where she was born and …
70
Rob Cowen and Johnny Flynn at Thornborough Henges
16 Jul, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
We’re going back to Neolithic times with the award winning author Rob Cowen (“Common Ground” and “North Road”) and his friend the actor and singer Johnny Flynn. For two thousand years the Thornborough Henges in what is now Yorkshire were used as ceremonial…
75
Folk on Foot Classic: Jon Boden in the Loxley Valley
28 Jun, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from October 2018.The former Bellowhead lead singer takes Matthew on a walk near his home on the outskirts of Sheffield. This landscape inspired his 2009 album “Songs from the Floodplain”, which creates a vision of a post apocaly…
85
Joshua Burnside in East Belfast
18 Jun, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Folk Album of the Year nominee Joshua Burnside takes us for a walk near his home in East Belfast, singing songs from his latest album “It’s Not Going To Be OK” along the way. He talks movingly about his friend Dean Jendoubi’s death from a drugs overdose - …
75
Folk on Foot Classic: Angeline Morrison in North Cornwall
24 May, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from June 2023. Angeline Morrison’s “The Sorrow Songs - Folk Songs of Black British Experience” was one of the most significant albums of recent times. On this walk near her home in North Cornwall, Angeline talks about her deep l…
75
A Robin Hood Pilgrimage with Guy Hayward
14 May, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
We’re in Sherwood Forest on the trail of Robin Hood in the company of Guy Hayward, founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust and former Cambridge choral scholar. As we head to the Major Oak and beyond, Guy shares many theories about the Robin Hood legends, s…
75
The Young’Uns at Roseberry Topping
16 Apr, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Nearly eight years after they first appeared on Folk on Foot, that irrepressible trio The Young’Uns are back – with Sean Cooney, David Eagle and Michael Hughes performing songs new and old as we climb the Teesside landmark Roseberry Topping. The conversati…
70
Folk on Foot Classic: Olivia Chaney at the House on Hawnby Moor
29 Mar, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from September 2021. Olivia Chaney wrote many of the songs for her critically acclaimed second solo album whilst living alone without electricity or mains water at her family’s remote and crumbling farmhouse on Hawnby Moor in Nor…
70
Lady Maisery in Petworth Park
20 Mar, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
We’ve been trying to get Lady Maisery to walk with us on Folk on Foot for ages, so when Matthew heard they were playing a gig in the town of Petworth near where he lives in West Sussex, he invited them to join him in the spacious grounds of Petworth House.…
40
Folk on Foot Classic: Sandra Kerr (and Nancy Kerr) in Warkworth
23 Feb, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Enjoy this classic episode from January 2024.The beloved baggy cloth cat Bagpuss is fifty years old in 2024. We celebrate his birthday by visiting Sandra Kerr at her home in the Northumberland village of Warkworth. Sandra co-wrote and arranged the music fo…
40
The Brothers Gillespie walking to Holy Island
13 Feb, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
Join the Brothers Gillespie and their devoted fans on a walk across the sands from the Northumberland coast to Holy Island. As we follow in the footsteps of centuries of pilgrims, the Brothers' beautiful harmonies ring out across the waves and we hear stor…
85
The Ffern Folk Guild in Devon with Alex Merry, Ben Edge, Charlie Cooper, Sam Lee and Zakia Sewell
16 Jan, 2026 ·
Folk on Foot
When Alex Merry of Boss Morris, artist Ben Edge, actor Charlie Cooper, singer and naturalist Sam Lee and broadcaster and author Zakia Sewell met in the spectacular Devon countryside to decide which folk projects should receive a share of a £50,000 grant fr…
30
Estuary Tales 
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