Walking Back to Happiness

Clare joins Glenn Meyer in Surrey’s Happy Valley for a walk that celebrates resilience and recovery. During lockdown, Glenn suffered a serious spinal injury after a simple movement on a sun lounger. Over time he lost the ability to walk and became reliant on a wheelchair. Three major operations at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital rebuilt his spine with an internal frame anchored by bolts into his hips. Against the odds, Glenn can now stand and walk and is in training for a 3 day, 37 mile hike from his home in Caterham to the hospital in Stanmore that helped him get back on his feet. Today’s training walk with Clare is a scenic circuit of around 5 miles, starting at The Fox pub on Coulsdon Common. Glenn and his wife, Hilary, lead Clare into Happy Valley, skirt the Surrey National Golf Course, and pause at Chaldon Church, famed for its medieval mural. The walk continues across Farthing Downs before looping back to Coulsdon Common. Presenter: Clare Balding Producer: Karen Gregor

You can listen to Walking Back to Happiness online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Walking Back to Happiness is an episode from Ramblings by BBC.

This episode is 23:42 long.

This episode was published on Jan 8, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Ramblings when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.