22 writers talk about their memorable excursions and the act of walking and share their creative observations In these six series taken from BBC Radio 3's The Essay an array of novelists poets journalists and biographers chart the varied and inspiring walks they have taken around Britain and elsewhere. Here are treks taken at daybreak and after dark; in winter and in spring; in the footsteps of the past; and - in the case of Robert Macfarlane - along the ridges of the South Downs.

Dawnwalks and Night Walks find Nicholas Shakespeare Nicola Barker Kamila Shamsie Ian Sansom Lucy Hughes-Hallett Owen Sheers Janice Galloway and John Walsh taking early morning and late-night strolls around locations ranging from their back garden and local cemetery to Manhattan Paris Tasmania and the Antarctic. Springwalks and Winterwalks feature Michele Roberts Ross Raisin John Walsh Kirsty Gunn Philip Hoare Deborah Levy Christopher Hope Scarlett Thomas Erica Wagner and Owen Sheers as they sample the transforming qualities of spring and the wonders of winter. From Poland and the Languedoc to Hampstead Heath and the Yorkshire Wolds they delight in the details of the landscape and reflect on what it means to them. Strange Strolls sees Jenn Ashworth Michael Donkor Stephanie Victoire Nat Segnit and Sophie Coulombeau embarking on walks of entertaining eccentricity revisiting favourite places including Wandsworth Bridge the Blue Ridge mountains of Appalachia and Ibiza.

And in A Five-Day Journey Robert Macfarlane walks the length of the South Downs in monsoon rain and in sunshine discovering its chalk trails and its ghosts. He ponders the relationship between paths and stories; explores the poet Edward Thomas' love affair with tracks; considers the concept of the Aboriginal Australian songline; re-imagines the life of artist Eric Ravilious; and contemplates the sometimes eerie relationship between walking collecting and creation. Intimate evocative and immersive these 30 uplifting programmes transport us to a wealth of wonderful places and offer fascinating personal insight into the inner worlds of our walker-writers.

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