Mike Bagshaw is a Lancastrian by birth and a zoologist by training. A qualified teacher, he spent 30 years in outdoor education, introducing people to watersports, mountaineering, forest education and appreciating the natural world. Bagshaw’s writing career began with mountaineering trip logs and a collection of nature-inspired poetry, subsequently published as Swift and Other Poems. Recognition in a travel-writing competition led to him authoring Bradt’s Slow North Yorkshire, later re-issued as separate volumes in the Slow travel series – Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors & Yorkshire Wolds. Bagshaw continues to explore wild areas of the world on foot and by bike, or underwater with scuba gear and afloat in canoes. He describes his exploits in outdoor magazines and local newspapers, and leads wildlife holidays. Mike lives near Whitby with his wife and two dogs, spending his non-travelling time managing their small woodland and volunteering for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.