Andrew Bowden was born and raised in Hyde, Greater Manchester and spent much of his early years being dragged around Etherow Country Park a few miles from his parents' house.
After abandoning hiking in his teenage years in favour of spending far too much time in front of computer games, he returned to the hills after falling in love with a section of the Pennine Way.
Since rediscovering his hiking boots, he has walked a fair number of long distance trails, including the Coast to Coast, Pennine Way, West Highland Way and the Cumbria Way.
He regularly writes about walking on his website, Rambling Man, at ramblingman.org.uk and can also be found on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewbowden
Andrew lives in London with his partner Catherine and son, Sam.