Mike Hawkey has lived most of his life in Cornwall and fortunate to work for Cornwall County Council for nearly 40 years. For most of this time he had overall responsibility for environmental work around the coastline including beach management. In later years was Head of Environment and Heritage for a range of Council Services including the management of the Coast Path. He worked with numerous organisations in Cornwall such as the National Trust, Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. He is now retired. He is a keen photographer and cares passionately about Cornwall’s Coastline which he argues is the most spectacular and diverse 480kms of cliff-land, beaches, sand dunes, coves, foreshore and lestuaries anywhere in the world largely because of its unique physiography and flora. He has always been a keen beach explorer and relishes long distance sea kayaking trips around the Cornish Coast and Estuaries together with a spot of kayak surfing. Since 2010 he has visited every beach on the website, many more than once; this has often involved discussions with local people and organisations.