Mike is from that well known outdoor adventure spot of St Helens in Merseyside; growing up immersed in rugby league and eventually landing his dream job of media manager at St.Helens R.F.C, which he held for around 13 years. Prior to that he worked in internal communications and B2B publishing following his graduation from Lancaster University and freelanced Ice Hockey coverage for local press.
His first book was the autobiography of the first British-born and trained ice hockey player being drafted to the NHL – Tony Hand MBE. He then wrote two autobiographies of Rugby League legends Kel Coslett (dual code international) and Lee Briers (Warrington Wolves). Deep down though, there was a burning desire to actually write something that found his own voice, and that came out in Yorkshire’s Three Peaks – The Inside Story of the Dales; a snapshot of the Dales and the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the three peaks route and the people along the way. Mike likes to help people tell their stories and says this book is his favourite to date.
His passion for the Dales came from an early age; his dad’s friend lived in Dent and when shift patterns allowed he’d travel up to the village with his Dad to stay in a small cottage. From there he was introduced to the world of caving and is now an active member of the Red Rose Caving and Pothole Club as well as being its Journal Editor.
He wrote 50 Gems of the Yorkshire Dales, 50 Gems of Derbyshire and 50 Gems of Cheshire as well as 25 Great Walkers Pubs of the Yorkshire Dales (a hard task involving lots of research as you can imagine). He then returned to rugby league through Danny Sculthorpe’s autobiography – and his 10th book, Secret Dales, is due out in November. Details of all books can be found at www.mascarandymedia.com/books
As well as freelancing and commentating on rugby league for Drystone Radio in the Dales, Mike currently works for Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust – a small charity doing big things for people, landscape and wildlife in the Dales. He is their marketing and comms officer, and also heads up the Trust’s Plastic Free Woodlands project which wants to remove redundant plastic tree guards from the landscape and trial alternatives. To date the trust has helped to plant 1.5 million trees – and Mike reckons he’s done 1000 of them…
Mike describes himself as a quiet bloke who loves the outdoors, caving, local pubs, podcasts, farmers, bivvies and trees!
YouTube – youtube.com/MascarandyMedia
Podcast – search Mascarandy Meanders
Insta – instagram.com/mascarandy
Website – www.mascarandymedia.com
Twitter – @mascarandy