Leigh Hatts has been walking the Thames towpath and exploring the river and Docklands since 1981, when he worked on the Thames Walk Feasibility Study which resulted in the Countryside Commission persuading the government to designate the 180-mile route as a national trail. In addition to writing three Thames books, Leigh spent a decade as author of the London Transport Walks Book series. He also devised the 20-mile Bournemouth Coast Path, which now links the South West Coast Path to the Solent Way to create a 652-mile coast route from Minehead to Emsworth. In addition to a guide to this route, he has written walking books featuring Dorsets coast and countryside and the New Forest. Leigh has also worked as a reporter for the walkers magazine TGO.
