WITH a fire in his belly and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, eccentric adventurer Don Cox has spent more than a decade searching out the truth behind countless old world stories and myths.

He travels the world unravelling mythology, believes he has found the Garden of Eden and has written a book based on his 14-year search. Whether you believe he really has found the Garden of Eden or the secret of eternal life is not that important.

Just consider that this pensioner, who has had no official training in archaeology, mythology or geology, has been to the corners of the earth to find his own answers to questions that have taxed mankind for thousands of years.

Having searched through Egyptian tombs, climbed the mountains around Machu Picchu and traced Noah's journey in his Ark you cannot fault the man's hands on research.

The most surprising thing about this self-styled explorer is he is an agnostic and, following his research, believes that God was just a man turned into a deity by the story tellers.

Despite his lack of faith in religion Mr Cox, 66, says that every story and every myth has some grounding in truth and it is this truth however small that he has been searching for.

And he believes he has found the answers. He speaks about his findings with the excited glint of a young child and a conviction that is truly contagious.

Merlin did exist. Atlantis was blasted off the face of the Earth by a mega-volcano and Noah did put to sea, but certainly not in the same way as the story in the Bible.

Mr Cox believes the unbelievable happens but it has only become unbelievable in the retelling there is an honest and factually correct basis to all these myths and legends.

And unlike those with a blind religious zeal he is looking for people to overturn his theories and prove him wrong.

He says: "I have an open mind and I would welcome the challenge but I would say they will find it hard. I can back my claims with geographical, biblical and archaeological evidence.

He adds: "I think this book will be received with scepticism until people take the trouble to read it.

"What I really want to achieve here is to show people they can go out and do their own searching. We can all be adventuring backpackers today.

"When you are 90 and your legs don't work is when you can sit and watch Coronation Street, but when you have a pair of legs go and seek your own answers."

His office/front room is testimony to his eccentricity and a life of itchy feet with pictures and keepsakes from travels far and wide littering the room in Bobmore Lane. Stacks of paper surround his laptop and its Egyptian hieroglyphic screen saver.

Mr Cox has been through South America, China, India, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East in his personal quest to find the truth. It started in 1986 when he read a book about the origins of the Jews.

He said: "The Roman historian Tacitus believed the Jews originated from Crete but this 20th century scholar wrote that it was a 'frankly ridiculous' idea. I am quite happy with that but there was absolutely no back-up to his statement. It made me quite furious that this person could make such a statement with no background so I went to find my own answers."

This one comment opened a Pandora's Box for Mr Cox as the unravelling of one myth led him to another and another and another until in his mind he had conquered some of the great legends of mankind.

But his views and opinions may not sit happily with everyone.

For example unlike the traditional myth that Atlantis ended-up at the bottom of the ocean Mr Cox believes it was blown sky high after a 'mega-volcano' called Santorini erupted in the Mediterranean.

The Pyramids were not obscene displays of one man's power but were built for social reasons to give Egyptian man something to do in a time when there was little to occupy people's time.

Merlin the Wizard did exist but not as we know him in myth.

He was simply a very clever man who could read and write at a time of great illiteracy.

So where next for Marlow's great adventurer?

"I am going to Hadrian's Wall in September on a little home-based adventure and then up to Northern Scotland to try and find the ancient battle field between the Romans and the Caledonians in AD83."

His book, Waking The Dead, goes on sale from August 30.