Tolkiens Hobbiton & Birmingham ..

I actually don't live very far from these places. The Mill is particularly lovely, and they have a Tolkien themed weekend there every May. For me though, it is rural Warwickshire, where Tolkien also spent time, that reminds me the most of The Shire. Walking along some of the trails on a summer's day, it's hard not to feel like the hobbits when they set off on their adventure!
 
How wonderful!
Thankyou for the reply.
Have been to one of the Tolkien themed week-ends?

[:)] Elven x
 
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It always seems to fall on my birthday weekend, which means I'm usually out of the country! We're saving up for a trip to NZ at the moment though, so I doubt we'll be going abroad next year, so hopefully I'll be able to attend, if they hold one!! I'll be sure to take some photos of anything interesting and report back to you guys here!
 
and great pics to accompany it. I envy Jazmine's opportunity to visit those spots. I'll have add this to my "things to do in my lifetime" list :)
 
Did know about JRRT's connection with Birmingham, mainly because hubby was born in Edgbaston and his mum's family have lived in Birmingham and Warwickshire for generations. When my Ma-in-law found out I was a Tolkien fan, she told me about the places he used to go to and showed me some of her old photos of some of the places. I think she enjoyed surprising me.
 
ever head by this way, I will happily put together a geeky Tolkien tour and take you to all the *must-see* spots! Neil dutifully accompanies me on all my Tolkien-related excursions, and he even admits he quite enjoys them, but it would be totally awesome to share it all with a fellow Middle Earth geek!
 
I think it would be good for Neil to see that you're not the only "geek" out there. Some of us *kaff* [me] probably would show him how much worse it could be ;)

YOU'RE ON!


ps... I hope Neil is feeling better. One day at a time, right? :)
 
I visited the area near Sarehole Mill a couple of years ago; the similarity to Tolkien's drawing of the mill in The Hobbit is plain. You can walk past Tolkien's childhood home along an utterly ordinary suburban street. It is very close to the mill (thought the streets make it require some extra walking), and one can easily imagine that in those days before the whole area got paved over, little JRRT must have played near there quite often indeed. And yes, the still-wooded areas surely became fixed in JRRT's mind as the embodiment of the word forest' and gave us the Old Forest.

I am more dubious, however, when someone claims that some 'two towers' were the specific inspirations for some of the many towers in the books. 'The Two Towers' was not Tolkien's choice of title, and one wonders if such claims would be made at all if towers did not figure into the well-known title.
 
He may even be ready to venture back to work next week. We are still waiting for him to get a scan done, just to make sure everything is sorted once and for all, but everything seems to be on the right path so far!

On a sad note, his grandmother passed away today. Although we will miss her, it's also a blessing. She's been ill in hospital for many months, and, at the ripe old age of 91, she was more than ready to go. In the end she went in her sleep. She was a wonderful lady!

I'd love for Neil to experience what it's like when you get a few Tolkien geeks together! It'd probably terrify him! Saying that, he's far geekier himself these days, than he was three years ago when we first got together, though he'd never admit it! I'm slowly but surely bringing him onto our side!! I'm also in the process of recruiting my nephew to the land of Geekdom, though my brother is trying to resist! [tongue]
 
and I think the article said it was being built during Tolkiens time?

I hope one day to do that walk - hopefully on a sunny day, and imagine what it looked like before it was developed. I'd love to see his childhood home too. I hope thats not the one which was sold and knocked down recently ... [:(]

Thanks for the post Ostadan.

Cheers
Elven x
 
Thank you for that Elven! I knew of Tolkien's inspiration around Oxford, but I didn't know about Birmingham! That's probably because I don't live in the UK...I wish it were easier for me to get to the great country of England. I live in the US, a beauty in its own, and have been to England once, but not long enough. Hopefully one day I will be able to see these places that inspired the work that has shaped my life so heavily!
 
We do plan to get over there one day, really do have to catch up with my Uncles and Aunts before they all start leaving. And I'd like my boys to see where their dad came from, tying in Tolkien would be an added bonus [cool][cool][cool]
 
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