Our Journey Through Middle Earth
Did you know that we actually live in Middle Earth? The Hobbit author J.R.R. Tolkien grew up in Birmingham. Our friend Plant-Based Nurse was nice enough to show us around the sites in Birmingham that are believed to have provided inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's books: The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
First off we decided to visit the Hungry Hobbit cafe near Sarehole Mill. Sarehole Mill was a place close to Tolkien's house as a child which is how it came to be a source of inspiration for his books. It is the mill he had in mind when he wrote about the Mill in Hobbiton.
After we ate, we crossed the street and headed for Sarehole Mill.
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| Sarehole Mill sign |
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| Welcome to a museum that is closed for the season. |
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| Sarehole Mill "Idyllic childhood haunt of J.R.R. Tolkien" |
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| Picture all the hobbits' working in the mill in Hobbiton. |
The mill museum was unfortunately closed for the winter season. Sarehole Mill is a part of Shire Country Park. I believe the park was named after the Shire not the other way around. Did J.R.R. Tolkien really hang around the mill as a youngster? According to Sarehole Mill museum he did. Next, we took a walk through the park and along the Millstream Walkway.
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| Nice park |
There is one of the towers. Where is the other one?
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| A painting of the reservoir |
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| A beautiful day for a fall walk. |
We only spotted one of the towers, The Edgbaston Waterworks. I googled later and found out where the other tower is, Perrott's Folly, so we'll have to visit that tower next time. Luckily they're not too far away from us.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post, and want to see more of the West Midlands. Check out our post "The Wrekin"
I love when restaurants are nice enough to prepare a vegan dish even when there are none on the menu. That is pretty neat this is the place that inspired the Lord of the Rings!
ReplyDeleteYeah they didn't seem to mind at all. It helped that we were pretty much the only customers in there. They had all kinds of Lord of the Rings stuff inside as well.
DeleteTolkien was such a talented writer - the world-building skill is just about unmatched. I bet it was really cool to be able to walk through areas that inspired him like that.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was pretty cool. The area isn't all that amazing looking but maybe that's why he had such a great imagination.
DeleteAh, this is so cool! My friend and I hope to do our own little Hobbiton trip to New Zealand one day too!
ReplyDeleteCool sounds like fun.
DeleteThat looks like a lovely place to visit! Especially the beautiful park!
ReplyDeleteYeah it was nice.
DeleteHow fun to tour around where Tolkien did! I enjoy my "book-ish" adventures, too! It's really interesting to see what inspires great writers!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely
DeleteMy kids and I loved the movies and the books as well and it would be nice to journey around the places that Tolkien drew inspiration from. It's awesome that you got to experience this!
ReplyDeleteYeah we thought it was a fun idea.
DeleteWhat a fascinating place! The park is amazing and it seems there's some magic in it!
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is.
DeleteWhat a great restaurant! I love the photos especially the park with the fall leaves.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! and Thank you for your comment.
DeleteGood that you found a place willing to serve vegan food. I know places that are not to easy to have that.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on visiting this beautiful rustic place! I hope to see this too one day.
We never seem to have any troubles finding a vegan dish! :)
DeleteMiddle Earth looks like a nice place to live. The town and views look so beautiful! Also the vegan meal looks tasty! I really love eating beans with my meals.
ReplyDeleteThe meal was nice. Overall we had a wonderful time.
DeleteI am not a vegan but that looks so yummy LOL nice and relaxing places! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe food was very yummy. We had a great day.
DeleteHaha, Everyone wants to claim some inspiration for the novels. I am a HUGE fan, love everything Hobbit or Elf... esp. Legolas. lol
ReplyDeleteLol. I feel they would have gotten the inspiration no matter where they were.
DeleteIt seems like a cool place to visit. I love the lord of the rings movies and would definitely want to see where the author gets the inspiration to write the books.
ReplyDeleteIt was really cool being there. We would like to go to New Zealand now and see where it was filmed.
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