Those who have rediscovered The Lord of the Rings through the wonderful (if not always accurate) Peter Jackson movies probably have an image of wild New Zealand locations whenever they think of Middle Earth.

Yet J.R.R. Tolkien’s inspiration for many of his literary locations came not from the exotic wilderness of a foreign land, however beautiful, but from the gentle English countryside, and the rather more sinister smoking heart of the Industrial Revolution in and near his childhood homes in Birmingham, England.

This is a whistlestop walking tour of some inspirational places which may still be visited by the adventurous tourist following in the footsteps of The Fellowship of the Ring. Read this in conjunction with my biography of Tolkien in the first article to get the most from it.

Ronald Tolkien had many childhood haunts in the Birmingham area that were later to become the stuff of legend, and which are now as familiar to me as the back of my own hand. Here, gentle reader, I will lead you on a quest to places in The Shire from ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, and to ‘The Two Towers’ themselves (and one other!)…

Read the rest at Pentrace Article # 347:- On the Trail of Tolkien: Part 2: Tolkien’s Inspirations in Birmingham Locations.