Use the link below to read but note due to Copyright Law only part of “The Root’s of Tolkien’s Middle Earth by Robert S. Blackham written in 2006 can be displayed. Only Chapters 3, 7 and 8 are displayed in the PDF below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_me1Es7yWZWC5R7E-mFmzZnkVkUD4Scc/view?usp=sharing
In writing my geography posts I like them to be linked to a
common theme with it normally being a geographical feature. So a river, hill
range, county, parish or town wall in fact
anything that connects things together in some logical spatial way.
Therefore it is quite unusual to have a playwright or author as a theme. So
living near Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare as a playwright is perfect to link
spatially places he has lived or visited in Warwickshire together. Whilst here
J.R.R. Tolkien’s (1892-1973) the famous author of Lord of the Rings links
together some very unusual places in the south Birmingham area in the United
Kingdom. In the Tolkien book the locations identified support the settings
created in the Lord of the Rings along with meeting some of the character
types. Whilst Shakespeare supports a large tourist influx into Stratford Upon
Avon Tolkien does not support such an influx to visit Sarehole Mill near Kings
Heath, South Birmingham, United Kingdom along with the other less publicised locations.
Living very near all these places they have all played some
part in my life. Kings Heath, Edgbaston Reservoir, the River Cole, the Forge at
Claverdon, Moseley Village, Chamberlain Tower at Birmingham University, the
Lickey Hills and Rednal. Although it is more difficult when viewed these days
to fully appreciate how these things inspired him to write Lord of the Rings
and The Hobbit. But there is nothing as powerful as human imagination.
Growing up my father’s parents lived in Alton Road,
Bournbrook overlooking the Chamberlain Tower at Birmingham University. The view
from this steep road is stunning with it having a major impact on my
imagination as a child. The Bourne Brook flows at the bottom of this road into
the River Blythe at Cannon Hill Park and then joins the River Cole then joins
the River Tame and then the River Trent. This is significant since these
tributaries flow north into the River Trent whilst all the water courses south
of these flow into the River Avon and then the River Severn. The River Cole
powers the Sarenhole Mill which plays such a significant part in Tolkien’s
writings particularly in respect of the life of the Hobbits. With everything so
culverted underground these days it is difficult to appreciate how these
tributaries supported the boggy wooded areas depicted in Tolkien’s book.
Tolkien lived for a short spell in Rednal in the Lickey
Hills just south of Birmingham. My school friend, Stuart Fairfoul’s father
owned Cofton Cottage dated 1853 built in a Tudor style sited near where Tolkien lived and this traded
in the summer many years ago as a local café. Stuart still lives there and it
retains much of its original charm. He also still makes a fine cup of tea. It
is rumoured that the road called Groveley Lane in front of the cottage lead to
a pathway going over the Cofton Park but no trace of it exists.
To comply with Copyright Laws I have only published a small
part of the “The Roots of Tolkien’s Middle Earth” book by Robert S. Blackham
since it is still available for purchase from Amazon. This is intended to
encourage you to purchase the book for yourself. The link to Amazon is below.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roots-Tolkiens-Middle-Earth/dp/0752438565
So
as the writer, Robert S. Blackham (2006) Copyright is acknowledged as he still
owns copyright over his written words. Publisher Copyright owned by the History
Press is acknowledged. So as a DMB Publishing the Digital Publisher of part of
the “The Roots of Tolkien’s Middle Earth” this is on a strictly non for profit
basis, whilst it is shared here strictly under a Creative Commons 4.0 Licence
defined by a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed for the sole purpose of encouraging the sale
of the published book whilst generating reader interest in the subject matter.
If any objection is communicated to me by any of the current Copyright owners
the content will be immediately removed from the internet.
For something completely different view the first animated film made of the Hobbit you can view on this YouTube link below.
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