Fifteen places Tolkien fans should visit before they die meme

[adaeze]

Bold means I've definitely been there, italics means I think I might have been there a long time ago.

1. Sarehole Mill
2. Perrott's Folly
3. Edgbaston Waterworks
4. New Zealand
5. The Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland
6. Tolkien's Home in Oxford (20 Northmoor Road)
7. Merton College
8. Exeter College
9. Addison's Walk
10. Tolkien's Tree University Botanical Gardens
11. The Eagle and Child
12. The Bodleian Library
13. Oxonmoot
14. Tolkien's resting place
15. The Somme

taken from http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1053-fifteen-places-tolkien-fans-should-visit-before-they-die.php via Wellinghall.

I've walked past quite a few places Tolkien lived, but I couldn't swear to 20 Northmoor Road being one of them.  If this were my list I'd want to add Moseley Bog, which is a patch of very primeval-looking woodland near Sarehole.  I would of course drop New Zealand to make room for it, on the grounds that Tolkien never went that far, though as and when I do make it out there I reserve the right to change my mind.

Might be more interesting just to lump all the Birmingham sites together, ditto Oxford.  In which case you can start to get more adventurous, and add places like South Africa, Warwick, Great Haywood, maybe Marquette.  Anywhere else that really ought to be on the list?

Comments

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

What about the Gracewell Cottage on Wake Green Road,( where he actually lived opposite the Mill)? Or 22 Northmoor Rd? Ditto 50 St John's St, 99 Holywell St, 3 Manor Rd, & 76 Sandfield Road.

Mind you its good they say Oxonmoot!

[adaese.livejournal.com]

You'd have to do some sharp dodging to visit the Mill without going to Wake Green Road. All the more reason to say simply "Oxford! Birmingham!".

A couple of train rides through Brum ago, I was struck by just how many towers and domes the Victorians left littering the place. I'm not convinced that Oxford is entirely to blame for the predominence of these features in Gondorian / Elvish architecture.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Have you read Mathew Lyons's fun book, There and Back Again the in the Footsteps of J. R. R. Tolkien? I seem to remember he has a chapter on Cheddar Gorge (quite accessible for you of course) as - if I remember right - an inspiration for Helm's Deep. On what grounds I can't recall, but I'm happy to lend you the book if I can put my hand on it.

[adaese.livejournal.com]

Tolkien mentions Cheddar Gorge in a letter (321 in Letters; dated 4th February 1971). He says that he wrote the Glittering Caves passage just after a visit in 1940, but that he was also remembering visiting the Gorge on honeymoon. Yes, Cheddar Gorge is definitely one that should be on the list.

And Wellinghall says to say that yes, we do have Mathew Lyons.

[tree_and_leaf]

It's certainly rather curious to list very specific places in Birmingham and Oxford and then just say "New Zealand"!

[pencildragon11.livejournal.com]

I would add the Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois--sit at see the desk on which the Hobbit was written!