- Sarehole
Sarehole (gbmapping|SP099818) is an area in
Hall Green ,Birmingham ,England (formerly inWorcestershire , but transferred to the city in 1911). Sarehole, a name no longer used in addresses, was a hamlet which gave its name to a farm (now built over) and a mill. It extended from the ford at Green Lane, southwards for about a mile, along the River Cole to the Dingles.Birmingham City Council have named the segment of the path along the Cole southwards from Sarehole Mill the "John Morris Jones Walkway " after a local historian.J. R. R. Tolkien lived there as achild in the 1890s, and the area influenced his description of the green and peaceful country of the Shire in hisbook s. The nearby "Moseley Bog " (now anature reserve ) was probably the inspiration for theOld Forest - and the hill on which Spring Hill College stands, which even today, according to local legend, is criss-crossed with secret tunnels, could easily have become Tolkien'sBag End .Sarehole Mill , which also influenced the young Tolkien, is a water-driven mill, now amuseum , within theShire Country Park . During the 18th century the mill was leased byMatthew Boulton , one of the pioneers of theIndustrial Revolution and leading figure of theLunar Society , for scientific experimentation.Sources
* "Hall Green and Hereabout", John Morris JONES, ed. Michael Byrne 1989 , ( [http://195.70.71.171/cgi-bin/vps2.5_viewpoint.sh?session_no=1187681 Birmingham Libraries Catalogue] )
* " Here and Then - The past of Our District", John Morris JONES, ( [http://195.70.71.171/cgi-bin/vps2.5_viewpoint.sh?session_no=1187681 Birmingham Libraries Catalogue] )External links
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/sarehole Sarehole Mill]
* [http://www.tolkiensociety.org/t_park/ Sarehole and the Shire Park]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/shirecountrypark Shire Country Park]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/tolkien Tolkien's Birmingham]
* [http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/sarehole.htm Tolkien's Birmingham - Sarehole Mill pictures]
* [http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/tolkien.htm Tolkien's Birmingham - Tolkien Trail including the Moseley Bog]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=17314&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=7&MENU_ID=259 John Morris Jones Walkway]
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/classics/story/0,,596112,00.html "The Guardian" 1991 article on Sarehole titled "Tolkien's shire"]
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