17 members of the walking group set off today to walk the Tolkien Trail, in the area of Hurst Green. Many areas of the UK aspire to have links with J.R.R.Tolkien, but the author certainly spent much of his time at Stonyhurst College, where we started the walk, writing his novel Lord of the Rings. Rumour has it he modelled Middle Earth on this area. Stonyhurst is an independent college set in a 300 acre rural estate and is owned by the Society of Jesus. Certainly it is a very imposing building and students are very privileged to study in such a magnificent place. Continue reading