A nature reserve near Birmingham, which was one of JRR Tolkien’s favourite childhood haunts, will be renamed “The Shire Country Park” in honour of the author.
According to the local authority’s cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture:
“The Shire Country Park will help raise the awareness of Tolkien’s close ties with the city and attract visitors from far and wide, keen to discover the places that were such an important influence on the writer.”
What kind of dork would travel there for something like that? Certainly not me. ;)