J.R.R. Tolkien Trail

Let's just start off with the title for a second. If you're a fan of the high fantasy works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, you would know exactly who John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is - for those who don't, he's the author of these books and there's a trail named after him. Just some background information, during the walk you pass Stonyhurst College, the esteemed boarding school and the place where J.R.R Tolkien himself stayed regularly. He spent much of his time there working on The Lord of the Rings, as well as even teaching a few lessons at the college. The 6.7 mile Tolkien Trail explores the Ribble landscape that may have inspired him. You learn something new every day, ey?

On a serious note, if you're a huge fan of Tolkien's works, don't go expecting a whole Hobbit experience. You won't get that.

The Tolkien Trail is located in Hurst Green, Lancashire - close to home and let me tell you this, looooooongest walk I have been on, especially for a fairly flat walking trail. It was field, after field, after field. On the upside, the weather was warm, I was with my family, and it was just super delightful being around nature and the endless views. We ended up in every stream we'd pass, and also tried skipping rocks on the river - emphasis on 'tried'.

Another interesting fact about this walk, is there are two confluences you'd get to witness. A confluence is where two or more rivers (in this case, two) are merged to create one single channel of water. I tried to capture these confluences, as seen below. In the first image, you see River Hodder (on the left) merging with River Ribble. The second image isn't so clear but the main river you see is River Ribble and on the left-hand side towards the back you see River Calder joining in.

Hopefully, you've learnt something about rivers in this blog post!

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien.