Todays adventure takes me a long way, but to a familiar place. Over the weekend, I spoke to my parents, who live in Lyme Regis, Dorset,UK. Lyme is a place that I spent much of my youth, from holidays at the seaside, to snatched hours after school for fish and chips.
The conversational journey centered on JRR Tolkien, (amoungst other literary figures) who enjoyed Lyme, and vacationed there every year when he was young.
Apparently, Tolkien spent much time drawing and illustrating whilst visiting, and based many of his fictional places on actual places around Dorset, including 'Hobbiton' - supposedly the Marshwood Vale.
This was all fascinating news to me. I have loved the works of Tolkien since I was a child, and Lyme Regis has also always been close to my heart. My Dad is going to investigate further, to see what else he can learn of Tolkien's connection with Lyme - so I look forward to hearing more about it!
Here is a detail of a window of Lyme Regis. The window itself is bigger, but the picture is a little blurry!
The location of Lyme Regis was used in the film 'A French Leiutenants Woman' with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons.
