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The idea for the setting for the Middle Earth is said to have originated from Moseley Bog in SW Birmingham UK near to where Tolkien grew up as a child and where he is believed to have played.  Just enter Moseley Bog Nature Reserve, Birmingham in Google Maps.   My grandchildren took me there a number of times when they lived just around the corner from Tolkien’s one time house.  The Bog’s not particularly big, but it would seem so to a young child.  It’s great fun but rather creepy even in the daytime.  I wouldn’t want to venture into there by moonlight armed only with a sextant.  To get an idea what it’s like under the trees just search for Moseley Bog on Google Images.  Dave