Tolkien was born on 3rd January (same date as me - though not the year!) 1892, in Bloemfontein, SA. and when visiting England for a holiday his father, who had stayed behind, died young leaving Tolkien and his siblings in the care of his mother who remained in England.
First they lived in Wake Green Road, Moseley (where I was born) and he was educated and looked after by the priests at the Birmingham Oratory (where I was married) when his mother died. His mother was buried at St Peters church, Bromsgrove (where my fathers funeral was held).
Tolkien also spent much of his childhood with aunt in Rednal, across the road from Cofton Park, where the Pope beatified Cardinal Newman (another famous resident) in 2010. I lived a few hundred yards away from the age of 3 to 21 and played in the Park and adjacent Lickey Hills as a child. Now I am back after years away in the West Country, London and France.
He based much of the characters in the LotR upon Bromsgrove and Birmingham people. One major character was Sam Gamgee - based upon Joseph Sampson Gamgee, the Birmingham inventor of Cotton Wool. Sam's wife to be in the book was, of course, Rosie COTTON.
He also stayed at his other relatives near to Evesham (my great grandmother is from Evesham) at a farm called Bag End - to become the address of Bilbo Baggins.
He first published the LotR in 1954 though 1955 - the year of my birth. The Tolkien Society is a great resource for further study.
Today you can still see the beauty of the Lickey Hills (Anglo-Saxon, meaning the leak-hay - the watershed from which the rivers Rea and Arrow flow to feed the Trent and Warwickshire Avon respectively).
Finally, a view looking from the southern side of the hills towards my house and the Malvern Hills that Edward Elgar so loved - but more of him later.
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