‘What is The Shire Way?’
The Shire Way is a walking route in the UK, designed to replicate the flight of Frodo, Sam and Pippin from Bag End to Bucklebury Ferry (while being pursued by Black Riders) in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The route’s homeward stages imitate the hobbits’ return by a straighter road at the end of Tolkien’s tale. Apart from visiting sites of biographical importance, The Shire Way takes in places and features which may partly have inspired:
- Hobbiton and Bywater
- The East-West Road
- The narrow road to Bucklebury Ferry
- Green Hill Country
- The Woody End
- The Golden Perch at Stock
- The Brandywine River
- Bucklebury Ferry
- Crickhollow
- Budgeford in Bridgefields
- Whitfurrows
- Frogmorton
- The Three-Farthing Stone
‘Where is The Shire Way?’
Although not yet a waymarked footpath in its own right, The Shire Way can be walked on existing paths across the historic English counties of Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire. Collectively, these three counties made up the area which Tolkien called ‘home’, the West Midlands.
Beginning in the city of Birmingham, where Tolkien spent his early years (1895-1911), The Shire Way makes an 105-mile loop through picturesque countryside in the direction of Evesham. This was the Worcestershire town from which Tolkien’s maternal ancestors originated and to which he felt an inherent affiliation.
‘Why should I walk The Shire Way?’
If you have read any of Tolkien’s books (or watched the movies) and marvelled at the imaginative powers of the author, following The Shire Way is an excellent way to better understand and to honour him. Surprisingly and sadly, Tolkien is underappreciated in his home region and many places associated with his upbringing are overlooked, run-down or already destroyed. Without visitors, this crucial aspect of the world’s literary heritage is in jeopardy.
At various points along The Shire Way you will be following in Tolkien’s footsteps, for he loved walking and cycling long distances in his youth. This will give you rare insights into his environmental influences: the flora, fauna and topography of the West Midlands, as well as the history, dialect and architecture of its inhabitants. However, unlike most literary trails, the sites that comprise The Shire Way are not exclusively biographical.
There is a lot to be said for Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, but their setting of the Shire in a corner of New Zealand jars with everything we know about Tolkien’s original vision. It is only possible in England, and specifically the West Midlands, to experience a landscape like the Shire he imagined. Thus, The Shire Way has been designed to allow the traveller to re-live, with unrivalled authenticity, the opening and ending of the hobbits’ adventure in the books of The Lord of the Rings.
Finally, should you need another reason, heed the words of J.R.R. Tolkien and walk The Shire Way to see what you are really made of:
‘When is the best time to walk The Shire Way?’
While the paths which constitute the route are accessible all year round, the English countryside is at its best between April and October. Outside this period you should consider wearing wellington boots (or at least a sound pair of walking boots), as prolonged rain can turn the low-lying parts of Worcestershire into muddy quagmires. If one is seeking to emulate as nearly as possible the journeys in Tolkien’s books, the outward three stages to Evesham should be walked between the 23rd and 25th September; the homeward three stages to Birmingham between 31st October and 2nd November.
NEXT: ‘Which real places can be mapped onto Tolkien’s Shire?‘