An overview
The Shire Way as a whole comprises 133 miles (214 kilometres) of footpaths, country roads and other walkways. Within this total is:
- A minor circular route around King’s Heath, Moseley and Sarehole, which is 10 miles (16 kilometres) long. This ‘Moseley Ring’ is marked in GOLD on the map below.
- The major circular route between Birmingham and Evesham, which is 105 miles (169 kilometres) in length. This is marked in BROWN on the map below.
- Alternatives to the main route, including a starting point in Birmingham city centre, which together amount to 18 miles (29 kilometres). The alternative start is marked in PINK on the map below.
All these have been designed to encompass:
- Sites relating to the lives of Tolkien, his family members and his friends.
- Geographical or historical features of the West Midlands which can be equated to aspects of Tolkien’s Shire landscape.
- West Midland places with names reminiscent of those found in the Shire.
The 6-day major route
The major route of The Shire Way has been designed also to encompass:
- A string of real locations between Birmingham and Hinton-on-the-Green, near Evesham, which evokes the hobbits’ flight from Hobbiton to Bucklebury Ferry in Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring (Chapters 3, 4 and 5 of Book I).
- A string of real locations between Bidford-on-Avon and Birmingham which evokes the hobbits’ homecoming in The Return of the King (Chapter 8 of Book VI).
The major route is divided into 6 ‘stages’, roughly corresponding to the number of days taken by the hobbits to complete the two journeys mentioned. Each stage is made up of 2 or 3 ‘legs’ (15 in total), which are also informed by Tolkien’s account of the hobbits’ rests and mealtimes.
The stages of the major route are as follows:
Stage 4: Evesham to Bidford-on-Avon