Moseley Bog: the community-saved woodland that inspired Tolkien

Step off the suburban streets of Moseley and into Moseley Bog, and it is easy to see why a young J. R. R. Tolkien was enchanted. Gnarled old trees, boardwalks over wet woodland and carpets of bluebells in spring make this small reserve feel like another world.

Tolkien lived nearby as a child and later cited the site as an inspiration for the ancient forests of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In a 1966 interview he remembered "a wonderful dell with flowers" from his youth.

The reserve covers around 12 hectares and forms part of the Shire Country Park, named after Tolkien's Shire, alongside nearby Sarehole Mill. Its history runs far deeper than the twentieth century. On the banks of the Coldbath Brook are burnt mounds of cracked stones and charcoal around 3,000 years old, which archaeologists believe are the remains of Bronze Age sweat lodges. They are protected as Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

That the bog survives at all is thanks to local people. In 1980 the city council proposed building a housing estate on the site. A campaign called Save Our Bog, led by urban conservationist Joy Fifer, stopped the development and helped inspire the wider urban wildlife movement. That community action led to the Urban Wildlife Group, which grew into today's Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country.

Joy's Wood, the former school playing field next door, was too damp for games. After a big tree-planting effort in 1987 it was allowed to return to woodland and now carries Joy Fifer's name. The site was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1991, and a £376,500 Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2010 paid for new boardwalks, paths and habitat work.

The Wildlife Trust manages the reserve under a lease from Birmingham City Council, supported by the Friends of Moseley Bog and Joy's Wood, who hold their annual meeting each May at Sarehole Mill. The trust is currently fundraising to repair paths and boardwalks, and visitors can download a podcast tour narrated by Benjamin Zephaniah.

It is a place that shows what a neighbourhood can protect when it cares enough.

Visitor information and volunteering details are on the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust website.