Category: FANTASY

Boddington Fort: Inspiration for Tolkien?

Boddington Fort - looking North-west — Boddington Fort – looking North-west

The Ridgeway, England’s oldest road at 7000 years, runs along the Chiltern Hills, as it heads South to Avebury in Dorset.

My stepmother passed away in the last week and my father passed away almost exactly a year ago. I wasn’t close to either in the final decades, but it made me think about the Autumn of life. I suppose post Covid, many of us have lost family, so it seems appropriate to post something personal, because I last did this during lockdown.

(Right-click the image to see the high-resolution version)

Last week, knowing she hadn’t long, I decided to walk part of the Ridgeway, the oldest road in Britain at 7000 years. I walked the first part, going south from Pitstone Hill to Tring Station (~10.5 miles), in the sweltering heat of the 2022 Summer. I thought this section, from Tring Station to Wendover Station (~10.5 miles) would be a doddle. I was wrong!

I believe Boddington Fort is a serious candidate for Tolkien’s inspiration for the hilltop clearing in the Old Forest from The Fellowship of the Ring. Here’s why.

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The Journals of Raymond Brooks – 2nd Ed. Out

The Journals of Raymond Brooks cover — The Journals of Raymond Brooks

Almost 2 years ago now, I edited a great book – The Journals of Raymond Brooks. It has now been released as a second edition and it looks stunning.

The link for the book is always on my Editing Services page.

Click here to see what you think!

Description

Raymond Brooks was born a thousand years ago, an orphaned boy lost in a foreign land. Growing up during the Dark Ages was no easy feat. Reaching old age was highly unlikely. Surviving to see the turn of a millennium? Impossible!

These are The Journals of Raymond Brooks, a mythical figure from the Dark Ages. Uncovering the mysteries and adventures he experienced during his unimaginable lifespan. The Journals force humanity to face a terrible realization: there are monsters of horrifying power hidden from mortal eyes. They pretend to be sheep when they are wolves, pulling our strings and making us dance…until now.

Could the supernatural creatures really walk amongst us? And if they do, they must preserve their secrecy at all cost. Why then would Raymond commit virtual suicide by revealing their existence? What happens now, when all hell breaks loose?

Do we have a future?

If we don’t stop destroying the planet and making wars, we have no future.

Read my latest treatise on war, December Radio, when it is published by A-Argus in January 2015:

Based on real events.

February 1945: despite the Allies turning the tide of war, the Nazi’s are almost ready to test their ultimate weapon off the coast of America. A weapon which could win them the War.

Two Dutch brothers are thrown into a chaotic world of spies, traitors and scientists when Arnaud is incarcerated in a concentration camp as a dissident and forced to work on the secret weapon project. Their mother begs his older brother, Carl, to find him and bring him home.

A fascist who loves only smart clothes, jazz and women, Carl disowns his brother. But after witnessing a murder, he is forced to hold a mirror up to himself.

Arnaud is desperate to stop the project. But he is dying, hanging on, hoping his brother will come…

Bargain offers!
The third book in the Ordo Lupus series, The Synchronicity Code, is out on 5 November. To celebrate this the Halloween classic, Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate – Second Edition (the on with the original Secret Codes), will be only 99 cents on 30 October.

And don’t forget that with the release of The Synchronicity Code, you will have all the clues you need to win the $500 Prize offered with the free book Vampire – Find my Grave.