Unearthing Middle Earth and Narnia's inspiration

An area of Worcestershire has been credited as being the partial inspiration for two globally renowned fantasy worlds that are as much loved on paper as they are on screen.

C.S Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, and JRR Tolkien, who created The Lord of the Rings would often visit Malvern together during the 1930s for outdoor pursuits.

Historian Dan Johnson regularly retraces their walks while sharing tales of the time both men allowed Worcestershire to fill their heads with creativity.

Northern Ireland - Lewis' birthplace - is widely credited as the true inspiration for Narnia, but according to Mr Johnson, it was the walk home from a Malvern pub that inspired his novel's opening.

"They [Lewis and Tolkien] went for walks across the hills before heading to The Unicorn Pub which is still there to this day," Mr Johnson said.

"And in the Priory there is a wardrobe shaped door which is carved in a Victorian way. If you look through the keyhole you will be able to see a gas lamp next to a conifer tree.

"It is very similar to the picture in C.S Lewis' book when Lucy first meets Mr Tumnus."

Lewis and Tolkien were friends in Malvern and would go to The Unicorn pub together

He continued: "C.S Lewis is said to have been walking home from the pub with JRR Tolkien.

"It was snowing and they saw a gas lamp in the snow. C.S Lewis then joked to Tolkien saying 'wouldn't that make a great opening to a book'."

Worcestershire's White Mountains

Unlike Lewis, Tolkien's enchantment with Worcestershire did not require alcohol and instead it was the beauty and possible eeriness of the Malvern Hills that filled his mind.

The Black Country and Tolkien's childhood in Birmingham may have possibly inspired the hellish landscape of Mordor.

But Worcestershire can take solace it was the inspiration for Middle Earth's epic mountain ranges.

A mutual friend of the two authors, George Sayer, said the author "lived the book" during his Worcestershire hikes.

In Lewis' biography, in a section about Tolkien, he wrote that he would sometimes compare parts of the hills with the White Mountains - a major mountain range in Middle Earth.