to medium walk from all local public transport stops to the main park visitor centre. Bus Diamond Worcestershire services 182 and 183 start at Lickey Square and terminate in Redditch. Diamond services 145/145A and National Express West Midlands route X20 from Birmingham City Centre also stop nearby. Rail The nearest railway station is Barnt Green, with frequent services on the Birmingham Cross-City line from Bromsgrove/Redditch in the south and the City Centre/Lichfield in the north. Obelisk and toposcope On the road from Lickey to Lickey Beacon there is an obelisk folly commemorating Other Archer Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth, who created the Worcestershire Yeomanry volunteer regiment of cavalry, which served in the Napoleonic Wars. The obelisk, which is well hidden from the road, is inscribed with the words "To commend to imitation the exemplary private virtues of Other Archer 6th Earl of Plymouth." Just a kilometre north of the monument, on top of Beacon Hill, is the toposcope made in the early twentieth century by the Cadbury family, standing next to the Ordnance Survey triangulation point. A small castellated structure was built to rehouse the toposcope in 1988 to celebrate the centenary of the park. It is 297 metres above sea level and provides the best views, of the city and surrounding counties, that the park provides. Notable people In 1904, J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, moved to Rednal with his mother, who had been ill and was convalescing. The hills became a favourite haunt and are thought to be an inspiration for the mythical Shire, where the hobbits lived in his books. John Henry, Cardinal Newman lived and was buried in the area. The author Jonathan Coe was born in Lickey in 1961. See also Lickey Incline Well-known railway incline south of Barnt Green station. References Margaret Mabey, A Little History of the Lickey Hills, The Lickey Hills Society, 1993, External links Country park website Golf club Country parks in Birmingham, West Midlands Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands Country parks in Worcestershire Mountains and hills of the United Kingdom with toposcopes