a wider audience was launched. In March 2010, a lottery grant of £376,500 was awarded for improvements and restoration and on 26 June 2011, a formal reopening was conducted by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Anita Ward. Culture J. R. R. Tolkien lived nearby, as a child, and acknowledged the site as inspiration for the ancient forests in his books The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Nearby Sarehole Mill and the surrounding area on the River Cole is said to have been inspiration for Tolkien's writings. In 1966, in an interview for The Guardian, Tolkien said (emphasis added): A house adjacent to the reserve (since demolished) was used by reggae band UB40 as a studio for their earliest recordings. References External links Wildlife Trust pages Birmingham City Council page on the Bog Documentary film about a community festival that took place at Moseley Bog in 2011 Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands Bogs of England Scheduled monuments in the West Midlands (county) Local Nature Reserves in the West Midlands (county) Moseley