Today is the Tolkien Toast. Tolkien fans across the world will, at 9pm, raise a glass of their favourite tipple and proclaim “The Professor”.

I think it is pretty obvious that I am a Tolkien fan. I am listening to Lord of the Rings whilst I write this. I am dyslexic and struggled as a child to see the point of reading. In desperation my mother read me the Hobbit which woke in me two things. A love of reading, books and literature as well as a taste for adventure. I was about six when I decided to go on my first adventure. This involved walking from our village to the next village. Armed with home made bows and arrows we set off and made it to Lostock where a passing Police car decided that a six year old, a seven year old and a four year old shouldn’t really be over two miles from their home and drove us home to the mortification of our parents.
Thankyou Professor for giving me a taste for literature and adventure.