Tolkien’s inspiration for Durin’s Door was a little too far away for a Saturday afternoon excursion so I looked for inspiration in ‘The Churches of Shropshire & Their Treasures’ to find inspiration for suitable doorways that were fitting for the presentation of my medals for completing  ‘The Fellowship’ and ‘Mines of Moria’ challenges.

Within the books pages I found St Mary’s Church, Edstaston which has Norman doorways that could quite easily have inspired the doorways to and within the Mines of Moria. The doors shown here are original and feature fine Norman iron-work.

Unfortunately the church was not open so I was unable to go inside and share the treasures within.

I entered the Mines of Moria through Durin’s door. I then navigated my way through the mines meeting hazards along the way, to face one last hurdle where to my dismay a wizard went over the edge at Durin’s Bridge. Once on the other side of the bridge I was able to claim my medal.

Then after a brief rest I started on the next part of my journey, ‘The Eye of Sauron’…

My medal for the second stage of my Lord of the Rings challenge has arrived.

I travelled from Bree  to Rivendell where I accepted the challenge to carry the One Ring to Mordor, At Rivendell a Fellowship, the Fellowship of the Ring was forged to help me on my quest.

The Fellowship has now arrived at Durin’s door. The doorway leads into the mines of Moria. Gandalf is figuring out what magic is needed to open the keyless elven door.

My medal for completing the first stage of my Lord of the Rings challenge has arrived. I promise to try to keep the ring secret and safe until I can throw it into the fires of Mount Doom. I am making good progress on the next stage of my journey which takes me to the Doors of Durin.

In other news I have completed  my walking challenge of 100 miles for May’s National Walking month. My June challenge is step based and to achieve this challenge goal I will have to increase my average daily mileage by 0.75 miles.

Wish my luck

Despite the best intentions of the Nazgul I have successfully completed my 145 mile journey from Hobbiton to Bree. I will now depart the Prancing Pony on my 98 mile quest to The Doors of Durin.

I have recently started on my first adventure in the Lord of the Rings virtual challenge, walking through the Shire from Hobbiton to Bree. I have to confess to getting lost on my adventure. After almost 30 miles walking I found myself back where I started in Hobbiton…