My Favourite place is Moseley Bog Nature Reserve near Sarehole Mill on the border of Hall Green and Moseley. It is a very atmospheric place especially in the winter when the leaves are on the trees at dusk: this is where Tolkien got his inspiration to write the Lord of the Rings. It is an ancient woodland and is unchanged since the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. A stream runs through it and remains have been found of what is believed to be an ancient sweat lodge from about 3,000 years ago. Stones would be heated in a fire and placed in a wood and rush structure about 6 foot square and water from the stream poured over the hot stones to produce steam and one of the first saunas.

I would often go there, and play music recorded from the John Peel Radio One music show, the night before on my Sony Walkman. It is a very calming place and hard to believe you are in the heart of a city when you are here. The presence of a large number of trees also mean there is much more oxygen in the air so you can feel yourself be emerged as you take deep breaths.