What do Tolkien, Constable and Elgar have in common? They were all inspired by Great British landscapes.

The extraordinary diversity of Britain’s back garden has been immortalised in some of the greatest stories, artworks and music of all time.

Tolkien trail, Constable country and Rowling region make for daytrips with a twist – and may even motivate the artist in you to pick up a pen or paintbrush…

John Constable – the Stour Valley, Essex border
Such was the British artist’s deep affection for the picturesque expanse of land on the Essex/Suffolk border that it became known as ‘Constable Country’ within his own lifetime.

The Stour Valley’s rolling hills, trickling streams and thatched cottages remain virtually unchanged from those immortalised in Constable’s eighteenth century masterpieces. Such were his exacting depictions of the surrounding landscape, that it’s still possible to pinpoint the exact spots on which Constable set up easel: follow the Essex Way at Dedham, where Constable schooled and painted Flatford Mill, and then on to Langham Church, Glebe Farm and Bridge Cottage. The latter holds an exhibition of the artist’s life and works.

Edward William Elgar – Malvern, Worcestershire
The leading composer of his generation, Elgar loved to walk and cycle, absorbing the beauty of the Malvern Hills. Follow in his footsteps with a stroll from Hollybush, onto Swinyard, Hangman’s and Midsummer hills, culminating in a sweeping view of the valley afforded by a climb to the peak of Worcester Beacon.

Worcester Cathedral too played an important part in both Elgar’s musical upbringing, and as a venue for the performances of his finest compositions.

Images left to right: Kilchurn Castle from shore of Loch Awe © www.britainonview.com/Dennis Hardley, the Cotswolds © www.britainonview.com.

J. R. R. Tolkien – Sarehole, Birmingham
The rural hamlet in which the master of fantastical fiction spent a great deal of his childhood is omnipresent in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The ‘lost paradise’, as Tolkien himself described Sarehole, was the inspiration for the Shire, home of the Hobbits; the region’s real life marshy woodland became the fictional Old Forest nestled menacingly on the outskirts of Hobbiton, while a stroll down the banks of Ribbie throw up many associations with Middle Earth.

J. K. Rowling – the Forest of Dean, Chepstow
The phenomenally successful author of the ever-popular Harry Potter series spent her childhood in Tutshill near Chepstow, a town dominated by a castle on a cliff surrounded by the dense Forest of Dean.

In adulthood, the idea for a book about a young wizard came to her during a long train journey between Manchester and London. The setting for the resulting novel was the Hogwarts School For Wizardry, a grand palace taking pride and place on a cliff top overlooking sinister woodland.

In the film versions of the first three Harry Potter stories, Hogwarts is represented in parts by Gloucester Cathedral, a great base for exploring the Forest of Dean.

Jane Austen – Andover, Bath and Hampshire
Like many of her characters, Jane Austen loved the outdoors. Growing up in the tiny hamlet of Stevenson near Andover, she adored walking among the hills. The tiny church of St Nicholas remains largely unchanged since her father was the rector.

When Jane was 25, the Austen family moved to Bath, where the budding novelist sought solace from fashionable city life by walking up the Brecon Hill to the village of Charlcombe, a journey now represented by the Cotswolds Way National Park.

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites. Images on left, clockwise from top: Kilchurn Castle, Constable’s mill reflected in the mill pond, Gloucester Cathedral, Mull of Kintyre, Kilchurn Castle, all © www.britainonview.com.