Science Fiction & Fantasy
Explore the caves at Wookey and Cheddar that inspired Tolkien and Dr Who
|
|
Download the Science Fiction & Fantasy Day Out Itinerary |
View Map of Somerset to plan your day out |
Inspiring the Future and Other Worlds
The unearthly, mystical feel to Somerset’s landscape, and its underlying history of nonconformity, has served to inspire some of the UK’s best fantasy and science fiction writing and broadcasting.
Discover more about Science Fiction & Fantasy in Somerset...
J R R Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, celebrated author of the fantasy classics The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, was brought up in Birmingham and studied at Oxford, signing up to the Army in 1915.
In 1916 he married Edith Bratt, and the pair were granted a brief escape from the First World War, with a seven day honeymoon beside the sea in Clevedon. This included a visit to the Cheddar Gorge which left a deep impression on the newlyweds. Tolkien was to write later that the caves provided the basis for the jewelled caverns that lay in the White Mountains behind Helm’s Deep in Rohan, which were colonised by the Dwarves of Erebor, with Gimli becoming Lord of the Glittering Caves.
Two months later, Tolkein was sent to France and took part in the bitter fighting at the battle of the Somme, which left him with trench fever and no doubt fuelled his imagination for the battle of Helm’s Deep.
Sir Arthur C Clarke
Science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, AC Clarke is most famous for the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which became an Oscarwinning film directed by Stanley Kubrick.
AC Clarke was born in Minehead in 1917, later moving to a farm at Ballifants near Bishops Lydeard. He attended Richard Huish’s Grammar School in Taunton, where his fascination with space began at a young age; he built his first telescope when he was 13.
After serving in the RAF as a radar instructor, Clarke went on to become chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, and devised a system of geo-stationary satellites upon which all modern communication systems are now designed. He wrote a number of non-fiction books about rocketry and space flight, as well as a host of science fiction novels including Prelude to Space and The Fountains of Paradise.
Clarke emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 to pursue his interest in scuba diving, but was always proud of his Somerset roots, returning in 1992 on his 75th birthday when he was made the first Freeman of Minehead.
Terry Pratchett
One of the UK’s best-selling authors, Sir Terence Pratchett is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld novels, of which there are now 37. He lived briefly in Bridgwater during his childhood, showing an early taste for astronomy and the works of AC Clarke.
He was to return to Somerset in adulthood, to Rowberrow near Shipham, when he started work for the Western Daily Press. He published his first novel The Carpet People, a year later in 1971. In 1980 Pratchett became Press Officer for The Central Electricity Generating Board, covering three power stations including Hinkley Point. He went on to write his first Discworld novel The Colour of Magic in 1983, and after 3 more novels, gave up working for the CEGB in 1987 to become a full-time author.
Pratchett moved with his family to Wiltshire in 1993, but has kept strong links with Wincanton in particular, which was officially twinned with the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork in 2002. Wincanton’s dedicated Discworld Emporium Shop stocks a range of Discworld ware and holds events during the year.
In 2007 Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and has since received wide support and publicity for his campaigning on behalf of sufferers and their families.
Doctor Who
The encrusted caverns of the famous Wookey Hole Caves have a 50,000 year history, and served as the perfect location for representing Voga, Planet of Gold in the BBC TV series Doctor Who: the Revenge of the Cybermen, starring Tom Baker in 1975.
