THE ASHA Centre near Flaxley was transformed into Hobbiton on Monday (May 2) to celebrate the fact that part of the gardens have became a magical fairyland.

Lord of the Rings character Gandalf and his team of hobbits, fairies, elves, ents and giants joined dozens of children, as well as Baroness Jan Royall and founder Zerbanoo Gifford, to mark the opening of the centre’s Hobbiton Village.

Zerbanoo, whose idea it was to have somewhere at the centre for children, says: “It seems natural that we should acknowledge the enchanted Forest of Dean that inspired Tolkien.

The children who visited were taken around the grounds in a performance with twenty actors playing characters from the book. Led by Timtom the friendly hobbit, the children flew behind an eagle, heard watermaidens sing, met a naughty goblin and were led around the secret garden by fairies.”

The children finally crossed the bridge to Hobbiton, where they were welcomed home by chief hobbit, played by local landscape gardener Stephen Hall, who laid out the magical gardens. There were over 150 fairies to discover in the garden, including 15 ‘Faerie Houses’, built by ‘Borrage the Builder Elf’ Trevor Smee.

To find out about visting Hobbiton, visit www.ashacentre.org or email [email protected]

*See this week’s Review for more photographs.