Hobbiton Signage

Signage is often of interest, at least to me, and some of the Hobbiton signage, particularly at the Green Dragon, was quite amusing...

Green Dragon, Hobbiton

The Green Dragon, Hobbiton's pub, warrants attention since it is the only building you can actually enter. Interior filming for LOTR was done on the sound stage in Wellington, of course, and behind most of the Hobbit Hole doors in Hobbiton there's nothing. Moreover, the Green Dragon is a working pub, sort of, open to tour visitors and available for events ranging from proposals to weddings to corporate meetings, etc. All the detail you'd expect from Weta, et al., is there, plus much more, including two ales, a cider, and a ginger beer; and pub fare.

Green Dragon on left, mill on right

"You mean it doesn't come in pints?!"

Guest book, Sir Peter Jackson, top left, the Prime Minister,
top right

Other notables, most notably, Ian McKellen

And Martin Freeman

Great finish to the tour

Hobbiton, 2

Continuing our photos of Hobbiton...

Hobbiton, 1

As students of this blog know, we first visited Hobbiton way back in December of 2008. It was a great experience, as minimal as it was, recounted here. In 2008, it was just the Alexander family, owners of the sheep station where Peter Jackson had built the Hobbiton set as seen in The Lord of the Rings, trying to cash in a bit on the notoriety of their land, with little or no encouragement nor support from the movie-makers. The set had been almost completely removed or destroyed, and there was little to look at except the natural features, an ersatz entrance to Bag End, the Party Tree, and so on. But it was still great.

When The Hobbit trilogy came to filming, Hobbiton had to be rebuilt, according to Jackson's exacting and faithful specifications, and, thanks to the Alexanders' persistence, New Line and others came to their senses and realized that Hobbiton, if left in place and treated with care, could be a serious travel destination. And so it is. For us, it was better than we imagined it could be, particularly with our guide, Michelle from Ottawa, whose knowledge of the books, the films, the Lore, film-making, and so on, was impressive.

Fellow Ringwaifs won't need any description to accompany my photos; it would be wasted on those who are not into the LOTR. So here they are, without narration, in this and the next few posts--a fraction of the couple hundred we took on our visit. If there's anything you miss, let me know--I probably have it!