The Tolkien Reading Group (Southampton UK), is also the Southfarthing smial. It has been running since 2005 and meets twice a month to discuss the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
We have read all the major works at least once in that time, and are now working through less familiar material including The Kalevala, The Ntion Club Papers, and The Book of Lost Tales.
The group has a number of ‘virtual’ members who live at such a distance that they cannot join us in person but nevertheless receive blog reports and send their comments when they wish to actively participate in discussions.
We occasionally follow the habit of hobbits and go out for a meal together, choosing dates consistent with Tolkien-related events such as the Professor’s Birthday, Tolkien Reading Day, Midsummer, and Yule.
N. B. Mathom is Old English for treasure
Southfarthing Mathom 2012 
I would like to ask your attention to the following. I’m a Dutch writer (7 books) who just published his first book in English. As I published the book myself, I will have to do the promotion myself. Maybe you can help me a bit, as I think you will like the story:
Four Inklings – Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and Owen Barfield – go on a walking tour together during four days in May, 1938. They walk in the footsteps of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge through the Quantock Hills in Somerset and into Exmoor. They walk and talk with rucksacks on their backs, rain or shine, up- and downhill, through forests and moorland, smoking their pipes and drinking their beer. Never missing a pub. Tolkien has the first chapters of ‘The Next Hobbit’ (later: Lord of the Rings) on his mind, C.S. Lewis is halfway his science fiction trilogy, Charles Williams works on a poem about the Arthurian Legends and Owen Barfield studies the concept of Metaphor. It’s 1938 and dark shadows grow in the East. What do they talk about and what happens on the way? Based on biographies of The Inklings and the individual authors, their books, letters and diaries, this is an enchanting tale about the long-lasting friendship between the (sub)creators of modern myths and fantasy. You are witness to their conversations, you feel their fatigue when they reach a hilltop and you enjoy their humour and wit. It’s almost as if you participate in their journey. And of course – in a way – you do. For as long as you read, the spell isn’t broken and the magic is there for you to experience. May I invite you to a special walking tour? https://amzn.to/2EFFQIe
https://www.facebook.com/An-Inklings-story-265074790801491/?modal=admin_todo_tour
By the way, if you don’t like to click on links, you can also go to Amazon and search on the title of the book: ‘A Rumour of Adventure’ or on my name: ‘Kees Paling’ for more information, the price of e-book/paperback edition and a quick peek into some pages!
Kind Regards,
Kees M. Paling