London (with captions): An Unexpected Journey (There and Back Again)

Last weekend, I headed out to the historic site, The Vyne. The Vyne was home to two families, the Sandys and then later the Chutes. It was part of an old Tudor palace and was fit to entertain the likes of King Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth I. Getting there, I took a train from Waterloo to Basingstoke, there I had to wait about 40 minutes for my next train and then off to Bramley. From the train station, I set out on my journey. Having mapped out my path before hand, I knew that there was going to come a point where I wouldn't be walking on pedestrian paths anymore, but just along the side of the road. I was lucky to have found The Vyne car park, and by cutting through there, cut down the walking distance of my journey (and the risk of getting hit by a car!).
The reason I was off to The Vyne was for a small exhibition on a cursed Roman ring. It is believed that this ring was behind the inspiration of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel The Hobbit. However, there is much speculation behind this claim, and it's not certain whether this is true or not.
Some history behind the ring, it belonged to a man named Silvianus, which was stolen by a man named Senicianus. Silvianus asked the god Nodens to curse Senicianus, offering half of the ring's worth in coins. Inscribed on the ring is "Senicianie vivas iin de[o], which they translated as "Senicianus live in God." Something that I don't understand, because if the ring belongs to Silvianus, then why is Senicianus's name on the ring? (Oh well.) The ring was discovered in 1785, by a farmer. The curse tablet that they connected to the ring was found in the 19th century at a Roman temple in Gloucestershire. This is when Tolkien comes in. He was asked to do some work on the tablet and research on the name 'Nodens', the god that the curse tablet was offered to. Again, however much the Vyne Ring, or 'Silchester Ring' influenced Tolkien is unknown.
I also explored around the actual Vyne house and the outside as well. I was lucky to have been blessed with such a BEAUTIFUL day. Blue skies, nice wind, and the sun! It was refreshing being out and away from the city, also to be in an area of true nature. The Vyne was down south, and wasn't just some park in the middle of a city. It was the great outdoors (a place I don't get out to that often to be honest.)
I'd talk more about The Vyne, but to be quite honest, I was only there for the ring. It was a fun and unexpected adventure. Speaking of the unexpected, just wait until my next post. I'm working on it right after I wrap this one up. You'll probably see it before you read this build up to it though. Meh, doesn't matter. :)