Tolkien slept here

"This isn’t too far-fetched, since Tolkien visited Iceland before writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the country has been volcanically active for its entire history."
http://www.patricesarath.com/gordath-wood/iceland-erupts-and-the-tolkien-connection/

"One of the places where he is supposed to have found inspiration is the Ribble Valley."
http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com/2010/03/destination-life-tolkiens-middle-earth.html

"My mom’s mates had a house up on the bluff of a mountain range (The Hogsback) which overlooked a valley so idyllic and verdant it inspired Tolkien’s Middle Earth landscape after he visited it."
http://shegoes.com.au/featured/where-is-the-most-romantic-place-you-have-ever-been

"For decades academics and Tolkien experts have pondered over the inspiration for Middle Earth, home to hobbits, Harfoots and mystical mountains. But as the second film in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, is released across Europe and the US on December 18, residents of northwest Scotland believe they have found its origins: Sutherland, with its midges and unforgiving weather, was where Middle Earth all started."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20021117/ai_n12579287/