Mirkwood?

I went for an early morning walk in Lickey Woods today. The frost had melted leaving behind a near freezing fog.

I haven't seen the Hobbit film yet, but I bet Lickey Woods looked spookier than Mirkwood today. Given that Tolkien lived much of his childhood in a cottage in Rednal at the base of the Lickey Hills, I have often wondered whether these woods inspired his fictional ones.