Prior to my knowledge of the Downs it was difficult for me to find anyone, other than my little brother who I annoy with Tolkien
, who shared a passion for Tolkien's writings. I stumbled upon this site purely by accident, but when I found out that it was a site devoted to the Lord of the Rings I thought that I'd join.
The knowledge of some of the members scared me a bunch, but I soon got the gist of things and have learned many things from the memebers. *couchlegatecough*
Everyone one is accepting of the other members purely on the grounds of if you love Tolkien you are welcomed here.
We got Finns, Swedes, British, Czechs, Russians, Americans, Texans, even people from the Phillipines. The Downs is something extremely special to me, an outlet were you can vent your passion for Tolkien, or just be silly with fellow Tolkien fans.