Pooh and Felix travel to the little village of Hartfield, East
Sussex, situated appoximately 60 km south of London. Nearby, the
Milne family lived on Cotchford Farm. Little Christopher Robin
played in the woods of Ashdown Forest with his teddybear
Winnie-the-Pooh and his plushtoys Piglet, Tigger,donkey Eeyore,
kangaroo Kanga and Baby Roo.
Best loved by all Pooh fans is Pooh Bridge. There are signs to
mark the way there.
From the parking lot it takes about 10 minutes down a footpath.
It is advisable to take some sticks for the game with you because
next to the bridge you won't find any. And on a little board at
the bridge it reads you are not to damage the trees here.
Hallo,
we finally arrived at the
famous Pooh Bridge! It looks quite new – and it really is:
In 1999 it was rebuilt after the original from 1907. In 1979 it
had been repaired. When it then was reopened Christopher Milne
played a game of Pooh sticks.
There are so many visitors
from near and far that it was necessary to totally rebuild the
famous bridge in 1999. Walt Disney payed for a part of the
expenses, the company paid 15,000 pounds of the total of 46,000
pounds.
Pooh and I had brought some
sticks along. We saw some kids pulling behind them long branches
down the path. We thought that was really overdone. (They can't
flow down the streamlet and are caught at the banks.) We threw
our sticks into the slowly running brook, ran to the other side
of the bridge and .... yes! Hurra! My stick arrived first!
We then went to Gill's Lap,
that is the highest spot in Ahdown Forest. Here you will find
Sandy Pit where Kanga and Baby Roo and also Tigger lived. When we
were there it was not sandy but rather wet...
And, of course, we wanted to
see the Enchanted Place. Christopher Milne chose this site to
remember his father, author A.A. Milne, and E.H. Shepard who
created the wonderful drawings. On the plate it reads: "and by
and by they came to an enchanted place on the very top of the
forest named Galleon's Lap". Here at Gill's Lap are commemorated
A.A. Milne 1882-1956 and E.H. Shepard 1879-1976 who collaborated
in the creation of "Winnie-the-Pooh" and so captured the magic of
Ashdown Forest and gave it to the world.
You have a great view from
here.Pooh then urged to go back. I am sure you can guess why...
Right, he was hungry! We went to a Pub in Hartfield. Of course,
we were not allowed to eat inside, but the menu created by Mike
Ridley from the Pooh Corner Shop on the other side of High Street
we liked very much. We picked out "Pooh's favourite chicken with
coated twigs, funny French Fries and beans".
Refreshed again, we had a look
into shop. Well, there is a special shop in Hartfield with
figures, plush toys, calendars, cards, china, books…. No
wonder, Pooh is the best loved bear in the world.
Love, FELIX