Winnie-the-Pooh brings 100 years of fame to Ashdown Forest

Christmas Eve marks the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of one of the world’s most popular children’s characters.

Winnie-the-Pooh first featured in the short story The Wrong Sort of Bees, published in the newspaper London Evening News on 24 December 1925.

The bear soon became loved worldwide, alongside Tigger, Christopher Robin, the game of Pooh sticks and the fictional 100 Aker Wood, which was in reality Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, where author A. A. Milne had a country home.

Pooh’s enormous fame still generates substantial income for the area to this day, with £450,000 of public money being used to fund a program of events locally to mark the anniversary.

The Winnie-the-Pooh stories are set in Ashdown Forest, an area of open heathland on the highest sandy ridges of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

In 1925 AA Milne, a Londoner, bought a country home a mile to the north of the forest at Cotchford Farm, near Hartfield.

Winnie-the-Pooh, featuring.

Winnie-the-Pooh, featuring the imaginary adventures of Milne’s son Christopher Robin and his toy bear, was published in 1926 and its sequel, The House at Pooh Corner, in 1928.

There were also two books of poems featuring the much-loved characters.

The original bridge where Milne and his son Christopher Robin created the game Poohsticks became worn and unsafe in the late 1990s.

It was dismantled and replaced with a replica which is still in place in Ashdown Forest.

The original structure sold at auction in 2021 for £131,000.

The honey-loving bear took on a new level of fame when Disney acquired the rights to the stories in 1961.

Pooh Corner has been a gift shop and tea room close to Pooh Sticks Bridge in Hartfield since 1978 and is filled with mementos.

Owner Neil Reed said, “It’s amazing to have people travel to our little village hidden in the English countryside from all over the world to celebrate Winnie-the-Pooh.

“We love hearing from visitors about why this story is special to them and what motivates them to travel so far to visit the Ashdown Forest.”

Pooh Trek Tours has organised guided walks around the forest since 2018, taking in the sites made famous by the books.

Founder Gerry Manser said around 90% of people on his tours came from outside the UK, predominantly from North America.

He said, “The 100th anniversary is an extremely important event for the forest.

“Without Pooh, one of the most remarkable landscapes in the UK wouldn’t be as well-known.”

The commemorations in Ashdown Forest to mark Pooh’s 100th birthday are expected to include an installation, which would transform the forest’s visitor centre into a life-sized pop-up book.

There are also plans to create new walking trails within the forest, designed to avoid protected sites.