One of the most positive things to come from lockdown and being furloughed for the majority of this year and being unable to travel to many countries overseas is that I have discovered places on or near my own doorstep that I never knew existed.  One of these places is Ashdown Forest in East Sussex – home of Pooh Corner and the real life setting and inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood from the Winnie the Pooh stories by AA Milne who lived in the area and based places in the books with real life locations nearby.  Having grown up with these stories that I loved, I knew I had to visit.

Before the day of our visit, I downloaded a map onto my phone of the Winnie the Pooh walks from the Ashdown Forest website.  There are two walks that you can do which will take you to all the notable locations from the books – the Short Pooh Walk is 0.6 miles (1km) and the Long Pooh Walk is 2 miles (3.25km). Where possible in this blog post, I have linked all the locations of car parks and other places to Google Maps to help with driving directions and to make your planning and day out that little bit easier.

However our first stop was to visit Pooh Bridge to play a game of Pooh Sticks just as Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh and friends had done in the stories.  We parked at the Pooh Car Park (which was clearly signposted) and as we visited early in the day, there were plenty of car parking spaces available and parking is also free of charge making this an inexpensive day out.   To get to Pooh Bridge from the car park, simply follow the path and the walk should take about fifteen minutes.

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The walk is very easy and the first thing you will see on your right hand side once you leave the car park are some Eeyore houses made from sticks.  My top tip is to pick up some sticks from this area and carry them with you ready for your game of Pooh Sticks as there are hardly any sticks to be found on the ground by the bridge once you get there.

Pooh Bridge is signposted but as long as you stay on the path and keep walking you will reach it without any difficulty. Make sure to keep your eyes open on the walk as Owls House can be found on the right hand side high up in one of the trees.

There was already a few people playing Pooh Sticks at the bridge once we arrived so we just waited to one side before taking our turn to play.  If you have never played Pooh Sticks before, the rules are simple: you all drop a stick from the upstream side of the bridge into the water below and whoever’s stick appears first on the other side of the bridge wins.

We played five rounds of Pooh Sticks and despite both of us losing one stick each somewhere under the bridge that never reappeared, we ended up drawing two-all which was a good result and a fun way to pass a few minutes. Despite being brought up on the Winnie the Pooh stories, I never knew that this bridge even existed or that I would end up playing Pooh Sticks here myself like Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh once did.

After playing Pooh Sticks, we walked back to the car and drove less than five minutes to our next stop at Gill’s Lap Car Park – the starting point for the Pooh Walks. It’s a good idea is to bring a picnic with you on your day out as there are many beautiful places to stop and sit down along the way. If nothing else, make sure to bring a bottle of water with you on the walk if it’s a warm day.

From the car park, walk north along the track parallel to the main road until you reach Gill’s Lap (Galleons Lap in the Winnie the Pooh books) which is the group of tall pine trees on the right which is also known as The Enchanted Place. Christopher Robin knew that it was enchanted as no one had ever been able to count if there were sixty three or sixty four trees there.

To get to the next stop, walk straight across the path from where you entered The Enchanted Place and along the narrow track towards a lone pine tree growing in a hollow which is The Heffalump Trap where Winnie the Pooh and Piglet attempted to catch a Heffalump.

To get to the AA Milne and EH Shepard memorial, walk back to the main path and turn left and walk towards the group of trees ahead on the left. From here there is a beautiful view across Ashdown Forest and beyond. If you just wanted to visit this memorial without having to walk from Gill’s Lap, the closest car park is Piglet’s Car Park which is located nearby.

If you walk back along the path, you can find Roo’s Sandy Pit on the left which is a disused quarry – and not so sandy anymore. This is the final stop on the Short Pooh Walk and from here you can walk back past The Enchanted Place towards Gill’s Lap Car Park. This walk is approximately thirty minutes and is the perfect length if you have younger children with you.

To continue onto the Long Pooh Walk, take the small path past Roo’s Sandy Pit towards the main road through the Quarry Car Park. Cross the road and follow the trail straight ahead and around to the left into the woodland below. This is the route that Winnie the Pooh took on his “Expotition” to the North Pole which is located by the bridge at the bottom of the valley.

After crossing the bridge and leaving the North Pole, walk up the track (this is the hardest part of the walk until it levels out) and turn right at the top when you reach the t-junction. Follow the path around the edge of the valley and Eeyore’s Gloomy Place is located somewhere in the valley below. Thankfully the day I visited, it was not gloomy at all – it was beautiful and I could even see the planes overhead taking off from Gatwick Airport in the distance.

Carry on walking along the trail around the valley and you will eventually reach the main road and Gill’s Lap Car Park where you parked your car and started the walk. The total time for both walks from leaving the car to arriving back was an hour and twenty minutes. I would definitely recommend doing the Long Pooh Walk if you can as apart from a small uphill section, it was an easy walk and the views were beautiful the whole way.

Once we were back in the car, we drove five minutes to the village of Hartfield where Pooh Corner is located. There is some free street parking available but if it is busy, you may need to park a little further down the road and walk back.

At this time if you want to visit the Pooh Corner tea room for something to eat or drink after doing the Pooh Walks, make sure to make a reservation on the Pooh Corner website as there are only a limited number of tables available due to the current Coronavirus restrictions. If visiting the gift shop or the “Pooh-Seum”, you will also need to bring a face covering with you and wear it at all times whilst inside the building.

The “Pooh-Seum” is free of charge to visit and features a large collection of various AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh memorabilia from around the world. I loved reading and looking at all the displays and even laughed when I saw a few Tigger items that I own myself – Tigger was my first love and has always been my favourite. And yes, something involving Tigger may have been purchased in the gift shop too!

Visiting Pooh Corner and the Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest was a great day out close to home and a fantastic way to relive some childhood memories. I hope my directions are useful and help you to plan your day out and I hope you have as much fun visiting Winnie the Pooh and friends as I did.

Since this blog post was written back in 2020, some of the information may no longer be accurate or up to date. Be sure to do your own research and check official websites for the latest details before making any of your own travel plans.

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