In the Footsteps of Winnie-the-Pooh – Things to do in Ashdown Forest, the Real Hundred Acre Wood,

Like many people, I have fond childhood memories of curling up at bedtime to A. A. Milne’s Pooh stories of Winnie-the-Pooh and his adventures with Christopher Robin, Piglet, and the rest of their furry (and feathered!) friends. As a parent, these stories have become a staple of my own daughter’s bedtime routine. When my sister moved to a woodcutter’s cottage in the real-life Hundred Acre Wood, I jumped at the chance to step into the setting of those well-loved stories with my family and to find our own adventures in some of the enchanted places that inspired them. 

Visiting the forest is a very manageable day trip from London, and offers a good variety of activities for kids and Pooh lovers of all ages. 

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How it Began

The village of Hartfield in East Sussex is where the writer A. A. Milne, and his family, spent vacations out of London at their home at Cotchford Farm, nestled at the edge of Ashdown Forest. The family spent a lot of time in the woods. They developed a close relationship with the area that inspired the much-loved Pooh stories that would become best known as home to the world’s most loved bear. 

Best Way To Walk Through The Woods

You can start many of the walks through the woods from the village, but a number of them have a parking lot at the trailhead. The Ashdown Forest Centre has information and resources on its website, including downloadable maps of the different routes you can take. 

Depending on which route you decide on, the various trails offer opportunities to visit Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Owl’s houses, Roo’s Sandy Pit, the Heffalump Trap, the North Pole, Eeyore’s Sad and Gloomy Place, and Gil’s Lap (Galleon’s Lap from the stories). We chose to do a longer walk of around 6 miles, which would have been too much for our three-year-old daughter to do on her own, but was a good choice for us as we had a backpack carrier with us for when she got tired. My sister’s children (four and six-years-old) are regulars in the woods, so found the walk more than manageable.

Piglet looks down on the forest from his tree-top home – Photo by Alina Bwy

Best Time To Visit The Woods

Visiting in early May, we were lucky to find the forest floor still scattered with bluebells, which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful sights the English countryside has to offer. The dappled light shining through leaves of oak, hazel, and silver birch almost seems to cast a spell over the world beneath the canopy, made all the more magical by the carpets of blue that emerge for only a few short weeks in the spring. 

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A Magic carpet – bluebells dust the forest floor in spring – Photo by Alina Bwy

What To Expect

Ashdown Forest is the largest free-access space in the South East of England, and is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (or currently as a National Landscape). It is home to a number of endangered species, including two birds, the Dartford warbler and European nightjar. There are also protected Silver Studded Blue Butterflies, rare Purple Emperor butterflies, and native Roe Deer. Despite the name, there is actually more heathland in the area than forest, and at certain points the trail led us to open vistas overlooking spectacular views across the Sussex countryside, peppered with clumps of bracken, startlingly yellow gorse, and vibrant purple heather.

Open areas of heathland offer stunning views – Photo by Ashley Gorringe on Unsplash

The path we took wound through the forest past many key characters’ homes, culminating shortly after the Pooh Sticks bridge. We found Owl’s home high in a tree, and greeted Piglet as he looked down on us from his tree-top balcony. Winne-the-Pooh was home when we came to knock, happily surrounded by pots and pots of honey. It took some time to convince my daughter that Pooh would probably rather stay in his cozy nest than come to live at our house, but I did manage it in the end.

Pooh caught eating all the honey at his home in the forest – Photo by Alina Bwy

Pooh Bridge 

If you are looking for a shorter walk, especially with younger children, Pooh Bridge is one of the easiest locations to reach, only a fifteen-minute walk from the Pooh parking lot, and will still take you past Piglet and Owl’s houses, with Pooh’s house just a little further up the trail beyond the bridge. 

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Poohsticks On Pooh Bridge 

I’ve taught many friends the game of Poohsticks over the years, but I was delighted to be able to teach my own daughter how to play for the first time on the bridge where Pooh himself first invented the game! My sister had advised us to gather sticks in the forest on the way to the bridge, as once you get there, you will find the area has been picked clean by other players. We took some time to select the most competitive-looking sticks we could find as we made our way along the trail. 

How to Play Poohsticks

After finding the most hydrodynamic-looking stick, throw it over the upstream side of the bridge into the water at the same time as your competitors (a count of three is helpful). Make sure to take note of your stick’s defining features. Run to the other side of the bridge to watch the sticks emerge. The first stick out is the winner!

One, two, three, race! Fun on Pooh Sticks Bridge – Photo by Alina Bwy

A Cozy Pub Lunch

Following age-old British tradition, we rounded out our walk with a trip to a nearby pub for a well-earned pub lunch. There are a number of good options in the area. We chose the Gallipot Inn, a cozy and charming gastro-pub on the edge of the forest, that serves sophisticated takes on traditional dishes and flavors. We took advantage of the good weather and sat in the pretty beer garden, enjoying the sunshine and views over the surrounding countryside.

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Pooh Corner

We stopped at the Hartfield Playground, a small park in the village, to give the kids some time to play and work up an appetite again after lunch before heading to Pooh Corner, a tea-room, museum, and gift shop. The building dates back to the 1700s, and Christopher Milne, the real-life Christopher Robin, remembers the shop in his memoir, The Enchanted Place,  as the village shop of his childhood, where he would go to buy candies with his nanny. 

There’s a sweet little reading area for young ones to sit down and read with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and the gang, and there is a range of books related to Winne-the Pooh available to buy, as well as a selection of Pooh-themed cards, gifts, and souvenirs. We all enjoyed tea and cake in the charming outside courtyard, and my daughter overcame her disappointment at not being able to adopt Pooh directly from the forest when my sister bought her her very own Pooh toy to take home. 

Pooh and Eeyore enjoy tea at Pooh Corner – Photo by Alina Bwy

When You Go

The Ashdown Forest lies in East Sussex, just over an hour’s drive from London. Another option is to take the train from London to either East Grinstead or Tunbridge Wells, from which you can rent a car to drive to the Ashdown Forest. 

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Where To Stay Near Ashdown Forest

If you wish to stay in Hartfield itself, The Bear Inn is a pub and inn located in the heart of the village, set in a cosy 15th-century manor house.

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Alina Bwy is a freelance writer and educator who lives on Oʻahu. Originally from the U.K., she has travelled extensively through Europe and the United States, and once voyaged across the Pacific aboard a hopelessly romantic, but very leaky boat. When she’s not chasing her toddler, dogs, cat, rabbits, or chickens around, she can be found in the waves, trying to catch a break.