The Winnie-the-Pooh books were written
by A.A.Milne in the 1920s. He lived in London but had a second
home on the edge of Ashdown Forest in Sussex where he and his
family would stay at weekends and during holidays.Ashdown Forest
The Winnie-the-Pooh books were written
by A.A.Milne in the 1920s. He lived in London but had a second
home on the edge of Ashdown Forest in Sussex where he and his
family would stay at weekends and during holidays.
The illustrations for "Winnie-the-Pooh" were drawn by E.H.Shepard. When you look at his pictures you might be puzzled by the fact that there are very few trees although Pooh lives in a forest.
Actually, Pooh lives on a forest; a forest that is mainly heathland with just a few woods, copses, clumps and isolated trees.
Most forests have paths running through
them. On Ashdown the paths run across the forest. You have
to think of the forest as an area of land rather than a lot of
trees.
The Ashdown Forest did have lots of trees once, but they gradually disappeared. Oak trees were cut down to provide timber for building boats. Other trees were felled to provide fuel for the furnaces which produced iron from iron ore.
Although Ashdown Forest has changed since A.A.Milne wrote about Pooh, it is still a very special place, a magical place where you can walk for miles and see no-one, or sit in a quiet spot and dream.