So, we did our research and headed over to a town called Hartfield, where it all started. A good starting point is a tiny tea room called Pooh Corner. It's on the north end of town, all the action is south of it.
After the shop, you can actually drive right to A A Milnes (the author) house. Well, the road is clearly marked private and it's very quiet, so we only turned on the road, then turned around. The signs scared us, as they probably should. I believe Mr Milne's wife still lives there.
So then you can drive to Pooh Bridge and play Pooh Sticks. If you've read the books or watched the shows, wow, it really comes to life in a magical way.
You can then drive (or actually, it's all within a big hiking distance) to the 500 acre wood - as opposed to the hundred acre wood in the book. It's part of a forest called Ashdown Forest. You can park and walk around - the views are fantastic. It makes perfect sense how such great stories came from the area. There's even an area for Roo's sandy pit, and Eeyores Gloomy Place. They make perfect sense when you see them!
Gills Lap is another name for the area, it's kinda the circular hike around it all. We were surprised to see virtually no signage at all, it felt like we were 25 years before the commercialization of the area. There's one plaque in the forest that commemorates A A Milne and his graphic artist, but that's about it. I loved it!
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