Anyone remotely aware of Winnie-the-Pooh should know that Ashdown Forest is an Enchanted Place.
The DailyMail.com
It is where A. A. Milne set the stories about his son Christopher Robin and his toys, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh bear.
The bridge where they played Poohsticks, built in 1907, survives, at least in replica — the wood it was made with had rotted by 1999.
It’s not the only Winnie-the-Pooh site, though. Official booklets on Pooh Walks cover Roo’s Sandy Pit, the North Pole, Eeyore’s Sad And Gloomy Place, Galleon’s Lap and the Heffalump Trap.
This magical corner of East Sussex, between East Grinstead and Crowborough, is teeming with unusual wildlife.
‘Forest’ is a misleading term since much of the landscape is heathland. It has international classification as a Special Protection Area for wild birds, such as the nightjar, which comes from Africa to breed here. There are also butterflies galore.
Although the South-East of England is one of the most densely populated areas of Europe, this remains a place of open vistas, where you can walk and wonder.
Forests were important during the Middle Ages, when wood was used to make tools, ships, furniture and houses. Ashdown Forest was given to Edward III’s son, John of Gaunt, for hunting.
t remained a royal forest into the 17th century. Due to its supply of wood combined with deposits of iron ore, Ashdown Forest supported an iron industry in Roman and Tudor times — in 1496 England’s first blast furnace was built at Newbridge.
Within walking distance of Friend’s Clump car park is Nutley Windmill, a 300-year-old open-trestle post mill, in full working order.
Pause for a moment at Airman’s Grave, a memorial to the six-man crew of a Wellington Bomber of the 142 Squadron, which crashed in the forest on July 31, 1941, as part of a 100-plane bombing raid on its way to Cologne.