VISITING POOH CORNER IN THE ASHDOWN FOREST
Have you ever heard of Pooh Corner? Located in the Ashdown Forest, Hartfield East Sussex, you will find the real home that inspired AA Milnes Winnie the Pooh stories. There is a lovely walk and the most adorable tea shop you can visit. In this post, we’ll be sharing everything you need to know about visiting Pooh Corner.
This is a lovely activity that I would recommend to any Winnie the Pooh or Disney fans. It’s also very family-friendly although there were also lots of people without children enjoying this experience.
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WHERE IS POOH CORNER?
Pooh Corner is the name of the Tea Room. You’ll find it located in the Ashdown Forest which in Hartfield, East Sussex. This is about two hours from London, in the South of England.
The cafe address is: Pooh Corner, High Street, Hartfield, East Sussex, TN7 4AE
They are open 11-5 and 11-4 on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
THE HISTORY OF WINNIE THE POOH IN THE ASHDOWN FOREST
In 1925, AA Milne bought a country house in the Ashdown Forest. This house, Cotchford Farm, was his city escape and he would travel there from London to write in peace.
He was inspired by the surrounding area and his son, Christopher Robin to write most of the Winnie the Pooh stories. Many of the locations in the stories are real places and you can actually visit them. This includes Pooh Corner which was initially a sweet shop Christopher Robin would visit.
EXPLORING THE ASHDOWN FOREST
When visiting the home of Winnie the Pooh, you can’t miss a game of Pooh Sticks. We chose to do this and explore the forest before going to the cafe, of course, you could do this in reverse.
This information leaflet with a map can be purchased from Pooh Corner for £1.50
There are two routes for the walk. The first is around a 40-minute walk starting from Pooh Corner. This route takes you across fields and styles so is not pushchair-friendly (stroller-friendly).
The second, which we did, starts at the car park off Chuck Hatch Lane, postcode: TN7 4EX. From here it’s just a 15-minute walk to the bridge. We decided not to take the pushchair but you could do so on this route. The walk took us a lot longer than 15 minutes with two kids under 5 and on the way back its up hill!
As you walk down from the car park, you’ll be able to spot Owl and Piglet’s houses before arriving at Pooh Sticks Bridge. A few more minutes past the bridge, you’ll find Pooh’s House. It is the most adorable little house with a real Winnie the Pooh stuffie inside. My kids absolutely adored it!
VISITING POOH CORNER
The tea room is adorable and the attention to detail in creating the Winnie the Pooh theme is just perfection. The food was also delicious which I was surprised by.
They don’t accept reservations and it can get busy. Usually busiest at opening time (11 am). When you arrive you can put your name on the waitlist and there is a small Winnie the Pooh Museum and a gift shop you can browse while you wait.
The cafe is well equipt for families with high chairs and baby changing. There is free parking on the street outside the cafe.
WANT THE FULL EXPERIENCE?
I only found this out when writing this post, but you can stay at Cotchford Farm (AA Milnes country house.) With six bedrooms, four bathrooms and a pool, this is the perfect place to base yourself while exploring The Ashdown Forest.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FARM AND BOOK!
Thank you for reading our guide to visiting Pooh Corner Ashdown Forest, I hope you enjoy the real life home of Winnie-the-Pooh!
Happy Exploring,
