We took a bus ride form US to the forest and it only took about 40 minutes to get there. We disembarked and were immediately confronted by wild English countryside and beautiful views in every direction. We took a small hike to our first destination, the Enchanted Spot, rising up from Gal, where the real-life Christopher Robin used to spend his days staring up at the trees and counting them.
Playing around a bit and taking silly pictures, we soaked up the almost quiet magic in this small gathering of trees. It was a very different feeling within the circle than without and it was a great place to start our trek around the forest.
Soon after leaving the clearing we came upon a wall of earth with a very green looking circle sprouting at the base. Because of the amount of rain England receives, the Heffalump Trap from the books was very much less a hole or a trap and much more a small rain-catcher where the greenest of plants grew from the small reserve of water.
Of course, that wasn't the only thing that Sussex's recent rain has kind of changed in the Ashdown Forest scenery -- it also changed Roo's Sandy Pit to more of a… quicksand pit. It was full of water, too, so we didn't venture down in there, and we certainly didn't even attempt to go to Eeyore's Gloomy Spot because, fittingly, it is mostly a bog, and not a very pleasant place to walk to when it's been wet at all.
We had a picnic in the 'nice place for piknicks' then made our way to Poohsticks Bridge and were treated to some gorgeous bits of nature on the walk there.
Once we got there it was picture time!
And time for a think!
Finally, then, it was time to play Poohsticks! We all grabbed our sticks from the area around the bridge and got in a line atop the bridge. It's essentially letting go of a stick at the same time from one side of the bridge, running over to the other side, and seeing whose stick has reappeared on the other side the fastest once the current has carried it underneath you. All of us played, even (or is especially?) Therie, our professor.
I'm not a ship and not a boat,
I am a twig and I can float.
Happy I'll be, if you choose me,
to float away down to the sea.
I am a twig and can be found,
please look for me upon the ground.
You want to play the Poohsticks game,
so pick me up and change my name.
No more a twig, alone and sad,
I'm your Poohstick and feeling glad.
It's good to play, I hope you win,
count to three then drop me in.
Downstream I float, the game is done.
Poohstick island, HERE I COME.
-The Happy Twig: A Poohem, A. A. Milne
We finished the trip with a visit to the tiny town of Hartfield, at the edge of Ashdown Forest, to visit the small gift-and-tea shop there, and that's where I'll leave you.
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