A fire has blazed through the British forest that once inspired author A.A. Milne to imagine a Hundred Acre Wood and the ramblings of a silly old bear named Winnie-the-Pooh.
The fire at Ashdown Forest in East Sussex in southern England started on Sunday night and lasted until early the next morning, park officials reported in a Facebook post on Monday. It affected at least 37 acres of the forest.
Advertisement
Local officials told the BBC that the fire caught quickly because the forest’s undergrowth was very dry. They expected new growth to erase evidence of the blaze within six months.
In February, two wildfires were started accidentally in Ashdown Forest by volunteers who were conducting a planned burn to manage scrub and gorse.
The forest is composed primarily of heathland, which means it has large open areas dominated by low-lying shrubs and punctuated by a few trees.
Today, the forest is most famous for serving as the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood, home to Milne’s beloved characters Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl and Eeyore.
In the 1920s, Milne had a country home, Cotchford Farm, just north of Ashdown Forest. According to the Telegraph, the idea for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories came to the author as he observed his young son, Christopher, playing in the woods with his toys. Milne compiled the stories he wrote for his son into the 1926 book “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
E.H. Shepard, the illustrator of those classic stories, was also reportedly inspired by the forest’s heathlands, gorse, bracken and clumps of pine trees.
Advertisement
Several real-life locations in Ashdown Forest appear in the stories ― the hilltop Gill’s Lap became Galleon’s Leap, for example.
In his autobiography, Christopher Milne wrote that “Pooh’s Forest and Ashdown Forest are identical.” While the family was at Cotchford, they had to rely mainly on walking for transportation.
“This meant that when we got there we had the Forest almost entirely to ourselves,” wrote Milne. “And this, in turn, made us feel that it was our Forest and so made it possible for an imaginary world ― Pooh’s world ― to be born within the real world.”
Support HuffPost
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.