October 14 marks 100th year of 'Winnie the Pooh' book

October 14 marks 100 years since A.A. Milne's much-loved "Winnie-The-Pooh" book of stories about the friendly, honey-loving bear was published.

The British author has delighted generations of fans with his tales of the bear and his fellow animal friends, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo as well as a young boy, Christopher Robin, modelled on Milne's own son. Their adventures take place in the fictional Hundred Acre Wood, a site inspired by Ashdown Forest, a vast heathland in southern England.

Milne lived on the edge of the forest and drew from his walks with Christopher Robin to pen his stories. The character of Winnie-The-Pooh was inspired by Christopher's toy bear, itself named Winnie after a bear father and son would visit at London Zoo. 

Milne's character made his first appearance in a story published on Christmas Eve 1925 in London's Evening News. His book "Winnie-The-Pooh" was released on October 14, 2026. A follow-up "The House at Pooh Corner" came in 1928.

Ashdown Forest covers more than 10 square miles, and while the landscape has since changed, visitors can see the sites that inspired Milne and were illustrated by E.H. Shepard. These include Pooh Sticks Bridge, Galleon's Lap, Roo's Sandy Pit, the Heffalump Trap and the Enchanted Place, where Christopher Robin bids farewell to his friend.

"The amazing thing is Milne worked so hard to bring the forest into the book," said Neil Reed, owner of the Pooh Corner museum, gift shop and tea room in the village of Hartfield, near to Milne's country home.

"By reading the book, you really get a sense that the Ashdown Forest is part of the story, part of the journey... And Shepard really worked hard to make sure that he captured it in the right way. So the forest really is the glue of the piece."

Pooh Sticks Bridge is where Pooh fans come to play Pooh Sticks, a game created by Milne and Christopher and which features in "The House at Pooh Corner". The original bridge where father and son played was dismantled because of deteriorating conditions and replaced with a new one.

Standing on the upstream side of bridge, the players drop two sticks into the water and then head to the other side to see which one floats down first.

"(Milne and Christopher) used pinecones to start with.. And then he turned it into.. the story in the books. And really, he used sticks because that seemed a bit more accessible, and they probably floated better as well," Reed said. "So, it really was something that started out as a joyous thing for the family, that then the world now travels thousands of miles to visit."

Pooh fans, with a whole new following after Disney acquired the rights in 1961, from all over the world visit Ashdown Forest, where a team work to protect and conserve its nature and wilderness.

"It's such an important thing that we maintain this landscape, and we hope that it's something that people are visiting in another 100 years time," Reed said. "So as we stand here right now, 100 years on from the thing that made the forest the most famous, it's lovely to play a part in the legacy of what we can now achieve for the next hundred as far as the conservation and, looking to how we can really make sure this forest has a safe, sound future."

-Gerhard Mey, Production: Marie-Louise Gumuchian/Reuters