In Which We Bicycle to the 100 Aker Wood

When we very first came to Brighton for a short stay at the end of 2008, we looked into going to Pooh Corner and Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, the stomping grounds of A.A. Milne’s son Christopher Robin, and inspiration for many of the stories and landmarks in Winnie the Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). But it looked difficult to get there via public transportation, and we just never mustered the courage to hire a car. We still haven’t. But this time around, we have bicycles and long days, which gives us plenty of time to putter around the countryside and still get home before dark.

We trained to East Grinstead, changing at East Croyden. We’re getting the hang of traveling with the bicycles, but it is a bit stressful locating the proper bike car & loading the bikes before the train departs. We had a bizarre exchange with a Doctor Who fan who was sitting opposite our bicycles. He made some comment about using his anti-gravity powers to keep the bikes from falling when we were unstrapping them. Then I made the mistake of asking him, “Who is your favorite doctor?” (He was wearing a t-shirt that read “You Never Forget Your First Doctor” with a picture of the Tardis on it.)

“Yes!” he said, grinning. Then I got the joke and nearly embedded my palm in my forehead for the remainder of the day. The Dr. Who fan grinned. Then he pulled out three different “sonic screwdrivers,” each one a different model from different eras of the show, and showed them off.

We managed to get our bicycles off the train without encountering any time anomalies. That I know of.

And off we rode, through East Grinstead looking for the trailhead to the Sussex border path.

Here it is:

The Sussex border path is a 159-mile corridor open only to foot traffic, cyclists, and equestrians. It is, to use the vernacular, brilliant. Nice and wide, not too rocky, and fairly level. Most of the time we rolled through farms and fields, but there was lovely shade from trees framing the path.

This is how green it was:

This is how fast I was going:

Eat your heart out, Tardis!

But too soon, it was time to leave the Sussex border path and head into the hills on smaller bridleways, into Upper Hartfield.

And after a mile or so on streets, we went off-road again into a spectacular descent. You know I don’t take pictures of descents because I need two hands and all my concentration so as not to hit a rut and fall off the bike. But it was spectacularly down. And that kind of descent inspires mixed feelings in a cyclist like me. I’m so glad to be going down, but I can’t help but wonder just how bad the next up is going to be. And heaven forbid we have to turn around and eventually and retrace our steps.

At the bottom was this handy sign:

The sign pointed us down another steep hill, heavily wooded, and just before it levels out at the bridge, I saw a little door:

The sign says, “RNIG ALSO.”

And then the bridge where Christopher Robin & the gang played poohsticks:

We had come equipped for a game:

The game is this: each player drops a stick on the upstream side of the bridge. Then everyone watches and cheers as the sticks are carried under the bridge. The winner is the first stick to emerge on the downstream side of the bridge.

We tossed our sticks in, joining a long line of Pooh fans who have played before us. Unfortunately, their sticks are all still there. Stuck.

So that didn’t work too well. Disappointed, we sat down and read a little A.A. Milne, while some other fans came and added more sticks into the gigantic poohsticks dam under the bridge.

After the others had left, Sam wanted to try the game again. To our amazement the stick dam was broken up a tiny bit now, and our final contestants floated partway under the bridge!

Satisfied, we made preparations to depart. But Sam wanted to see if the silly old bear was at home:

He wasn’t. But when he does come home, he’s going to find a lovely jar of honey for his smackerel:

Are Pooh fanatics any different from Dr. Who fanatics?

Don’t answer that.