East Grinstead

It is famous as the setting for the Winnie the Pooh stories written by A. A. Milne for his son Christopher Robin. Poohsticks Bridge, Galleon’s Lap, Roo’s Sandpit, the North Pole, the Hundred Acre Wood, Heffelump Trap and The Dark and Mysterious Forest can all be found on Ashdown Forest. Ashdown Forest was once a royal hunting ground and was originally protected by Act of Parliament in 1885.

On the Forest is Ashdown Forest Llama Park.

The Forest was at one time home to a number of Red-necked Wallabies, the result of an escape from a captive colony in what was probably a farm. By the 1940s these were believed to be fully naturalised and breeding; numbers declined, however, and the last confirmed sighting was in 1972. Its importance to wildlife is recognized by its designation as a Special Protection Area. These wallabies, added to the fact that Christopher Robin owned toy Kangaroos, may have been the reason for Kanga and Roo.