Follow in the footsteps of Winnie The Pooh at Ashdown Park

THERE’S no better celebrity role model for holiday inspiration than Winnie The Pooh.

The honey-loving bear has no concerns about being “beach body ready”, loves going on adventures with his pals and his top pastime is lazing around eating his favourite food in a state of half-undress.

5

5

So it was only right that my weekend away in Pooh’s homeland, the Ashdown Forest, was a blissful combination of woodland walks, eating and general lounging.

Pooh, Piglet, Christopher Robin and co hail from 100 Acre Wood, a fictional setting based in real surroundings near the author AA Milne’s old home in Hartfield, East Sussex.

Fans of the book can pinpoint real-life locations from the books, including Pooh Sticks bridge, where the game was invented.

The original bridge has since been sold for the tidy sum of £131,000, but a new one was built in its place which allowed for plenty of action shots of my mum and I chucking twigs into the water.

A short drive away is a cluster of other locations from the book, helpfully charted on Google Maps, including the Enchanted Place and the Heffalump trap, as well as a memorial to AA Milne with views over the landscape that inspired his tales.

Mr Milne wasn’t the only famous English writer to be drawn to the East Sussex countryside — the area has also been home to another big name in literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

A short drive from Pooh Corner is Windlesham Manor in Crowborough, where the Sherlock Holmes writer spent the last 23 years of his life.

He wrote half of his famous detective novels while living in the historic pad, and the town has erected a statue in his honour.

Stomping across the countryside in pursuit of literary hotspots is a ­tiring business, but we had a first-class place to relax.

We booked into the Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club, an eight-minute drive from Pooh Sticks Bridge and 12 minutes from East Grinstead.

The 19th-century mansion, nestled in 186 acres of landscaped parkland, is perfectly set up for those of us who like to spend a day wandering aimlessly, eating and lounging (the famous bear would approve).

We could have spent two days exploring the grounds, which feature two separate herds of deer — we spotted one within hours of arriving — a lake, a secret garden, tennis courts and an eight-hole golf course.

But instead, we spent a morning walking, followed by a relaxing afternoon in the hotel’s spa, which features an indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, treatment rooms and a relaxation zone.

The property has 106 rooms and suites. Ours was a spacious one in a newer block next to the spa and gym, with a terrace overlooking the grounds and golf course.

I slept like a baby, mainly due to the comfy beds, but also partly down to the two martinis I enjoyed before dinner.

The lovely hotel bar overlooks the lake, but you do pay a considerable price for the view — we were charged £85 for four cocktails.

The hotel offers two dining options — its 2 AA Rosette Anderida Restaurant and a more relaxed brasserie.

We opted for the latter, which offers dishes such as smoked chicken gnocchi, burgers, vegetable linguine and pizza.

Our meal was very tasty, in fact my mum claimed her lemon sole was the best fish dish she’d eaten in a long while.

I believe it was Pooh who said, “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

And that is how we felt after our weekend stay.

We might not have caught a Heffalump, but we found the honeypot.

5

5

5