North York Moors gets 'Poohsticks' thumbs up

People playing Poohsticks Credit: PA

VisitEngland has compiled a list of the best Poohsticks bridges - the game made famous by Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin,

Alongside the original Poohsticks Bridge in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, Hutton le Hole in the North York Moors comes highly recommended.

A familiar image of Pooh as he played Poohsticks with Piglet and Christopher Robin sold at auction for more than £300,000 last year.

The illustration by EH Shepard - one of the most famous images of Pooh - had been in a private collection for more than 40 years.

It had been expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 but finally went for £314,500 - including buyer's premium - at the sale in London by auction house Sotheby's.

Shephard's ink drawing featured in The House At Pooh Corner, for Chapter 6 "in which Pooh invents a new game and Eeyore joins in".

It accompanies the closing scene of the chapter where the three characters stand on the Poohsticks bridge as the mood changes from the high excitement of their new game to a more wistful atmosphere.

"For a long time they looked at the river beneath them, saying nothing, and the river said nothing too, for it felt very quiet and peaceful on this summer afternoon," Milne wrote.