Hartfield and the Pooh Circular

Ian Runcie

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A circular walk around Ashdown Forest, starting at the delightful village of Hartfield and taking in many of the places associated with the Winnie the Pooh books, including Pooh Bridge.

I like The Ashdown Forest in bad weather; cold, wet and windy is when it is at its best. Although, as this is the civilized South East, bad weather rarely reaches more than inconvenience levels, except for one night back in '87 when the hurricane struck and changed the face of Sussex woodlands overnight.

This walk starts at the pleasant village of Hartfield where there are two pubs, The Anchor and The Hay Wagon, both of which sell decent food. It follows the Wealdland Way for a time and visits many of the places mentioned in the two Winnie the Pooh books by A A Milne, culminating in a crossing of the famous Pooh Bridge. Larger parties may like to start at Gills Lap car park (Waymark 10), as parking within Hartfield is limited.

Walk 4664 is a shorter alternative for younger walkers, which also takes in Pooh's favourite places.

England - South England - East Sussex - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Good for Kids, Great Views, Pub, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland

9/14/2021 - Claire Edwards

Lovely walk with great directions. Had a delicious lunch at The Anchor Inn in Hartfield at the end

2/27/2018 - David Alliker

We have just completed this walk - enjoyed very much muddy in parts but to be expected Sunday Roast at The Anchor after the walk.

12/8/2012 - claire gent

Dog-friendly - Stiles have access for dogs, mainly off-road, only a few fields with livestock. Lovely walk with great scenery. Muddy in places.

9/16/2011 - Walkingworld Administrator

Our thanks to Ian Runcie for his rewrite of this walk avoiding the closed path. August 2011. Adrian (Admin)

7/31/2011 - Robert Luke

5/16/2011 - Temather Alrubaie

6/14/2010 - Judy Brua

This is a great walk. Even though we were walking it on a sunny Sunday morning, we saw no one until after Waymark 9. Beautiful scenery, love the woods. The directions are very good, but we lost concentration near the end after Waymark 18 and missed one sign that said 'The Village' as opposed to 'Hartfield' and ended up on the wrong road, so turning right was bad news. But that was more our fault than the directions.

6/28/2009 - Carl Pheasant

Very pleasant walk. Started from Gills Lap Car Park and I think this is the best way as it leaves you in Hartfield for a nice lunch (great pint of Lewes Ale :) ). Preferred part of the walk was the walk from Hartfield down trough the 500 Hundred Acre Wood. Few other walkers and lovely fields and woodland.

3/18/2009 - Walkingworld Administrator

Ian has updated this walk to take into account the recent comment. Hopefully Pooh and any friends will remain on course from now on. Thanks Ian.

2/15/2009 - Tanya Nash

15/02/09 Beautiful location but the directions in the wood disappeared and we got quite lost. (bit like in a Pooh story) Also found the directions in general a bit vague compared to last walk I did from this site. It is a good walk though.

1/10/2007 - trevor saunders

Walked this route on 7.1.07. Was easy to follow and very enjoyable despite thick mud everywhere. We wondered how much timber has been thrown under pooh bridge over the years, we had to fight our way past a gang of kids to have a go!