The Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England is a large open area of heathland together with pine, birch and oak woodland in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It is famous as the setting for the excellent 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 in the Ashdown Forest. The Ashdown Forest was once a royal hunting ground and was originally protected by Act of Parliament in 1885.

In winter, when thick with snow, the Ashdown Forest is beautiful and brilliant.

In the forest is the 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.

External links

• The forest's website
• The forest's tourist association's website
• Photographs
• designation as Special Protection Area

Special Protection Areas in England | Forests and woodlands of England | East Sussex | Winnie-the-Pooh | Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex