The Winnie-the-Pooh stories are set in Ashdown Forest, an area of open heathland on the highest sandy ridges of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
In 1925 AA Milne, a Londoner, bought a country home a mile to the north of the forest at Cotchford Farm, near Hartfield.
Winnie-the-Pooh, featuring the imaginary adventures of Milne’s son Christoper Robin and his toy bear, was published in 1926 and its sequel The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.
There were also two books of poems featuring the much-loved characters.
The original bridge where Milne and his son Christopher Robin created the game Pooh sticks became worn and unsafe in the late 1990s.
It was dismantled and replaced with a replica which is still in place in Ashdown Forest.
The original structure sold at auction in 2021 for £131,000.