Pooh Sticks and the real Hundred Acre Wood

Pooh Sticks looks like a simple game, until you’re standing on the real bridge where it all started, in Ashdown Forest watching your stick float on the water underneath the slats and realising Winnie the Pooh began right here in a living landscape. Join Adventurer Phoebe Smith as she travels to East Sussex to find the real Hundred Acre Wood behind the 100 year old Winnie-the-Pooh story. Along the way she meets the people who protect it today and learns why the open heathland – rarer than tropical rainforest – needs our help. 

Also coming up:

• Author and dog-friendly travel specialist Lottie Gross on the best and worst countries in Europe for taking your canine companion to
• Travel Hack: How to travel like Pooh Bear
• 10 literary destinations lifted straight out of your favourite children's books
• Meet the woman who has dedicated her life to helping stray dogs and the volunteers who look after them in Greece through the charity Starlight Barking
• Gear chat: what to pack in destinations with a large stray dog packs
• Simona Kossak – who lived in a hut in Poland's Białowieża Forest with a lynx, boar and crow – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If Pooh's wisdom and legacy helps you plan your next trip do subscribe, share with a friend who needs some inspiration, and leave a quick review to help more travellers find us. Now pull on your big boots and get ready for your next adventure to happen...

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

On this month's Wander Woman podcast.

Speaker 2 0:02

People probably around the world will play Pooh Sticks. They probably don't know why it's called Pooh Sticks, or that there is a bridge that it started from.

Speaker 1 0:12

I head to Hundred Acre Wood, aka Ashdown Forest in England's East Sussex, on the trail of one of the most famous bears in the world, Winnie the Pooh, who has just celebrated his 100th birthday. I also chat to dog-friendly travel author and expert Lottie Gross about why you really can take your canine family with you on your next holiday.

Speaker 5 0:31

I actually don't care about your dog afternoon teas and your dog cocktails and your dog menus, what I need is a towel that I can dry him off with when we come in for a rainy or muddy walk.

Speaker 1 0:44

And continuing with our animal-themed episode, I meet the woman whose charity, Starlight Barking, helps provide forever homes for stray dogs in Greece.

Speaker 0:53

We used to find puppies in ditches, that kind of thing. And basically, we we we found homes and we we did actually rescue back in the 80s the very, very, very first dog from the island of Zante.

Speaker 1 1:04

Also coming up, inspired by Pooh Bear, we consider how to travel more simply in my monthly travel hack. Discover 10 of the best literary destinations that have found their way into kids' books and, in my regular gear section, I help you best dress for destinations where stray dogs can be an issue. Finally, I'll be revealing this episode's Wander Woman of the Month, the traveller whose name is lost in the history books. You're listening to the Wander Woman Podcast, an audio travel magazine with me, adventurer Phoebe Smith, exploring off the beaten track destinations, wild spaces, wildlife encounters, and the unsung heroes behind conservation efforts. Come wonder with me.

Speaker 2 1:44

I'm gonna go for a short one,

Speaker 1 1:45

but I'm gonna go longer now. Okay, you ready?

6 1:49

No, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1 1:52

Three, two, one, go!

Speaker 1 1:55

In the southern reaches of England, deep in a medieval hunting forest, amid 6,500 acres of Heathland, a wooden bridge spans a tributary of the River Medway. And every single day, no matter the weather, people flock to stand on its slats and cheer on sticks as they float downstream. I know this, because right now I'm stood with two such adults, jumping up and down with delight as my little piece of oak storms ahead and wins the race.

6 2:26

It's yours, no?

Speaker 1 2:27

Yeah?

6 2:28

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 2:30

Yours is second.

Speaker 1 2:31

The game is Pooh Sticks, originally described by Milne in Winnie the Pooh, published in 1926, inspired by the game he and his son, Christopher Robin, would play on Posingford Bridge in Ashdown Forest, aka 100-acre wood in East Sussex.

Speaker 2 2:50

If we were to go further that way, that would be the house where the author, A. A. Milne, and his son lived with his mother, Daphne, the uh A. A. Milne's wife. And they literally would have walked down this path up onto the forest over this bridge. And together as a father and son, they created this game, Pooh Sticks. Yeah, which feature in the stories that are in the books. So that's why it's become become a really sort of iconic place. Uh, and it's such a fun game. And now people probably around the world will play Pooh Sticks. They probably don't know why it's called Pooh Sticks, or that there is a bridge that it started from, but because it's become a kind of a again a global phenomenon, it's a thing.

Speaker 1 3:35

That was the voice of Beth Morgan, ranger for Ashdown Forest. To mark the 100th anniversary of the book, a programme of free cultural events is planned for this summer, here in throughout the country, including interactive performances by the Curious Adventurer, a puppet brought to life by ten puppeteers put on by Trigger, that's not Tigger, known for their huge impressive puppet shows. Five new walks themed around different species found here are also launching too. The Dartford Warbler, Tiger Beetle, Adder, Dormouse, and Silver Studded Blue Butterfly. Encouraging people to explore more of the forest and learn more about both the imaginary and real animals that call the place home. And it's the forest, the real place behind one hundred-acre wood that I wanted to know more about. And so Beth enlightens me.

Speaker 2 4:25

You will see as we drive round, a lot of people will say, where are the trees? Because it's not like a Sherwood forest or others that are dense trees. It's actually today 60% Heathland and 40% woodland. And in fact, if we went back 100 years to when the Mill family were here, it would have been probably 10% woodland. Oh wow. And even more open. And that's really what we're striving for is not to get back probably to that 10%, but not to let the woodland encroach anymore because it is actually an open heathland. The reason it's really important. It's one of, you know, if you I think globally, it's rarer than tropical rainforest.

Speaker 1 5:10

You heard that right. It's a habitat rarer than tropical rainforest, and one that right now is actually threatened. Until Brexit, the forest used to receive half a million pounds from EU grants, which was vital to their conservation work in stopping the heath being encroached. Now they are in constant shortfall. But the hope is that the anniversary plans will bring in more visitors to help fund the conservation work that's being done to stop the heath from being encroached. I asked how it was done, expecting a high-tech method. She told me first about it being cleared mechanically and burned, but the next method was more low-tech and very fitting for a place made famous by animals.

Speaker 2 5:50

We also have grazing livestock, so we have the Conservators has uh Exmoor ponies, Riggit Galloway cattle, and Hebridian sheep. And we are allowed to graze 50 hectares of the forest at any one time, which isn't very much.

Speaker 1 6:04

No, not really.

Speaker 2 6:05

When it's it's two and a half thousand hectares altogether. So we basically have them in temporary pens and move them around, and where we might have gone in and taken taken some of the gorse and the bracken out mechanically, then it starts to grow back up again. That's when we put the grazing livestock on there, and they'll do a great job, and they don't even know they're doing any work. They'll just come and eat and help manage that regrowth and keep it down.

Speaker 1 6:31

Yep, ponies, cattle, and sheep are what's helping preserve and conserve Pooh Bear's home. Beth took me to see some. You see the ponies,

Speaker 2 6:40

yeah, they're quite camouflage as well. And you can see the one on the left of the tree, it's just something. Yeah, I think there's five of them out there altogether, so yeah, spot the pony time. Um so what happens, in fact, we've just had our contractors come in here, and this would have been really thick gorse. You couldn't have seen through that before. They cut it or they uh grub it up and then mulch it into what you can see here on the left, and then that will then be taken off the forest. Um, in some places, like probably over there, they're burning it because it's either it's too difficult to get it off the forest, yeah. Um, or again, it doesn't make sense from a sort of uh what do they do to just take it somewhere else to cut? It's taken for compost, it's taken to compost, um, and you know, things like that. So, yeah, it's it's used again, but in places where it will be nutritious, yeah. So the soil we have here, and in fact, Heathland thrives on a really poor, low-nutrient soil. So we don't want anything kind of enriching the soil. So it's all kind of the opposite of what you'd think. You'd like forest should have trees, the ground it should be growing. It's like, no, we want it to be really poor, yeah, because that's what heather thrives on. Yeah. Um, so that's why we ask all our visitors who have dogs to pick up the dog poo and take it away with them because it adds richness, it adds nutrients, and also, of course, it's not very nice if you step in it. Yeah. Um, but from an ecological perspective, where we say, Yeah, please leave no trace, take your poo away with you.

Speaker 1 8:12

From taking away actual poo to bringing people into the forest because of Pooh, no trip is complete without doing the only official Pooh walk in the entire area of Ashdown Forest. And you might be surprised to learn it's not Disney-fied or branded, it's not even waymarked. But thanks to a map offered at the visitor centre, you can visit some of the key places from the books.

Speaker 2 8:35

This is the Heffalump Trap. So obviously, any heffalump that would come along would fall into it, and that would be, you know,

Speaker 1 8:41

It's from the book.

Speaker 2 8:42

It's from the book.

Speaker 1 8:43

Stood by a lone pine with views over what is known as the Weald, I could see E. H. Shepherd's sketches transposed onto this landscape. I wandered amid clumps of trees punctuated with purple heather, aka the enchanted place. I gazed down on Rue's sandy pit, actually an old quarry, and Beth pointed out some of the spots.

Speaker 2 9:05

So, in between here and there, this is Eeyore's gloomy place, and the North Pole is in that valley as well. It's called Wren's Warren Valley, and it's beautiful. If you're gloomy, it's a great place to come because you won't be gloomy for much longer.

Speaker 1 9:19

After our walk, we went to Pooh's Corner. Yes, actually, a former post office in the village of Hartfield to the north of the forest. Now it's a tea room, gift shop, and museum, owned by Neil Reed, a man once hired to sell the business but who fell in love with it and ended up buying it instead.

Speaker 3 9:37

We obviously offer people a lovely hearty meal if they've just come off the forest. Um, and and actually somewhere to really explore it further. Because so many people have either grown up watching the movies or reading the books. But really, the fascinating story for us is to take people on a journey as to how it happened. Who is A.A. Milne? Who is E.H. Shepherd? And ultimately, the my my absolute favourite person on the planet is who is Christopher Milne.

Speaker 1 10:04

Neil's Small Museum tells that story through school photos of Milne, newspaper cuttings, including the first Pooh article that ran in London's Evening News on Christmas Eve 1925, and even a note from Milne's former science teacher H. G. Wells. All this, alongside the understated illustrations of E. H. Shepherd and the more gaudy Disney souvenirs who acquired the rights to Pooh back in 1966. Over the time I spent there, I learned that the name Winnie came from a bear in London Zoo that Christopher Milne fed when he was little, conflated with the name he gave to a swan as a way of letting him say a naughty word, "poo". I learned that he hated the fame that came from his father's books and refused any money from his namesake character.

Speaker 3 10:53

He had a mum and a dad who fell in love with the fame and the money. So it's such an amazing story that such a difficult childhood, although a beautiful one. He would always say it was a beautiful childhood. Yeah. Turned into such a complex and difficult teenage years as he was bullied for some of the things that his parents put him through. Um Pooh Corner exists, and we're actually talking in a lovely little room just at the front of the building. This was actually the village sweet shop around the time that the books were being written. And Christopher would wake up in the morning and his mother would give him ten questions from the New York Times or the Tokyo Gazette or the Australia whatever Globe. Um I heard that for accuracy, I don't know what they'd be called now. Um, but that basically he would be given these questions and he would answer them, sometimes begrudgingly, because at the end of the day, he's just a young boy. Yeah. And all they ever wanted to know was about the character. So he had to understand that his role was not about him, it was it was almost about the character because he didn't have the confidence to talk about him. It was about what people perceived as the book, which probably he hadn't even written read in a weird kind of way. Um so part of his growing up would be that with Nou, his nanny, she would take him up on the forest, or his dad would, and they'd they'd have fun. And actually, to be fair, Daphne and Alan, as parents, did help Christopher explore the storytelling through their work with the teddy bears, but it was Alan that took it further. Yeah, um, but Christopher, one of his favourite things to do was to literally he'd get on his donkey, because he did have a donkey.

Speaker 1 12:24

He did.

Speaker 3 12:24

Do you want to know what it was called?

Speaker 2 12:27

Eeyore?

Speaker 3 12:28

No, Jessica. And um he would park Jessica just outside the shop here, and he would come in here and buy sweets. And the ladies behind the counter realized very early on that it was a tough life for him. So they never asked him about the character, they always asked how Chris was. So Chris learnt that actually there was a safe place here, and this is somewhere he then came down and he would he would engage with them and he felt safe here, which is why it's a fitting tribute to him. Strange enough that it's called Pooh Corner.

Speaker 1 13:02

It's so strange to think that a legacy that brought so much happiness also brought Christopher Milne some hardship. But amid all that, he never lost his love for the forest and even campaigned to protect it later in life. I spent the night in an Unplugged cabin, very Winnie the Pooh, with no TV and where you lock away your phone to switch off and picture windows on all sides provide the entertainment in the form of the forest and its real creatures. The next day I walked through the woods unguided and ended up at a vineyard called Birchden, where amid the grapes I realised I had followed Pooh's trail anyway when the estate manager John revealed that there was something else made at this place.

Speaker 4 13:47

We have bees on site and we produce some glorious, raw, unfiltered honey, which which Pooh would have loved. A lot of people think that they're the bees go and they do pollinate flowers, but actually it's it's the trees which are all important. So because we're in the broad for broadwater forest here, they've got access to all sorts of things, and also neighbouring Erridge Park, which is a um you know very 600 years established Abergania estate, ancient woodland with flowering chestnuts and all sorts of other species of uh of beautiful trees. So the bee the bees gravitate. I mean they are in one of the the most sort of fertile places to produce really kind of beautiful tasting honey.

Speaker 1 14:34

The more time I spent in Ashdown Forest, the more I realised Pooh may be what brings people here, but beyond the funny, friendly bear is a real place with real people, real animals. And while they may not be the versions found amid the pages of a children's book, they are all beautiful and well worth saving. As Beth said, while we were walking on the stony path coated in a late frost.

Speaker 2 14:59

You can follow and live quite literally in the footsteps of you know um A.A. Milne and Christopher Robin. And then what we want to do as a forest is say, yes, that's a wonderful story.

Speaker 1 15:09

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:10

Um but yes, look at this forest, it's been here for centuries. It's very, very special on a number of levels. We want to keep it that way and make sure that it's here for you know the next hundred years.

Speaker 1 15:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:23

So we're looking back in 2026 at what happened 100 years ago. Now we want to say, okay, let's look forward and make sure that people not just fall in love with the Pooh stories and Pooh himself, but fall in love with the forest and fall in love with yeah, this this really special place.

Speaker 1 15:39

And so they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his bear will always be playing.

Travel Hack: Be more Pooh on your travels

Speaker 1 15:53

That was me pulling on my big boots ready for an adventure to happen. For me, it was the beautifully understated line drawings of E. H. Shepherd in A.A. Milne's books that introduced me to Winnie the Pooh as a child, rather than a Disney cartoon. But in all my years I never realised it was based on a real place and a real person. Being able to stand on the bridge and drop a stick in the water where the real Pooh Sticks game was invented blew my mind. I recommend you go there soon, or in fact go to any bridge close to you and relive your childhood memories. Another way you can get more in tune with your childlike state is to make your travels a lot less complicated. Benjamin Hoff wrote the Tao of Pooh back in 1982 and it quickly became a bestseller. The core idea is that the philosophy of the East, Taoism, is remarkably similar to the big-hearted bear who is unerringly loyal, kind, friendly, thoughtful, and calm. He's also simple and quietly optimistic. These are all valuable lessons through which to travel. So inspired by both, here is a handful of travel hacks to be a bit less ruffled.

Speaker 1 17:04

Firstly, practice the uncarved block. In Taoism, this is cultivating a state of simple, authentic, and uncarved potential. For travel, it's about being natural and unforced. Resist over planning, over-researching, and over-optimising. Let the place reveal itself rather than trying to tick everything off. Allow time to explore and for serendipity to take its course. Pooh embodies the Taoist concept of Wu Wei? The idea of not doing or effortless action. This is about going with the flow rather than forcing outcomes. missed the train? Took a wrong turn? Let the day unfold. You can't, after all, control everything.

Speaker 1 17:45

The flip side of this is Bisy Backson, Hoff's antithesis of Pooh. Always rushing, always busy. Don't plan your itinerary to the minute. Leave space for sitting, wondering, flaneur, like watching, but not doing very much. It leaves time to enjoy the simple pleasures and joys in life. A kindly encounter, a lingering drink on a terrace, a slow walk around a church, taking time to enjoy the minutiae of the building, making sure to really taste that honey.

Speaker 1 18:18

Closely linked to this is also trusting your own nature. Pooh is Pooh. And nothing ever changes that. In the same way, you be you. You don't need to follow an Instagrammer to experience a place. You need to follow your own intuitions. Travel in a way that suits you. Hoff, in particular, contrasts Pooh's natural curiosity with overthinking. You don't need to understand everything. You just need to roll with it. Not everything needs to be efficient or make immediate sense. Just remember that, 12 hours into a Mumbai to Delhi train ride.

Wander Woman Meets: Dog-friendly travel expert Lottie Gross

Speaker 1 18:55

That was my Wander Woman Travel Hack, the advice I dole out every month to allow you space to enjoy your travels. Speaking of space, if you ever wanted to plan a trip with your dog, then space is certainly something you need to consider. But it's not the only thing. So what else do you need to know? And can you really explore Europe with your canine companion in tow? I spoke to travel writer turned dog-friendly travel specialist and author of the new dog-friendly Europe guidebook, Lottie Gross, to talk about what really makes a place dog friendly and which is the best and worst destination to take your four-legged friend to.

Speaker 5 19:31

I got my first dog in 2018 and obviously had already been a travel writer at that point, had been working for Rough Guides and various newspapers and things, and then I got my first dog Milo, and when he was a puppy, he started coming along on assignments with me for people at the Telegraph and the Times and things like that. And I just realised while I was travelling with him, A, how possible it was, but B, how lacking the information on the internet was about dog-friendly places, dog-friendly stays, hotels, things like that. And it wasn't just here's where you can stay. That information was there.

Speaker 5 20:14

Um the information that was missing was where is the nearest patch of grass to take your dog for a wee at 11 pm? Um, which is something that plagues me wherever I go because my dog will not wee on concrete. Um he's very fussy. And I just realized there was there was a level of information that dog owners needed that wasn't out there, um, and so that's kind of how I ended up accidentally pivoting, I suppose, um, just before the pandemic into a bit more of dog dog-friendly travel writing. And then during the pandemic, I started negotiating my first guidebook deal. Um, it was rejected by my first publisher, and I hope that that remains a pain point for them. Uh I'm reliably told it does. Um, and then it was accepted by the second publisher, and it the when the book was published, it very quickly became their best-selling book. So ultimately, uh it's a it's a niche, but it's not a small niche. There's a really big market for it, and there's a really big taste for it.

Speaker 1 21:20

Why do you think that is? Because we have seen this massive rise in dog friendly, or or people at least trying to say we're dog friendly.

Speaker 5 21:26

Yes. Um people are obsessed with their dogs, um, more so than we ever have been. And I think that um lockdown for a lot of people galvanized the way they feel about their dogs. It made them feel more appreciative of what their dogs do for them because those of us who already had dogs during the pandemic really began to appreciate that hour a day that we were allowed outside to go for a walk with our pet, or having that company in the house when there was no one else around, or whatever. We all Kind of learned to really really appreciate our pets a lot more than we ordinarily would, I think. And you know, working from home, you're spending a lot more time with them. Um, and then of course, there's the generation of people who all got dogs during the pandemic, and a huge number of people did, and that has led to this boom in dog the the dog kind of business, yeah. Um, whether it's poo bags or fitness tracking apps for dogs or or hotel packages for dogs. There if you can think of it, there is a a dog business out there doing it for dogs because it's it's a huge market now.

Speaker 1 22:37

And I know you'll you have quite a bugbear for the phrase "dog-friendly" because there's so many places now saying we are dog friendly. Um, what does it really mean if a place is dog friendly? To be truly dog friendly, what sort of things would you be looking for?

Speaker 5 22:50

Uh to be truly dog friendly, um a place just needs to preempt what a dog owner needs. I actually don't care about your dog afternoon teas and your dog cocktails and your dog menus and any of the fancy stuff you're gonna offer. I don't need my dog to be groomed in the hotel. I don't need um, you know, a million treats in the room. What I need is a towel that I can dry him off with when we come in for a rainy or muddy walk. I need some spare poo bags in case I forget them or run out. I need, I don't know, a handful of treats that I can bribe him with over dinner. Um I don't need a tennis ball, I've got a hundred of those at home. It's it's these little things, it's really simple things. It's a map of local walks that are really easy to follow for you and the dog. It's a list of local parks that might have enclosed areas for dogs to run around in off the lead. These little things, like what I care about when I travel with my dog is where can I safely walk him? Where could he potentially safely be off a lead where he can run around and have a really good sniff and a great time? Where can I um where can I take him for that late night wee walk? That is particularly in a city, you know. Right now we're in London, yeah, and it's it can be really challenging to find places open at night in London with grass to take your dog to the toilet in the centre of the city. Yeah. Um, so it's these little things that I think make a massive difference. Then obviously, it's great if they want to create a dog afternoon tea or if they want to implement a canine menu. Brilliant.

Speaker 1 24:32

And so in Dog-Friendly Europe, obviously, you go all across Europe with Artie, the dog. Uh, where would you highlight as being perhaps the most dog-friendly place in Europe?

Speaker 5 24:43

It's a toss-up between Switzerland and Italy. Why? France also gets a mention because the French just love their dogs. Yeah. Um, and in France it's just so common to be allowed into a bar or restaurant with a dog and the cafes and whatnot. It's it's really common. Paris is a pretty undog-friendly city, unfortunately, but the rest of France is actually pretty dog friendly. Yeah, however, uh, Switzerland, I think, probably wins just because it's just so exceptionally dog friendly. There are very few restrictions on dogs in Switzerland. They can go on public transport buses, trains. Italy, again, the Italians are obsessed with their dogs and we love them for it. They like their tiny handbag dogs and their giant farm dogs, and I love that. Um, and in Italy, you've got while while there are lots of places where dogs can't go, you know, they're not going in the cultural institutions, they're not going in the museums in Venice or Rome, they're not going in the Coliseum, but um, there are plenty of things that you can do with a dog, and there are dog-friendly beach clubs specifically for people who go to the beach with their dogs.

Speaker 1 25:51

And we've talked about some of the best places in Europe for dogs. Is there a particular place that's very unfriendly for dogs?

Speaker 5 25:59

Oh, I mean Germany. Right. No, not the whole, I just I had some quite bad experiences in Germany. Yeah. Um, where I got kicked off a train. Oh god. Because my dog wasn't wearing a muzzle, because I'd forgotten to bring it with me. I didn't know I was gonna get on a train, and I went on a walking tour. And the walking tour ended with a train ride. And we managed to get to our destination on the train, and then the tour guide left me at the station to get on the train to go back into the city, and the guard wouldn't let me stay on the train because the dog wasn't wearing a muzzle, and I hadn't brought it out with me. I had it with me, but it was in my hotel. I was an hour's walk from my hotel, and she kicked me off that train at 9 pm on a Sunday night where I couldn't get a cab.

Speaker 1 26:45

And finally, there's one question I always ask any guest on the podcast, which I think we should do an answer for you and an answer for Artie, which is what's the um what's on the rider? What's the one piece of travel gear that you'd never go anywhere without? For you when you're travelling with Artie.

Speaker 5 27:05

He's much like a greyhound or a whippet, he's very bony, and so and he gets very cold very easily. So he needs a nice soft blanket to put his bum on if he's gonna lie down and be a good boy in a restaurant. So for me, it's always and then and then when we're in a hotel or you know, whatever, we're going to bed or sitting on the sofa in the evening after a day of travelling, he wants to be under the blanket. And so then he gets to be under the blanket and he's fine. Artie would bring treats, just like an endless supply of cheese cubes or beef cubes, also pizzle. I'm not gonna tell you what that is. You can people can Google that. Good luck. Google Bull's pizzle and you will be disgusted. But he loves a pizzle, ate an entire one over lunch today.

10 Literary places in children’s books you can actually visit

Speaker 1 27:51

That was the author of Dog Friendly Europe, Dog Days Out, and Dog Friendly Britain. And more books on the way with the word dog in the title, Lottie Gross, who I'm sure now has those of us who are pet-free Googling what is a pizzle? Now, speaking of funny words, Timotheana Tittle mouse anyone? We dip between the pages of some of our most beloved children's books to discover the real life locations behind the make-believe in this month's Top Ten.

Speaker 1 28:20

Unsurprisingly, at 10 is Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, the real-life inspiration for Hundred Acre Wood in A.A. Milne's series about a thoughtful, kind-hearted bear, Winnie the Pooh. From the quaint village of Mayfield, you can take walks into the woods and even play Pooh Sticks on the actual bridge that inspired the author. There have been no confirmed sightings of Pooh, but there are a suspicious number of half-eaten picnic snacks on the way.

Speaker 1 28:47

At nine, we're crossing the Atlantic to Prince Edward Island in Canada, the location for Anne of Green Gables, immortalised by LM Montgomery. Given the book's impact, there are plenty of locations across the region that directly inspired it. It's the country of red sand beaches, rolling farmland, and big skies. Bring a straw hat.

Speaker 1 29:11

At eight, you can pick up some of the locations used in Harry Potter in Scotland. The truly spectacular Glen Finnan viaduct used as the Hogwarts Express route in the film is the most recognizable. But you'll also find the evocative landscapes and Hogwarts-looking castles throughout the country.

Speaker 1 29:30

At seven, we're bringing the pages of Julia Donaldson's The Ugly Five Alive on the African safari in Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa, which are all great locations to see these animals. A wildebeest, warthog, spotted hyena, lappet-faced vulture, and marabou stork. They've historically struggled in the looks department. Go and celebrate their beautiful faces.

Speaker 1 29:55

For number six, it's New York City, the final destination for James of the giant peach fame. Many famous New York landmarks are mentioned by the author Royal Dahl. The Empire State Building, of course. New York is often overlooked as a great location for kids, but there's a wealth of parks, zoos, and world-class museums to discover. Take the next peach from Heathrow.

Speaker 1 30:19

At five, we're following another anthropomorphic bear, this time the beloved Paddington, now the star of his very own West End musical. You can easily thread together a full tour for fans of the kindly bear in London. There's a statue at the station and filming locations across the capital. Or plot an adventure in his home country of Peru to spot the endangered spectacle bear. Just don't forget your marmalade sandwiches.

Speaker 1 30:47

At four, we're heading to Paris. For, yes, Madeline. Ludwig Bemelman's illustrated books celebrated the French capital beautifully. First published in 1939, they capture an innocent city in the days before the war. Take the book in arm and explore Paris, talking in couplets and walking in two straight lines.

Speaker 1 31:10

At three, we're heading to the high Arctic or Lapland, to the landscapes that feature in Philip Pullman's remarkable trilogy, His Dark Materials. The first book, Northern Lights, was partly inspired by the phenomenon that you could be lucky enough to see in Swedish Lapland or Northern Canada. Oxford too features heavily in the books, which leads us nicely to...

Speaker 1 31:32

The City of Dreaming Spiers, aka Oxford, perhaps the most literary of cities, with links to The Lord of the Rings, the aforementioned His Dark Materials, and Lewis Carroll's Alice Adventures in Wonderland. Christchurch College is central to Alice's origins, and the place reflects the whimsical, academic, slightly surreal tone.

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And at one, we're in the Lake District in England's Cumbria for, yes, Beatrix Potter, the setting for the tale of Peter Rabbit and her many other books. Visit Beatrix Potter's house, Hilltop Farm, and you'll clearly see the inspiration for the book and possibly one or two rabbits. That was my regular top ten, the part of the episode where I seek to inspire your wanderlust to make its storybook perfect.

Gear: What to wear in places with stray dogs

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Speaking of perfect... there's a great many destinations out there that you think will be perfect, but the reality on the ground can be a little different. I'm talking once more about dogs, but this time strays. We've all been to places where they can be an issue, particularly Morocco, Africa and India. And while we can't fix the problem, though later in this episode I will be speaking to a woman who is trying to in Greece, we can ensure we dress ready to deal with an unwelcome encounter. So let's heel and head to my gear chat to learn what to wear in places with a lot of stray dogs.

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First of all, think footwear. Sturdy shoes or hiking boots are best rather than sandals or flip-flops. If a dog's going to go for you, ankles are a common target, so get yours covered. For your clothing, it's not so much about what you wear, but what it's made out of. Trousers are the obvious choice. In hot countries, you could offer zip-offs to give you options. But look for robust ripstock fabric that is more likely to stand up to scratches or teeth.

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The colour of said clothing is also key. Some dogs are spooked or conversely attracted to bright colours, especially those you'll find if hiking in the mountains or countryside. So leave the Hawaiian shirt for another trip and opt for more muted tones.

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When it comes to backpacks and jackets, stay neat and tidy. Dangling straps and adjustable cords are enticing to dogs that can be tempted to play an uninvited game of ragged. And as usual, think about layers, but this time for a different reason. Even if somewhere hot, if the area you're headed to is renowned for potentially aggressive dogs, go for a hard shell jacket or even a walking pole that can be used as a barrier if they come too close.

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And it goes without saying that before you go, consider getting the rabies jab. A pain both literally and financially, but well worth it in case you are unlucky. And do your research before you go, because knowledge can prevent it and weighs nothing at all in your luggage. That was my monthly gear chat, the advice I offer every single episode that could make a real difference to your trip.

Hidden Hero: Starlight Barking, rescuing stray dogs in Greece

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Speaking of making a difference, my next guest and this episode's hidden hero is a woman who has dedicated her life to making a difference to the stray dogs in Greece. Wendy Loiyter is co-founder of Starlight Barking, a charity that works with locals on many of the Greek islands and mainland to provide on-the-ground care for neglected stray dogs and attempts to re-home them with suitable families. I caught up with her along with her rescue dogs Zeus, Betty and Jack.

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I started rescuing dogs in Greece back in the 80s, and it's just something that kind of happens. If you love dogs and you're working in a place where perhaps they're not, they don't treat dogs as you would like, and a stray dog, you find puppies. We used to find puppies in ditches, that kind of thing. And um basically we we we found homes and we we did actually rescue back in the 80s the very, very, very first dog from the island of Zante. Um, but they were back in the days of quarantine. But um fast forward, um, it's now sort of I got to coming up to retirement. Our company, our my travel company is called Snowbiz, and we're a family, a small family ski specialist, and I worked that with just my my daughter and my the two girls here. We've been doing that for 40 years, but um as I got close to retirement, they all knew that I would want to eventually go back to my roots and rescue dogs. And it happened when I was on holiday in Greece in 2015. I was with my old school friends who also knew I wanted to rescue dogs, and um Zeus was found in a ditch. Um, sorry, he was he was found in a cellar, weren't you, with his siblings? And it's I think that's how lots of people get into rescue. It it just sort of happened. You don't you don't you haven't just woken up one day and think I'm actually going to go out and rescue dogs. This happened on holiday, and um we had to get them home, which even though I work in travel, um was difficult. And he had three siblings with him, and one of my my um my co-pilot in the charity, one of the other trustees, Despina, she was on holiday at the same time. She's Greek from the island of Lemnos, and she said, Oh, if you're if you're rescuing one, if you're bringing one back to England, four will be just as easy. Well, it wasn't at all, even though you were in in travel. But we got them back, we bought four back. Um, and we found a niche for people who can't actually rescue from it from England because um the bigger charities have some, they've obviously got uh tougher, tougher reg tougher what's the word criteria for who who can adopt from from them. And as people become older, yeah, um, some of the charities won't actually so many in many cases you can have very fit, wealthy retirees in their 60s who'd being refused dogs from from the charities, which I understand. I'm not I'm in no way, shape or form want to criticise anybody, but there's a need because as we get older, particularly um we saw during COVID when people are sometimes alone, a dog is just such a huge, huge I mean it's it's wonderful. I don't know what I'd what I'd do without mine, and I so we try to help people who um haven't been able to successful, and we've had some amazing people adopt from us who you just can't understand why they've been turned down. But in as I said, in a bigger charity, you've got it's it's it's tougher. We being small, we can we can say, yeah, that's gonna be a perfect home. And so we've managed to rehome um 300 dogs now.

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When you're on holiday, there are yet I'm not saying everybody should come back with a dog, not not at all. Um, but raise awareness how to tell how to help the the rescuers out in Greece, and that's what eventually come on to. So we're we're kind of we're laying off the um the fostering now. We do still do it, but not like like we used to. We're still doing the rehoming. But what we're really trying to do is raise awareness for the rescuers back in Greece. So Starlight Barking was really about a network for the dogs to be the voice of the dogs and to be the voice of the volunteers because what happens, um I've got to be very careful, I've got that very tactful. What is say, but in in Greece, um all of the all of the islands and the mainland um divided into municipalities, and each municipality is responsible for their stray dogs. But of course, nobody wants you when you're on holiday, nobody wants you to know that you've got a stray dog problem. So you'll often meet people that say, Well, I went to Kefalonia and I didn't see any stray dogs, or I went here or there, and there were no stray dogs. No, that's because they've been rounded up and they're taken to some dreadful place in the middle of nowhere. And there are a couple of decent um municipal shelters, there are a few, but they really are a few.

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And we're asking people when they go on holiday to be a bit more aware, and we don't want to spoil the holiday, not everybody will want to go to the shelter. I mean, some people, some people will go and um walk the dogs, um, and uh and that really helps with their socialization and getting them possible homes. Together we can make a difference. We can work with the locals, we can work with the people in resort that want to make a difference and stop hiding the fact because the uh you know, hotels and tourist boards will pretend that they don't have a problem, um, and it's very, very few that do admit it.

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So I think it's it's sort of asking dog people to not not change what they're doing on holiday, but ask the question of their hotel, you know, can I make a donation to the local shelter? Um if if they are of a mind to go and uh and visit. But if more of us actually pose the question when we're on holiday and said, you know, um uh how just how can I help? I'm just one tiny little bit and we we'd make a difference.

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That was this episode Hidden Hero, the person doing something incredible in travel to make the world a better place. Learn more about Starlight Barking and donate to the shelter of your choice on their website, starlightbarking.co.uk. And there you can also find out if you can help volunteer at a nearby shelter on your next visit to Greece or Crete and report any issues or missing shelters you find on the ground. And as Wendy says, do make sure you ask questions on your next trip. If enough people do it, it could really make a difference to the dogs.

Wander Woman Of The Month: Simona Kossak

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And just like that, it's nearly the end of the episode. So nearly time for me to reveal my inspiring Wander Woman of the Month. I hope you've enjoyed what you've heard. Please do subscribe so you never miss an episode. And please, please, please do leave a review. It means so very much. You can follow me on Instagram at phoebe rsmith, find me on Blue Sky, or go to my website phoebe-smith.com, where you can sign up for my occasional newsletter and of course send me a message. Now, this episode we travel back to the 1970s and Poland to find a woman who has a very peculiar bedfellow.

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It's one of those "could eat a man alive in 30 seconds" type of wild boars. The size of it, seen in old photos, is quite astonishing, at least twice the size of a human. Big enough, I'd imagine, that it would have taken up a fair amount of space in the bed of Simona Kossak. Except the boar didn't get any bed space. That was because there was usually a lynx in there instead, a lovely one called Agata. The boar, called Zabka, was no longer wild either. It was a pet and it would have to make do with the floor.

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By any possible criteria, the home of Simona Kossak was far from ordinary, as was her life. In fact, the remarkable thing about her life is not the eye-catching eccentricities, but her unwavering work for European conservation. Simona Kossak was a biologist, an ecologist, and the maker of award-winning films. She was a tenacious activist who made genuine, long-lasting change in her lifetime. The fact that she shared her home, a wooden hut in the Białowieża Forest without electricity or running water, with a lovely lynx, a stubborn boar, and a crow that was described as a terrorist, does demonstrate her unconventional, endearing, and from an activism perspective, quietly effective life. Her unconventional nature, at least to outsiders, probably didn't seem it to her.

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The Kossak name in Poland was synonymous with art. Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all famous artists, with each generation becoming more and more experimental. Her sister, Gloria Kossak, was also a well-known artist and poet, and her two aunts were two of the best-known writers.

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Simona Kossak was born in Krakow on May 30, 1943. She was born during the most deadly part of the Holocaust and close to the centre of it, to Jerzy Kossak and his second wife, Elisabeta. Simona was brought up in a manor on the outskirts of Krakow called Kossakówka. Until the outbreak of war, it was the centre for Krakow's intelligentisa and artistic community. For Simona, however, the city life was not for her. A trip to a dilapidated farmhouse, a largely forgotten family cottage, changed her life. She later wrote about her trip to that cottage deep in the forest. They were first greeted by the king of the woods, a wisen more commonly known as a European bison. Then she saw the house. "The whiteness, the snow, the full moon, whitest white everywhere. Pretty, and the little hidden hut in that little clearing all covered with snow. An abandoned house that no one had lived in for two years. In the middle room, there were no floors. It was generally in ruins. And I looked at this house, all silvered by the moon as it was, romantic, and as I said, it's finished. It's here or nowhere else."

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She lived there for 30 years. With the help of employees of the Białowieża National Park, she renovated the house and furnished it with items from Kossakówka, the manor in Krakow. Simona loved it there. She travelled mainly by motorbike or ski. She was joined by Lech Wilczek, a photographer and nature writer with whom she spent her life.

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It was Lech who brought the young boar into the lodge on its first day. It became huge but lived with them until the ripe old age of 17. A surprise journalist wrote, the boar stood vigilantly by the leg like a dog. She went out on walks, and more and more often she cuddled up to the hosts and demanded to be caressed. They had a crow that would attack visitors and steal snacks, money, and even car keys.

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Simona lived a simple life, learning from the forest, foraging her food and medicine, and spinning wool. She had a pack of deer and moose that she raised with a bottle. She befriended a lynx that would sleep in her bed next to a black stork, peacocks and an anxious rat called Kanalia, all in her room. At 33, Simona studied for a BSc and then MSc in biology, and in 1980, she was awarded a doctoral degree in forest sciences. In 1991, she earned a postdoctoral degree and in 1997 became a professor of forest science. It was in the 1990s that her activism also took hold in earnest when the lynx and wolves that shared her beloved forest were threatened by trappers and scientists too, who used traps that could kill the animals. She rid the forest of traps and it became a protected area.

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In 2003, Simona became the director of the Forest Research Institute at the Department of Natural Forests, a role she would hold until her death in 2007. During that time, she also helped develop a system that would keep animals away from train tracks, and she was awarded the Polish Cross of Merit, the country's highest civilian distinction for services to her country and protecting the animals who live there.

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Few have heard of Simona Cossack, but her life serves as an inspiration for her love, care and dedication to the natural world and her wonderfully distinctive life, and that's what makes her, undisputably, this episode's Wander Woman of the Month.

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That was my inspiring Wander Woman of the Month, the traveller whose name is lost in the history books purely because of her gender. I hope that if you venture into Białowieża National Park, you remember her name and the wonderful animals with whom she shared not only her bed but her entire life.

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On the next episode of the Wander Woman Podcast… I head to Japan to sample… diving – Yep you heard that right, Japan is the place to venture beneath the waves as the Professional Association of Dive Instructors launch their Global Shark and Ray Census and I become one of the first people in the world to get certified. I also speak to the man who inspired residents of the tsunami struck community near Fukushima to not only remove debris from the sea but also regenerate the underwater seagrass that the whole community relies on. And I'll be revealing more of my inspirational Wander Women of the Month. See you next time, Wander Woman out.

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The Wander Woman podcast is written and produced by me, Phoebe Smith. The editor and writer of additional material is Daniel Nielson. The logo was designed by John Summerton. A final shout out to all the people I met on my journey and were willing to talk to me. It's because of you that this episode was able to happen at all.