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The rolling idyll of heath and forest, spinney and the river that gave us Heffalump, Woozle and, most famous of all, Winnie-the-Pooh, is a delightful new resident. Passing through the bracken, it makes strange noises and noises, and is a mutant creature with a large tubular nose and eyes inspired by a dog. It shines with bright patches and the purple color of heather flowers in high summer.
Poppet, a puppet created by costume designer Jack Irving and brought to life by a team of 10 award-winning puppeteers, is playing for school children in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex. The elementary school class screams with glee as the purple figure transforms from a caterpillar to a bird to a monster carrying a sinister figure.
“What is it?”
“It’s a stranger!”
“They’re dinosaurs.”
“Dragons.”
“We will die!”
The children don’t sound too scared. And the Poppet prefers to eat gorse and bracken more than the youngsters who are rarely found playing in the woods these days.
This fascinating toy is the foundation of this forest A hundred grand celebrations, a free celebration to mark the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh, the story that brought to life – and perhaps saved – the largest stretch of open countryside in south-east England. The toy is a celebration made by The triggera foreign arts charity that has dreamed up popular toys such as The Hatchlinga dragon used by people the size of a double bus that led Queen Elizabeth II for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. And there is a purpose behind the project: to encourage children and especially families who are not familiar with the countryside to connect with the wonders of the wild, free nature.
“I love this deep sense of mystery that comes to you in childhood and you can’t shake it and you’re drawn to the place. Setting the story in a natural place gives it an edge of mystery,” said Angie Bual, the creative director of Trigger, who collaborated with children from a local school to design Poppet. It was the first time Bual had seen Poppet in action, in Ashdown Forest. “Sports and outdoor art can change a place, change the memory of a place and change the value of a place. Having a doll in this beautiful place – it looks much better than on stage. But it also creates a change of place. If you think about Winnie-the-Pooh’s toys, that’s what Christopher Robin was doing. He put his toys against a different tree and then magic will produce something.
AA Milne has done more than anyone else to fill the 2,500 hectare Ashdown Forest with magic. The author of Winnie-the-Pooh may have been the best comic author, whose Pooh, Piglet and his friends are endlessly entertaining for children of all ages, but together with the illustrator EH Shepard, he also captured the beauty of the place where he lives and travels with his son, Christopher Robin. Later in life, Christopher Robin returned to Ashdown Forest when it was in danger in the 1980s and helped to save it, it is a large heath that is owned by the local council and, like many people, led by a committee of “conservators” as a common and natural environment today.
The fact that the hills and ridges of Ashdown Forest can be recognized in Milne is surprising given that London is 35 miles away and the south east has seen a lot of development over the last century. Its birdlife is home to unique species, including the silver-studded blue butterfly, adder, nightjar and Dartford warbler. The first bird I hear calling when I arrive is the cucumber, which is very rare in the south of England these days.
Another rare thing is the children playing in the forest. Wandering indiscriminately in nature is not part of modern childhood. Rather than simply re-creating the nostalgia of Christopher Robin raised in the 1920s, the Big One Hundred looks forward, seeking to evoke new stories and ignite a new connection with nature. There are attractions in Ashdown that cater directly to Winnie-the-Pooh fans, including the Pooh Corner coffee shop, the Pooh Sticks bridge and guided tours but making the 100th anniversary celebration from Milne and Shepard felt “sustainable,” says Bual. “Young people are ready for a different story and if you really want that to happen, doing a Beatrix Potter event is not going to appeal to these people and find a different audience.”
Poppet’s activities in the forest see it change “through nature’s creations” as Bual puts it, from caterpillars to crabs to birds and plants. “Creating a completely different creature is difficult to do – not to have the head of a bird and the tail of an owl,” he says. With all this in mind, “I had a bad dream last night.”
He and Trigger were determined to create an open environment, where children could express their imaginations: “Emotional manipulation can take place.” For Bual, such a person or a natural manifestation can help people realize the natural wonders around them. “Nature has to compete with bowling, swimming, climbing. It’s quiet, it’s difficult, it’s hidden. We know it does a lot to keep us healthy and recharge our batteries but it’s so polite, it’s easy to forget when you’re away,” he says. “We’re just adding a little bit more.”
Another way Ashdown Forest has changed since Christopher Robin’s childhood is that more trees have grown on the hills. It has changed from 90% open to 60% with less grazing for livestock and civilians.
People love trees and Beth Morgan, director of community and development at Ashdown Forest, says one of their biggest challenges is cutting down new trees to save the woodlands, a rare habitat that animals such as the nightjar and Dartford warbler depend on. “We often get the question, ‘where are all the prices? When you explain it to people, they usually understand. Constant communication with guests so they know why we’re doing what we’re doing is very important.”
So Poppet’s performance includes gentle training: the beast eats gorse and bracken and the audience can “feed” it. The toy will bring a common safety message and “joy,” Bual hopes. “When you have a game creature that needs to control gorse and bracken, you have a message.”
Ashdown Forest has 1.5 million visitors every year but it is known that visitors from the inner cities and the ethnic areas are less likely to come to the British countryside. Along with Poppet, a A hundred grand Trigger’s events also include badges for children to collect by participating in nature-based activities, including crafting, storytelling and yoga. Tours are being offered to bring more groups around the world and groups led by people with disabilities to the forest.
As a British Asian, Bual says she knows spending time in nature “isn’t in everyone’s culture”. When he goes to visit his father for a village race, he asks him: “Where is it?” or “where is the coffee shop?” “Sometimes you want a destination or an event like this and then you can go down and remember that there is fun and joy in being everywhere. This is what Christopher Robin experienced first hand. Will the Christopher Robins of the future protect this precious place? It takes passion. It takes you to feel like this place is yours, to really want to save it.”
Bual hopes Poppet’s mysterious, perplexing nature will provide children with a “high level of enjoyment” in nature that will inspire parenting for centuries to come. “When the toy came into the forest today, the children screamed and laughed and got emotional. You tell the children that nature means joy-joy-joy. Culture is a quick way to ensure that you all had a good time today. Those children will now know that they love Ashdown Forest. That’s what makes a place like this a natural treasure, a local treasure or ‘this is a mental constant’.
And what does Bual think Winnie-the-Pooh can make from a Poppet doll? “I think he would do it wisely,” he smiles. “He tells Piglet he knows all about it.”
