Autumn is the perfect time for getting out into the woods to admire the fabulous leaf colour, and a highlight this year was a visit to the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, the inspiration behind Winnie the Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood.

We caught the bus from East Grinstead to the village of Hartfield on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. AA Milne lived nearby and the shop where the real life Christopher Robin used to buy sweets is now a tea room called Pooh Corner

We called in to buy a map of associated Winnie the Pooh places to walk to, with the intention of returning later for lunch, but then we overheard the couple in front of us being told that there was already a one hour wait for a table inside – and it was only 11.15am! Fearing that it would be even busier if we came back at lunchtime, we decided that we could probably find room for a little ‘smackeral’ of something and, despite the overcast skies, had better lay claim to the last available table in the pretty garden area.

There was a wide variety of choice on the menu, but we couldn’t resist the teddy bear toast, which we naturally had with honey. So adorable! The tea came in Winnie the Pooh teapots and the plates were similarly themed. It was absolutely charming and I would thoroughly recommend a visit.

After a quick look around the attached museum and shop, and with the aforementioned map purchased, we set off on our adventure.

It was a pleasant 45 minute walk along some very muddy footpaths, across fields, and finally into the forest itself.

I was so excited when we spotted Winnie the Pooh’s house nestled among the roots of a tree, complete with pots of honey and the Mr Sanders sign over the door. He even had his own little post box, although sadly the door of that was broken.

And soon after that we came to the actual Pooh Sticks Bridge. Again, it looked exactly how you would imagine it.it does in the book illustrations. Obviously we had to collect some sticks and have a game, although my sticks seemed to keep getting stuck underneath. Maybe there was something wrong with my sticks, or maybe I’m just a bad loser!

We continued to follow the path, carefully looking out for Piglet’s house. There was a big puddle outside so I hope that he had his wellies to hand!

We knew that Owl’s house was nearby but it was harder to spot because it was high up in a tree – as you might expect. Can you see it?

Here’s a close up. I loved the set of steps leading up from the branch to his front door. Everything had been created with such attention to detail and it really was a very delightful experience.

We walked a little further into the forest to enjoy the autumn foliage, but unfortunately the vagaries of the public transport system meant that we didn’t have time to complete the whole of the Pooh trail on foot to discover Eeyore’s Dark and Gloomy Place, the Heffalump Trap, the North Pole or the Enchanted Place which were all quite a way off. It’s definitely somewhere that we want to return to though, so in a way it’s good that we were left with more to discover next time.

I realised that it had been a very long time since I read any of the Winnie the Pooh stories, so back at home I dug out my mum’s old hardback copy of The House at Pooh Corner and loved rediscovering the adventures of Pooh and friends, more meaningful after seeing the very scenes that Milne was envisaging when he wrote them, and now I want to go back even more.

I visited Richmond for the first time after I had read an article online listing Richmond Park as one of the best places in London to go and see Autumn colours – and I was also hoping that I might get to see some deer, which seemed a suitably autumnal thing to do as well.

I found a circular walk which, starting from the station, took us past parts of the old Richmond Palace, which I found really fascinating. There had been a palace in Richmond since Medieval times, but it was Henry VII who made it into a major royal residence, and his coat of arms can be found above the old palace gatehouse. (Elizabeth I was the last monarch to use the palace and most of it was demolished after the execution of Charles I in 1649.)

We followed the Thames path for a short while before turning off and following the road up to Richmond Hill. The view of the Thames from there is protected by an Act of Parliament, meaning that no development can ever take place, and we stopped for a while in the Terrace Gardens to admire it.

We only skirted around the edge of the park and so didn’t see any deer, but the highlight for me was visiting King Henry’s Mound, so named because, as the highest point in Richmond Park, it was believed to be the place where Henry VIII waited for a signal from the Tower of London to inform him that Anne Boleyn had been successfully beheaded. An interesting (maybe true?) story in itself, but even more interesting was the second protected view of the day which enables you to see the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral 10 miles away! The photo is not very clear, but if you look through the viewing circle and follow the line of trees, then in that little bit of light at the end you really can see St Paul’s. No one can build anything in the way and the greenery is always kept cut back so that it can always be seen. It was unbelievable but true!

We had a quick lunch stop sitting in the sunshine on a bench by the terrace of Pembroke Lodge. A former mole catcher’s cottage (lucky mole catcher – we always comment on the fact that quite humble dwellings of the past make very desirable homes in the present!), it’s now a cafe and we weren’t really sure whether the benches on the terrace, like the nearby tables and chairs, were only for customers, because most people did seem to be balancing trays or sporting takeaway cups. In an unlikely reversal of character, my daughter who for the most part is far more relaxed about everything than me, thought that we should find somewhere else to sit, whereas I, always worried about doing the wrong thing and getting reprimanded, was all for taking our chance and enjoying the view. I won, and as we only had a cheese twist picked up at the Sainsbury’s Local by the station, we managed to consume them in a surreptitious fashion without anyone questioning our right to be there!

Leaving the park, we made a short detour to investigate the rather bougie Petersham Nurseries, although I must confess that I was more captivated by the people having afternoon tea than I was by the plants! It was a beautiful setting but unfortunately £60 (plus service charge) is a bit beyond my budget – although probably very good value for London (as a comparison you’d expect to pay about £25 more locally) – although if I am ever feeling flush or celebrating something special, then I would certainly be up for booking a table.

We continued past Ham House, a 17th century mansion now owned by the National Trust, before once again reaching the River Thames, and then following the Thames Path all the way back to Richmond. It was such a lovely walk and very busy with people in walking boots, so I instantly determined that once I have worked my way around the Kent coast and hit Dartford, I will continue up the river following the Thames Path and make that my next project. Maybe I’ll even make it to its source, but I think we are looking very many years into the future for that!

Somewhere else that I had never been before was Knole Park but I had always assumed that it would be too difficult to get to by public transport – surely it must be in the middle of nowhere? Then I discovered that it was in fact only a short walk from the centre of Sevenoaks. I had never been to Sevenoaks either. I had always assumed that it was just another commuter town – lots of houses but not very much going on in terms of a town centre because it was so near London. So many assumptions – and I am happy to say that I was completely wrong. Sevenoaks is very pretty, with some really good shops and lots of very tempting cafes and coffee shops.

And Knole was amazing. It is free to wander around the grounds and there were SO MANY deer!! When we first arrived we kept taking photos because it was such a novelty and then we realised that they were in fact everywhere – including roaming across the golf course. (there were signs warning the public of flying golf balls, but we wondered whether the deer ever get hit as they are unable to heed the caution!) – and we gradually stopped being quite so impressed and took them a bit more for granted – although the stags were sporting some magnificent antlers (because it was rutting season) and did continue to attract our attention..

Knole Park was the childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, but as the only daughter, she was unable to inherit it because of the laws of primogeniture. This was a source of life long bitterness for her, which I can well understand as it is a pretty gorgeous place. (She later bought Sissinghurst Castle which is somewhere else I have never been but is always on the must-do list)

We didn’t pay to go inside the house, but instead focused on enjoying the extensive grounds, originally intending to follow one of the colour coded walking routes, but instead forging off and making our own walk which took us through a larger area of the park and a different variety of landscapes – parkland, woodland, as well as through the middle of the aforementioned golf course! One of my favourite parts was the chestnut walk, I love chestnut trees and the colours were beautiful.

It would be a crime to visit a National Trust Property without sampling a scone. The cafe at Knole Park has a rooftop terrace and, when we had finished our walk, we sat outside enjoying the last of the day’s warmth, with a hot drink and sharing a fruit scone that had come fresh from the oven.

The mini jars of Tiptree jam always come with a little message inside the lid. The one on this day was perfect and a good maxim to remember for life in general.