New Bus Link Around "Pooh Country"
Ashdown Forest, August 15, 2005: A new tourist bus service taking visitors to some of the most scenic spots in South East England - including sites made famous in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories - has been launched by the Ashdown Forest Tourism Association (AFTA) using grant aid from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The Ashdown Forest Explorer Bus Service will operate every weekend until September 25 and selected weekends in October thanks to funding worth £90,000 over two years from DEFRA's England Rural Enterprise scheme. It is the first time that a local tourism initiative in south-east England has won such funding from DEFRA.
The grant will also be used to help AFTA boost membership and expand its marketing and web development programme. The Association is supported by Tourism South East (TSE), Sussex Enterprise and Wealden District Council to develop a sustainable tourism business network in the Ashdown Forest; an area of open heathland designated an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The relationship between TSE and AFTA is a close one with TSE investing resources into their growth and development.
The 16-seat bus will follow three different routes on 90-minute tours through the area. All tours depart from the Ashdown Forest Llama Park in Wych Cross, near Forest Row, East Sussex hosted by a local guide providing a commentary and pointing out sites of interest.
The "Green Tour" departs at 10.30am and heads south towards 'Nutley' and across the forest to the Kent and Sussex Apple Juice and Cider Centre for a free tasting session. The return route is along the Ridge Road which offers magnificent views.
The "Red Tour" departs at 12.30pm heading towards the 'Enchanted Place', made famous in the Winnie the Pooh stories, for a half-hour walk around some of Pooh's favourite places. The return journey is via Hartfield where Pooh creator A. A. Milne lived.
The "Blue Tour" departs at 2.30pm and stops at the Ashdown Forest Centre to view an exhibition of drawings by E. H. Shepard, the man who originally created illustrations for the Pooh stories.
Bus tickets cost £4 for adults and £3 for children and are available on the day from the Ashdown Forest Llama Park.
"The tours are a must for anyone who appreciates the distinctive, nationally valued landscape of the Ashdown Forest and who wants to experience the places where Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore and their friends played," said AFTA chairman, Linda Johnson.
"The tours are also designed to reduce traffic on roads running through the area and help visitors get the best out of their time in the Ashdown Forest."
Roger Budden, head of development and rural regeneration at Tourism South East, said: "The Ashdown Forest lies at the heart of one of the south-east's finest landscapes and we have been working with AFTA to encourage and promote sustainable tourism to the area; tourism that benefits the local economy and local people, without detracting from, or diminishing, the special nature of the Forest. The bus service is a splendid way of allowing visitors to really appreciate what the Forest has to offer while at the same time reducing traffic on local roads."
In addition to running every weekend until September 25, the service will also operate on October 22/23 and 29/30 as part of the Ashdown Forest Food Festival.
Further information from 01825 712040.
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Issued by Tourism South East Corporate Communications
Contact Alan Gallop/Jodie Hodge on 023 8062 5502 or agallop@tourismse.com jhodge@tourismse.com