Poohsticks is a game first mentioned in The House at Pooh Corner

The House at Pooh Corner

The House at Pooh Corner is the second volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. It is notable for the introduction of the character Tigger, who went on to become a prominent figure in the Disney Winnie the Pooh franchise.- Plot :The title...

, a Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...

 book by A. A. Milne

A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...

. It is a simple game which may be played on any bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 over running water; each player drops a stick

Branch

A branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...

 on the upstream side of a bridge and the one whose stick first appears on the downstream side is the winner. The annual World Poohsticks Championships have been held at Day's Lock

Day's Lock

Day's Lock is a lock on the River Thames near Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England on the Dorchester side of the river.The pound lock was built in 1789 by the Thames Navigation Commissioner...

 on the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in the UK, since 1984.

History

Poohsticks was invented by English author A. A. Milne for his son Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin Milne was the son of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories and in two books of poems.-Early life:...

. The game first came to prominence when it was described in the author's book The House at Pooh Corner as well as in the Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 animated featurette Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore

Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore

Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore is a Disney Winnie the Pooh animated featurette, based on two chapters from the books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, originally released theatrically on March 11, 1983, before the 1983 re-issue of The Sword in the Stone...

. Winnie-the-Pooh, the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 of the book, accidentally drops a pine cone into a river from a bridge and devises the rules for Poohsticks. Pooh continues to play the game with the other characters, Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons....

, Tigger

Tigger

Tigger is a fictional tiger-like character originally introduced in A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals...

 and Eeyore

Eeyore

Eeyore is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh....

.

The game was first played at a bridge located in Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of tranquil open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England...

, close to the village of Upper Hartfield

Upper Hartfield

Upper Hartfield is a small village slightly west of Hartfield in East Sussex, England....

, East Sussex

East Sussex

East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

, England. Built in 1907 and originally called Posingford Bridge, it is considered to be the bridge on which Milne and his son first played the game. However, it is uncertain whether the game was first played at the bridge then written into the story, or vice versa. The bridge maintained the public's interest and a campaign to rebuild it in the late seventies was considered important enough to feature on the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Nine O'Clock News. The bridge was subsequently reopened by Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin Milne was the son of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories and in two books of poems.-Early life:...

 and officially renamed as Poohsticks Bridge.

The site was so popular that in 1999 the East Sussex county council made an appeal to Disney as the old wooden bridge had been worn down by an overwhelming number of visitors. The company provided a substantial donation towards the estimated £30,000 needed to replace the bridge. Partly rebuilt in 1979, the donations from Disney, building firms and members of the public funded its complete reconstruction. The newly built and modernised bridge retained its precursor's original style. A plaque was also placed to commemorate the occasion and thank those who financially contributed to the project. The game can still be played in Ashdown Forest to this day and the site regularly attracts tourists from as far afield as the United States and Japan. However, visitors are now advised to bring their own sticks, as previous visitors have caused damage to the trees in the vicinity.

Rules and strategy

A game for two players or more, in the traditional version of poohsticks the participants must drop a stick simultaneously on the upstream side of a bridge and run to the other side. The winner is the player whose stick first appears on the other side of the bridge. Alternatively, players may decide upon a starting point on a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 and a finish line further downstream. The winner is the player whose stick first passes the finishing point.

It is generally agreed that the stick must be made of organic materials, preferably willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

, and not of any artificial materials. All participants must drop their sticks at the same time, usually after a referee shouts "drop", "twitch" or any other agreed keyword. Additionally, no advantage may be gained through either dismantling the bridge or the use of any self-propelling stick devices. The stick must be dropped, not thrown, into the water and any player who is deemed to have thrown their stick is disqualified.

Poohsticks is considered to be a game of chance yet some players claim skill is involved. Some strategies involve the way in which the stick is held before it is dropped and trying to find the fastest route in the river. Author Ben Schott

Ben Schott

Ben Schott is a British writer, photographer, and author of the "Schott's Miscellanies" and "Schott's Almanac" series.- Early life & university :...

 outlined a throwing method as a winning strategy in his third book, Schott’s Sporting, Gaming and Idling Miscellany, but his method was dismissed as cheating by competition organisers. In any event, the turbulence

Turbulence

In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...

 around the bridge supports make the path of the stick very difficult to predict and may vary according to the season.

The traditional game has inspired filmmakers and screenwriters and has been portrayed in the 1998 film Into My Heart

Into My Heart

Into My Heart is a 1998 motion picture featuring Rob Morrow and Claire Forlani. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 9, 1998, the drama documents a love triangle involving a woman and two childhood friends, focusing on the themes of marriage, adultery and betrayal. It was written...

with Rob Morrow

Rob Morrow

Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...

 and Claire Forlani

Claire Forlani

Claire Antonia Forlani is an English actress.-Early life:Claire Forlani was born in Twickenham, London, the daughter of Barbara , who was English, and Pierluigi Forlani, a music manager from Ferrara, Italy. At the age of 11, Forlani entered the Arts Educational School in London, where she began to...

, BBC sitcom To the Manor Born

To the Manor Born

To the Manor Born is a British sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special edition appeared in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the 1981 finale was written by Christopher...

and also in a Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...

 clothes advert where models, including Twiggy

Twiggy

Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....

 and Myleene Klass

Myleene Klass

Myleene Angela Quinn is an English singer, pianist, media personality and occasional model. She was formerly a member of the defunct British pop band Hear'Say.-Early life:...

, played the game. The popularity of the game was underlined when it featured as a question on long-running British quiz series University Challenge

University Challenge

University Challenge is a British quiz programme that has aired since 1962. The format is based on the American show College Bowl, which ran on NBC radio from 1953 to 1957, and on NBC television from 1959 to 1970....

.

World Poohsticks Championships

Poohsticks was brought to a larger audience by the World Poohsticks Championships. The Championships take place annually at Day's Lock on the River Thames near Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and have attracted over 1,500 visitors to the event, including many international visitors. The championships feature an individual event and a six-person team event. Players come from a wide variety of countries including the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The event takes place from Little Wittenham Bridge

Little Wittenham Bridge

Little Wittenham Bridge is a footbridge across the River Thames in England near Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. It is just downstream of Day's Lock on the reach above Benson Lock and connects Little Wittenham to Dorchester....

 which is about 100 yards (91.4 m) downstream of the lock.

The event was started in 1984 by the lockkeeper, Lynn David, as a fund-raising event for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Royal National Lifeboat Institution

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

 (RNLI). He noticed that people occasionally snapped sticks from nearby hedges to play the traditional game and he then came up with the idea of a competition to aid the charity. He put out a box of sticks and a collection box and it soon became an annual event. In this version of the game a finish line is set up further downstream and the winner is the first to pass this point. The competition originally took place every January but it was moved to March due to icy weather in 1997.

The event proved popular with the local community and even attracted the attention of the foreign media. After Lynn David's retirement, the running of the event was taken over by the Rotary Club of Sinodun, based in nearby Wallingford. Additionally, the funds raised were divided between the RNLI and charitable projects supported by the Rotary Club. Twenty years after its first edition, the event had grown in popularity, attracting visitors from across the globe, and had been broadcast on television in countries including Russia, Japan and Czech Republic. Additionally, VisitBritain

VisitBritain

VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority, the tourist board of Great Britain incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969....

, the official British tourist board, named it as a highlight in its collection of "Quirky British Events". Throughout its existence it has raised around £30,000 for the RNLI.

The Championships were at risk of decline when in 2008 the Rotary Club declared that its members were simply too old to stage an annual event of its size. The Sinodun president, David Caswell stated: "The trouble is there is a lot of heavy work staging the event. Some of our members are over 70, and it was just getting too much". However, the Rotary Club of Oxford Spires declared that they would continue hosting the event, thus preserving the competition for future generations. The President of Oxford Spires for 2008-2009, Liz Williamson, stressed that it should continue as the event was popular locally and demonstrated quirky English nature to a worldwide audience.

Winners

The winners of both the individual and team events receive a trophy, and the second and third placed individuals and teams also receive a smaller trophy. Despite claims that the game involves skill more than luck, no team or individual has ever won the competition more than once. The individual competition usually involves winning three rounds of matches before receiving an entry to the final.

Year	Edition	Date	Individual event	Team event
1984	1st Annual Championships		?	?
1985	2nd Annual Championships		?	?
1986	3rd Annual Championships		?	?
1987	4th Annual Championships		?	?
1988	5th Annual Championships		?	?
1989	6th Annual Championships		?	?
1990	7th Annual Championships		?	?
1991	8th Annual Championships		?	?
1992	9th Annual Championships		Sue Rayner, Wootton	?
1993	10th Annual Championships		?	?
1994	11th Annual Championships		?	?
1995	12th Annual Championships		?	?
1996	13th Annual Championships		Théo Welch-King, a five year old from Abingdon Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...	?
1997	14th Annual Championships		?	?
1998	15th Annual Championships		?	?
1999	16th Annual Championships		?	?
2000	17th Annual Championships		Blair DeBart, 18, from Brixton	?
2001	18th Annual Championships		Cancelled	Cancelled
2002	19th Annual Championships			?
2003	20th Annual Championships		Becky Aran, a ten year old from Wantage Wantage Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
2004	21st Annual Championships		Susan Young from Didcot Didcot Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire... , Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....	Czech Republic Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
2005	22nd Annual Championships		?	Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
2006	23rd Annual Championships	25 - 26 March	Harry Norton Shaw, an eight year old from near Abingdon Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...	Team Natural Colour Cotton from Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
2007	24th Annual Championships		Bob Jones of Carterton Carterton, Oxfordshire Carterton is the second largest town in West Oxfordshire and is about south of the A40 and south-west of Witney. The town is on the edge of the Thames Valley and on the edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.-History:...	Bears for Life from United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
2008	25th Annual Championships		Lydia Leece, aged ten	Sticking to the Prize
2009	26th Annual Championships		Phil Davies	Cytoarchitechno from Oxford Oxford The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
2010	27th Annual Championships		Cancelled - the flow was too heavy
2011	28th Annual Championships	27 March, 2011	Saffron Sollit, aged nine	Team Kelly

External links

• World Pooh Sticks Championships Home Page
• The Rotary Club of Sinodun
• The Rotary Club of Oxford Spires
• Map and aerial photo sources for grid reference
  British national grid reference system
  The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....
  
  :
  • — Poohsticks Bridge near Hartfield
    Hartfield
    Hartfield is a civil parish in East Sussex, England. Settlements within the parish include the village of Hartfield, Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest.-Geography:...
    
     — marked on the Ordnance Survey
    Ordnance Survey
    Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
    
     "25k" map
  • — Day's Lock and the Sinodun Hills
  • Bruce Hemming's page about the Poohsticks Bridge with Quicktime panorama — note that the coordinates given are in error by 25 km