In 1924, A.A. Milne purchased Cotchford Farm. Two years later – and a century ago this October – he published his first collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, which have since sold over 50 million copies. Richard Mellor and his family stayed in Milne’s farmhouse, as well as visiting memorable Ashdown Forest locations from the books.

Where is it?

On the fringes of Ashdown Forest, about 30 miles south of London and just outside the village of Hartfield, with its white clapboard houses.

What’s the accommodation like?

A bucolic vision, with tall chimneys and terracotta tiles topping ivy-cloaked, pale-red bricks. Inside, we delight in the perilously low doorways and chunky beams.

Six spacious bedrooms share two floors above a drawing room, dining room, study, playroom and kitchen. All of them feel as contemporary as a boutique hotel, yet simultaneously snug and rustic.

Surviving from the Milnes’ days are photographs, first editions of the books, and a pair of flower-themed, green-and-gold wardrobe doors that Milne’s wife Dorothy once commissioned.

Equally attractive is the mammoth garden below, with orderly lawns around a meandering stream, and a patch of semi-wild woodland. Fields stretch away to the south and different corners host a heated pool – in which Cotchford Farm’s later owner, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, mysteriously drowned – tennis court, trampoline and treehouse.

What did you eat and drink?

Cotchford Farm can arrange catering, but we’re perfectly happy with Ashdown Forest’s best gastropub. Occupying 16th-century houses, the cosy Gallipot Inn serves hearty comfort food. My sautéed lamb kidneys sing with rich, gamey flavour, soaking up a Worcestershire and red wine sauce.

We also visit the biodynamic Plaw Hatch Farm shop to stock up on superlative sourdough and – don’t worry, Pooh – honey, and pop into the Pooh Corner tea room in Hartfield for, as its eponymous bear would say, a little smackerel of something. Next to this cake-serving café are a Pooh-themed gift shop and museum, which features recordings of Milne reading his stories.

What is there to do?

A short stroll from Cotchford Farm awaits the real-life, stream-straddling ‘Pooh Sticks Bridge’, under which we delightedly race twigs, just as Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet and Roo do in The House at Pooh Corner.

Slightly further south lies Gills Lap, where that same book poignantly ends. Ringed by dense bracken, this elevated circle of Scots Pines commands far-reaching views over Ashdown Forest and presumably remains enchanted, ‘because nobody had ever been able to count whether it was sixty-three or sixty-four’ trees. The only modern addition is a memorial commemorating Milne and E.H. Shepard, the books’ original illustrator.

What do I need to pack?

Walking boots – the paths in Ashdown Forest can be muddy, even in summer.

Lasting memory?

Milne’s old sundial still stands in the garden. We were charmed by its carved stone base depicting Rabbit, Tigger and co, and by its quote: ‘This warm and sunny spot belongs to Pooh, And here he wonders what it’s time to do.’

Sainsbury’s magazine insider tip

To enjoy some of Ashdown Forest’s glorious ridge-top drives, follow Colemans Hatch Road through dappled woods, then loop back past Nutley Windmill and bisect emptier heathlands after turning north at Duddleswell.