Country Life’s vast image archive often throws up anomalies. Among the hundreds of thousands of negatives, transparencies, CDs and now digital files, are images taken for the magazine, yet never published. The reason for their omission from publication is rarely recorded.
One such charming oddity is a small packet of just six black-and-white photographs featuring a romantic 16th century timber-framed and red-tiled cottage, nestling in a delightful plot in the East Sussex Weald. Photographed on September 24, 1931 — the precise date had been recorded on an old card index system — presumably for a small architectural article in the magazine, the charming interior resembles a scene from a fairytale. One can almost imagine three bears sat at the generous dining table eating porridge. Which, in reality, isn’t too far-a-stretch from the truth.
An attempt had been made to style the rooms in the manner to which Edward Hudson — the founder and then-editor of Country Life — demanded, with furniture pushed to the sides of the rooms to give a better architectural view of the property. The 'staging', however, had not been done to Hudson’s exacting standards, neither had the composition of the images, with the negatives poorly-exposed, indicating the photographer was not one of the regular contributors to the magazine. Despite all this, however, to the modern viewer, they capture a historically and culturally important building at the precise time it was home to an exceptionally famous small boy and his collection of soft toys.
In 1925, when Christopher Robin Milne was just five-years-old, his parents Alan Alexander and Dorothy bought Cotchford Farm as a weekend escape from the hustle and bustle of London life. It was here, with the low beams, squishy sofas and inglenook fireplaces, that A. A. Milne conjured up the majority of his books about that most curious and loving of bears, Winnie-the-Pooh.
When photographed in 1931, the cosy cottage and its magical grounds had already gained worldwide fame as The House at Pooh Corner in Milne’s enduring children’s book. It was here, in this house and grounds, in this era, with these furnishings, that the game of Pooh Sticks was invented; where Eeyore was gently coaxed from his melancholy; where Tigger bounded around with unbridled joy; and where Winnie-the-Pooh and his thoughtful friend Piglet chewed over the vagaries of life. It was also the year the real, 11-year-old Christopher Robin left Cotchford Farm to go to boarding school, leaving the magical surroundings of his childhood behind.
We hope you enjoy your brief, nostalgic trip through time to see inside this mesmerising home.
The Country Life Image Archive contains more than 150,000 images documenting British culture and heritage, from 1897 to the present day. An additional 50,000 assets from the historic archive are scheduled to be added this year — with completion expected in Summer 2025. To search and purchase images directly from the Image Archive, please register here
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