World Pooh Sticks Championships returns to Oxfordshire

The game originates from the author's The House At Pooh Corner

The World Pooh Sticks Championships will return for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event will take place in Sanford-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire on 28 May, marking its 40th anniversary.

The game was inspired by AA Milne's classic Winnie the Pooh books.

Each player will be asked to drop a stick from the upstream side of a bridge and the stick which appears first downstream at a designated point will be the winner.

Sandford Bridge wasn't suitable for Pooh Sticks during a site visit in January but organisers are expecting sunnier conditions on Sunday

The money raised will go to Yellow Submarine, an Oxfordshire charity supporting people with learning disabilities.

This year's event, which is organised by Abingdon Rotary Club, will start at 11:00 BST.

The event started in Little Wittenham 32 years ago, but had to move due to "logistical problems".

Piglet and Pooh have been helping organisers prepare the regulation size official Pooh Sticks

In previous years people have dressed in Pooh-themed costumes

An appeal was launched to find a new venue in 2015, after an increase in popularity meant the original spot on the Thames at Day's Lock was no longer suitable.

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