Winnie the Pooh: Poohsticks Bridge sells for more than £131k

The bridge was rebuilt using original pieces and similarly aged timber from trees in the Weald of Kent

The original bridge which inspired A.A Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories has sold at auction for more than £131,000.

The bridge, which was rebuilt near Penshurst, Kent, was expected to fetch up to £60,000.

It was where Milne and his son Christopher Robin created the game Poohsticks.

Buyer Lord De La Warr, who owns Buckhurst Park in East Sussex, said: "It will take pride of place on the estate."

Previously called Posingford Bridge, the structure has been restored over the years and was reopened and renamed Poohsticks Bridge by Christopher Robin Milne in 1979.

It became worn and unsafe in the late 90s and was dismantled and replaced with a replica bridge, which is still in place in Ashdown Forest.

'Dumped in the forest'

Former owner Mike Westphal repaired the original bridge after getting permission from the local parish council, replacing damaged parts with oak from the Weald of Kent.

He said the original wood was "just dumped in a pile in the forest, under a sheet".

Mr Westphal felt that "someone had to do something with it, and unfortunately that fell to me."

"It's such an iconic item, it's so many people's childhoods."

A brief history of Winnie-the-Pooh

• The first Winnie-the-Pooh book, written by A.A Milne, was published in October 1926.

• The Queen is said to have loved the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh as a child.

• 18 January is National Winnie-the-Pooh Day in the UK and is the birthday of Pooh's creator, A.A Milne.

• A set of Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends coins will be released by the Royal Mint later this year to celebrate Pooh's 95th birthday.

The bridge was first mentioned in The House at Pooh Corner, originally published in 1928, when Pooh accidentally drops a pine cone into a river from a bridge and came up with the rules for Poohsticks.

Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex, sold the bridge on Wednesday and received bids from across the world.

James Rylands, a specialist in charge of the auction, said: "We were thrilled by the interest the bridge received globally, but are pleased that the bridge will stay in this country."

The Hundred Acre Wood made famous by A.A. Milne sits on Lord De La Warr's Buckhurst Park estate in Withyam.

Lord De La Warr said he hoped "many children, and adults, will be able to admire the original bridge" on his estate.

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