The Ashdown Forest is in the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but most importantly is the home of Pooh Bear. The bridge from which the game of Pooh sticks was invented is located in the forest near to the village of Hartfield. The foggy conditions on our day of visiting, however may have made the game a little tricky. It was easier to imagine the hound of the Baskervilles, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who lived at nearby Windlesham Manor, emerging from the gloom!
The tea room is housed in a lovely old cottage standing in splendid isolation on one of the roads through the forest. We entered and gratefully noted the log fire and homely atmosphere. A friendly young waitress greeted us and we were pleased to find a vacant table in the bow window. The tea room is clearly popular and was very soon full to capacity. The room is furnished with country oak chairs and tables with cheery teapot design curtaining.
We perused the menu which offers a number of savoury items and various set teas which included a Sussex Tea, an Ashdown Forest Tea, a Yeoman's Tea, a Duddleswell Tea and delight upon delight - a Pooh Bear Tea! Each contained different permutations of scones - plain, fruit or savoury, jam, cream, cakes and sandwiches. Having enjoyed such a nice girly time, I didn't feel any affinity to the Yeoman's tea, but the Pooh Bear tea beckoned strongly! This comprised a scone (plain or fruit) with honey (of course) and a choice of cake. There was also a good selection of teas. I settled on a plain scone and a slice of apricot and almond tart. A very tempting cake display included fresh cream Victoria sponge, a mountainous 3 tier chocolate cake, a huge banoffee roulade, banana & honey cake, besides the more conventional lemon drizzle, coffee & walnut and carrot cake.
Having foregone lunch in order to prepare for a teatime adventure, my companion was feeling the lack of savoury sustenance and opted for a tuna sandwich. It looked perfectly pleasant but it is not the stuff of afternoon tea and so I will refrain from further comment! My scone was served warm and had a lovely golden colour and soft texture into which the runny honey melted beautifully. I have not previously considered honey as a scone accompaniment, but it worked like a dream. It was also served with clotted cream but I saved that as an accompaniment to my warm apricot and almond tart. This was perfection with really succulent apricots and a light texture so often lacking in this sort of pastry concoction. We shared a pot of loose-leaf house blend tea (Assam & Ceylon) which came with additional hot water.
The single toilet was a 'no-frills' affair but perfectly clean and adequate.
I don't know if Pooh Bear enjoyed home-made scones with his large jar of honey, but I suspect that he may have done given his impressive figure, and I am very grateful to him for this tasty inspiration!
