World Pooh Sticks Championships – How to become champion of Pooh Corner
You don’t need to be Mo Farah, Tom Daley or Jessica Ennis to become World Champion at a sporting event; sometimes, all you need to do is drop a coloured stick from a bridge. Readers of A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh stories will already be familiar with this not-so-fast-paced sporting event; for the rest of us, here’s what it involves.
According to The Official Pooh Corner Rules for Playing Poohsticks, written by Mike Ridley in 1996:
- First, you each select a stick and show it to your fellow competitors. You must agree which stick is which – or whose, as it were.
- Check which way the stream is flowing. Competitors need to face the stream on the side where it runs in, under the bridge (upstream). Note: If the stream runs out, from under the bridge you are standing on the wrong side! (downstream).
- Choose someone to be a Starter. This can be either the oldest or the youngest competitor.
- All the competitors stand side by side facing upstream.
- Each competitor holds their stick at arm’s length over the stream. The tall competitors should lower their arms to bring all the sticks to the same height over the stream as the shortest competitor’s stick.
- The starter calls, ‘Ready – Steady – Go!” and all the competitors drop their sticks. Note: the stick must not be thrown into the water.
- At this point in the game all the players must cross to the downstream side of the bridge. Please take care – young players like to race across. Remember, other people use bridges and some of them have vehicles or horses.
- Look over the edge of the bridge for the sticks to emerge. The owner of the first Stick to float from under the bridge is the winner.
It’s not just a game for Pooh bears, Tiggers and Eeyores either; the 30th Annual World Pooh Sticks Championships will be held at Day’s Lock in Oxfordshire on Sunday 24th March and you and your family could be the winners. If you are entering as a team of four, you can register in advance on the event website, individuals can just show up on the day.
As well as the championships, the event will include food, drink, visits from Piglet and Eeyore and even the chance to spy some very new-born lambs. What more could you want from a Springtime family day out?
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