Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of tranquil open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some 30 miles (48 km) south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an altitude of 223 metres (732 ft) above sea level, its heights provide expansive vistas across the heavily wooded hills of the Weald to the chalk escarpments of the North Downs and South Downs on the horizon.

Ashdown Forest's origins lie as a medieval hunting forest created soon after the Norman conquest of England. By 1283 the forest was fenced in by a 23 miles (37 km) pale enclosing an area of some 20 square miles (5,200 ha). 34 gates and hatches in the pale, still remembered in place names such as Chuck Hatch and Chelwood Gate, allowed local people to enter to graze their livestock, collect firewood and cut heather and bracken for animal bedding. The Forest continued to be used by the monarchy and nobility for hunting into Tudor times, including notably Henry VIII, who had a hunting lodge at Bolebroke Castle, Hartfield and who courted Anne Boleyn at nearby Hever Castle.

Christopher Robin Milne (21 August 1920 - 20 April 1996) was the son of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories and in two books of poems.

Christopher Robin Milne was born at 11 Mallord St, Chelsea, London at 8 A.M. to author Alan Alexander Milne and Dorothy Milne (née de Sélincourt). His parents had expected the baby to be a girl, and had chosen the name Rosemary. When it turned out to be a boy, they initially intended to call him Billy, but decided that this would be too informal. They gave him two first names to help distinguish him from other Milnes, each parent choosing a name. Although he was officially named Christopher Robin, his parents often referred to him as "Billy". When he began to talk, he pronounced his surname as Moon instead of Milne. After that, his family would often call him "Billy", "Moon", or "Billy Moon". In later life, he became known as simply "Christopher".

On his first birthday, he received an Alpha Farnell teddy bear he called Edward. This bear, along with a real bear named "Winnie" that Milne saw at the London Zoo, eventually became the inspiration for the character of Winnie-the-Pooh. The teddy bear was about two feet tall, light in color, frequently losing his eyes, and a fairly constant companion to Milne.

Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons.

He appears in Milne's poems and in the two books: Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). In the books he is a young boy who is one of Winnie-the-Pooh's best friends. His other friends are Eeyore, Kanga and Roo, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger. He is characterized by his uneven socks. In the second book, there are hints that Christopher Robin is growing up. In the final chapter, the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood throw him a farewell party after learning that he must leave them soon. It is implied that he is to attend boarding school.

Christopher Robin was based upon the author A. A. Milne's own son, Christopher Robin Milne, who in later life became unhappy with the use of his name, writing in one of a series of autobiographical works: "It seemed to me almost that my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame". In addition to the two Pooh books the character was immortalized in other works by A. A. Milne including two books of poems: When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six (1927). One of the poems, Vespers – which describes young Christoper Robin saying his evening prayers – was said by Christopher Milne as "the one work that has brought me over the years more toe-curling, fist-clenching, lip-biting embarrassment than any other".