Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my clients and blog readers!

As you may have seen on the website, we at Discover South East England are taking a well deserved break over Christmas and New Year and will be back with you on Tuesday 10th January. In the meantime I hope you all have had a very peaceful Christmas and welcomed in 2012 in style.

It's all very exciting here in the UK as 2012 is the year of many different events and celebrations - Charles Dickens Bicentenary, London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee to name just a few! I will be bringing you plenty of updates of what is going on and what is planned for any of you visiting the South East of England this year. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Merry Christmas to all!

It's only 3 days until Christmas now, and the Christmas events I have been doing have been great fun. The Pantiles Treasure Hunt draw was yesterday and congratulations to all the winners - the list will be up after the holidays. The last Lantern Lit Tour is tonight, then it's time for Christmas celebrations. I hope that all my clients and readers have had a wonderful 2011 and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy 2012! I will look forward to welcoming you all to the South East of England next year, just in time for the celebrations of 200 years since Charles Dickens' birth, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics, plus much much more. Happy Holidays!

If you go down to the woods today...

The weather is absolutely glorious here in the South East at the moment - summer has come at last! Though I think it may be rather a shock when we get back to "normal" temperatures for autumn.

Last weekend I went on a drive around the beautiful Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex. Once a royal hunting forest, today a fabulous place to go for a ramble or horse ride. An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) it stretches for 2500 hectares. From open heathland to wooded copses its a fabulous place to spend a day. Not only are there plenty of walks, but places to visit too, such as the Ashdown Forest Centre or the Llama Park!

The Forest is also home to a well loved children's character, Winnie the Pooh. Created by A.A.Milne in 1926 for his son, Christopher Robin,  Pooh and his friends Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet have been ensconced in children's consciousnesses ever since. I stopped off in the village of Hartfield to visit Pooh Corner, a shop where you can buy anything and everything Pooh related - it was fabulous! You can buy cards, toys, books and even gardening equipment for children with Pooh and his friends on! You can even buy online: www.pooh-country.co.uk

You can buy maps and follow the trail of Pooh around the Forest. From the Enchanted Forest and Galleons Leap to playing Pooh Sticks at Pooh Bridge. A magical exploration of the world of Winnie the Pooh for children, big and small alike.

There are some lovely villages within and surrounding the Forest that are great to stop off at to grab an ice cream, do some shopping, or merely sit and have a drink in a cafe or traditional old pub - Forest Row, Maresfield and Crowborough to name a few. There are also the gardens of The National Trust owned Sheffield Park to explore plus a ride on the first preserved standard gauge passenger railway in the world, the Bluebell Railway.

Forest Row, East Sussex

Sheffield Park

So if you are visiting the South East of England this week, make the most of the glorious weather - go for a stroll in Ashdown Forest and then maybe head down to the beaches at Brighton, Camber, Broadstairs or Hastings to cool your feet. Whatever you choose to do - enjoy!

New Readers!

The viewers of my website and blog are ever expanding! Welcome to readers from Brazil, Ireland, Estonia, Singapore, Canada, Germany and Portugal!

Do please drop me a line to discuss travel plans to the UK, even if you aren't visiting the South East, or just send me a message to simply say hello! You can even say hello to me now on twitter too - I'm @cathdiscoversee. (Everything said on my twitter account are my personal thoughts and not that of the company.) Look forward to your tweets and thoughts.