The Beagle

Jan 19, 2017

Honey pots and teddy bears: The story behind Pooh Bear's Corner


 (Reprinted from the ABC online article here with kind permission of Sophie Kesteven, happy to
 
 share the story of Pooh Bear's Corner on the Clyde Mountain with the wider Eurobodalla)
 
 Ever wondered who was behind the stuffed teddy bears and honey pots on the side of Clyde Mountain?
 
 
 The site, which could easily be mistaken for a teddy bear's picnic, is in fact Pooh Bear's Corner — the brainchild of Barbara Carter and her husband.
 
 
 "About 45 years ago, when our eldest children were three and four, our trips down the Clyde Mountain were pretty boring ... [then] we discovered this hole in the rocks," Ms Carter told ABC Radio Canberra's Dan Bourchier.
 
 
 "We loved reading Pooh Bear stories, so when we came to the large hole in the rocks on the turn on the mountain we just knew that Pooh Bear lived there."Ms Carter began by placing stuffed teddy bears outside the hole in the rocks
 
 
 Eventually, hoping to enlighten other children and not just her own, Ms Carter and her husband went on to put a little cardboard sign up to "let people know he was in residence".Their handmade sign stood there proudly for many years until the Eurobodalla Shire mayor said he would erect a permanent sign.
 
 

Above: Barbara Carter and her husband came up with the idea to create Pooh Bear's Corner 45 years ago. Barbara took this photo of her American friend at the site some time ago. (Supplied: Barbara Carter)
 
 
 Today, the site acts as a shrine to the much-loved children's storybook character, and over the years hundreds of people have dropped off stuffed bears and little notes.
 
 
 
 Ms Carter proudly said the shrine had survived the brunt of fires and landslides.She continues to drive by the site once a month and often sees cars stopped there.
 
 

PHOTO: The sign has been burnt down by a fire in the past, however, it does not take long before it is re-erected. (Supplied: Barbara Carter)
 
 
 "Many, many years afterwards people keep leaving him [Pooh] little jars of honey and a little bear to play with," she said.
 
 
 And while Ms Carter no longer reads Pooh Bear stories to her children — they're in their 40s — she said she enjoyed reading the classic adventures to her grandchildren.
 
 
 "They love the stories of course," she said
 
 
 All rights to this article in both text and photos remain with the author and with ABC

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