It’s hard to believe that a simple little English game like Pooh Sticks could evolve into a huge event attracting competitors and TV crews from around the globe.
The World Pooh Sticks Championship, held in the tiny Oxfordshire village of Little Wittenham every March, was started by the local lock keeper who noticed that people were snapping off twigs from his garden to play Pooh Sticks on the nearby bridge.
The day starts with international teams competing against each other, trying out tactics like dropping the stick into the fastest-flowing part of the river or releasing it with a twitch of the hand.
Next are the family and individual races, the winner of the final heat receiving a gold medal and a Winnie the Pooh bear.
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