On a very hot day in August, Cumbria MWiB returned to the lovely Stainton Methodist Chapel just outside Penrith, to hear Rev David Milner speak on “Winnie the Pooh”, who is almost 100 !
Kathleen Williamson welcomed our guests, which included our MWiB Trustee Debs & two friends from the Darlington area, and led the 40 attendees in a short time of worship. Rev Dave, a retired Methodist Minister, then spoke on what appears to be a lifelong passion of his, “Winnie the Pooh”!
It would seem that the actual date of the Bear’s birthday is up for debate, but various events are being prepared all over the country to celebrate his life, including a floral display in Ripon Park, should you be that way.(author’s note). Queen Camilla has set the ball rolling with Pooh sticks, with new stories being published in October of this year. There is some debate on when the first book was published -1920, but stories & pictures appeared in Punch Magazine from 1924, then the London News, with Pooh’s varying looks & differing bees! However, Dave’s soft toy characters from the stories, pulled out of a bag, delighted us all, including later ones – Owl, Rabbit & Mouse.
That is when David discribed Koinonia – a Greek NT word meaning togetherness/fellowship .
We as Christ’s followers all have to live together where God has placed us, like the characters in the WtP stories, who did/didn’t at times; & we smiled as he likened them to some church folks!!. Aah
Dave then spoke about the author, AA Milne, born in 1882, the youngest of 3 children, who started to write whilst at boarding school and edited the Cambridge Uni Mag for 2/3years. I picked up that he was sadly an atheist & loner, shy & introverted, writing “When We Were Young” in 1924 sitting in the summerhouse at a house party at Louis Carol’s home in Wales. He also wrote poetry et al, but by 1930, wished he hadn’t been so successful with WtP. In 1952 he had a stroke and died in 1956.
We definitely had fellowship & food for thought at Stainton that afternoon, , as well as cake and cuppas which followed, being very conscious of the deeper message Dave had brought to us.
Happy 100th Birthday Pooh, and God bless us all in the days ahead.
Delphine 23/8/26
