While Welsh holidays may not always be synonymous with guaranteed sunshine, often facing summers marked by rain, it is this very weather that may have played an unexpected role in literary history.
According to author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, the beloved children’s character Winnie-the-Pooh might never have come into existence were it not for a particularly wet family holiday in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, north Wales.
It was during this stay that author A.A. Milne, the creator of the famous bear, reportedly began his venture into writing for children.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales with Lucy Owen, Brandreth revealed that Pooh, inspired by Milne’s son Christopher Robin’s teddy bear, made his debut in a collection of poems composed in a potting shed amid the rain-swept Welsh coast.
At the time, A.A. Milne was already an accomplished playwright, with an impressive portfolio of 40 plays, Brandreth noted.
However, the birth of his son marked a turning point, prompting Milne to direct his creative energies towards a younger audience.
During that rainy family holiday, Milne found himself “a bit fed up” and “didn’t really like the other people he was with,” Brandreth recounted.
Confined indoors with young Christopher, Milne sought refuge in a potting shed, feeling “gloomy” as the rain poured down, according to Brandreth.
It was there that he began crafting children’s verses, including poems like “The King’s Breakfast,” which would later be compiled into his first book of children’s poetry, “When We Were Very Young,” illustrated by E.H. Shepard and published in 1924.
The 38th poem in the collection, “Teddy Bear,” introduced Winnie-the-Pooh and his steadfast companion, Christopher Robin, to the world.
Released in America in 1925, the collection achieved considerable success, becoming a bestseller.
“As it turns out,” Brandreth remarked, “it’s thanks to the rain in north Wales – on the so-called Welsh Riviera – that we have this lovely book, ‘When We Were Very Young.'”
Subsequently, Milne shifted his focus to writing for children, with the first Winnie-the-Pooh story published on December 24, 1925.
By the 1960s, Disney acquired the rights to the character, later investing approximately £239 million in 2001 to secure ownership until the copyright’s expiration next year.
This deal, Brandreth noted, propelled the bear to “hugely famous” status worldwide.
Milne’s books “were enormously popular right from the start,” he said, acknowledging him as “one of the most successful children’s authors of all time.”
“The reason Winnie-the-Pooh has lasted a hundred years,” he added, “is because it’s so beautifully written.”
“Those poems and stories resonate, regardless of age. They are filled with joy.”
“They depict an enchanted world, brimming with playful and mischievous happenings,” he said.
“It’s imbued with generosity and what Milne termed the ‘pure happiness of childhood.'”
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