Poppet: a purple, psychedelic shapeshifter prowls Winnie‑the‑Pooh’s wood

A new fantastical resident is creeping through the bracken of Ashdown Forest: Poppet, a puppet with a huge tubular nose, adders‑inspired eyes and iridescent patches that shimmer like summer heather. Made by costume designer Jack Irving and brought to life by a team of 10 award‑winning puppeteers, the creature slithers and transforms for primary school classes, who respond with delighted cries of "What is it?" and "It’s an alien!" Poppet seems more interested in devouring gorse and bracken than bothering the children.

The puppet is the centrepiece of the forest’s Big One Hundred celebrations, a free festival marking a century of Winnie‑the‑Pooh. Trigger, the outdoor arts charity behind Poppet, has created similarly large‑scale works such as The Hatchling. Angie Bual, Trigger’s creative director, collaborated with local schoolchildren to devise the character and says placing a narrative in a natural landscape gives it a mystical edge and helps people remember and value the place.

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