Guerrilla Winnie-the-Pooh rebrand letters baffle villagers
Villagers have been left baffled after they received letters claiming their area could soon be rebranded with a Winnie-the-Pooh theme.
Residents of Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, had anonymous letters posted through their doors with a 3D Pooh Bear stuck to the top of the paper and a large black circle drawn round it to create a logo.
They were delivered in handwritten envelopes from a mystery campaigner who signed off as “Johnny Nutter”.
The sender claimed they hoped to change the name of the town to “Pooh Village” and warned that a “secret night-time guerrilla rebranding” of the village would take place at the end of the year.
Among the alleged plans was the installation of “large pooh bear logos” to be “mounted on entry arches over the road in and out of the village”.
The letters lay out plans to install a coach park, a Pooh visitor center and to turn Dorchester into “the UK’s answer to Disneyland”. It claims the village was currently sitting on a “huge honeypot”.
It added: “I remain confident too that the villagers will be transformed from ‘sticks stuck in the mud’ to ‘sticks freely floating upon the honeyed waters of progress’.
“Our backers remain committed to this venture. Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing all of you enlightened ones at our next meeting.”
The village has a loose association with Winnie-the-Pooh because the Poohsticks Championships, inspired by AA Milne’s books, formerly took place for a number of years near Dorchester at Sandford Lock on the River Thames.
However, the Championships now take place at Poohsticks Bridge in Hartfield, East Sussex, near Ashdown Forest, on which the 100 Acre Wood is based.
Many villagers in Dorchester-on-Thames joked about the letters and said no one knows who the sender was, despite much speculation in online forums.
‘Rather sweet’ but ‘not suitable’
Lizanne Simmons, 40, who owns a local estate agent, Fortnums Estates, said the phantom letter sender was absurd.
She said: “I have a few village idiots in mind, a few strange suspects, but no one is that strange. So I don’t know who it is.”
Ms Simmons added: “They have gone to an extreme effort. They are hand-written envelopes with a Winnie-the-Pooh stuck to the top of each one. It’s so ridiculous that someone has gone to such a huge effort and spent a lot of time doing this. It’s the sheer volume of letters that is surprising.”
Jo Ferguson, a resident, told BBC that the change was “rather sweet” but “not suitable”.
She said: “As a child I did Poohsticks down the road, so there’s lots of Pooh things, but no – I think Dorchester-on-Thames is probably the best name for it.”
Another resident, Sarah Mason, questioned whether the letter was part of some sort of prank or hoax, saying: “I wouldn’t put it past somebody.”
She told the broadcaster: “If it is real, I don’t think it’ll take off, because of the history of the area and the fact that the name dates back quite a long way, so I don’t think it’ll happen.”
Mike Corran, chairman of Dorchester parish council, claimed he has “no idea where the letter came from but it’s an amusing ‘spoohf’ nonetheless.”
He said: “We can ‘bearly’ believe it’s got so much interest. Maybe it will make some people come to Dorchester one day, visit our pubs and tea rooms and walk to the original Pooh Sticks Championship bridge and play a little game.“
A spokesman for South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “This is indeed a unique and surprising proposition for Dorchester and we would not wish to Pooh-Pooh the idea without giving it full consideration.
“We would not condone a ‘guerilla Pooh rebranding of the village’ and the letter-writer must Bear in mind that their proposals would need to be laid out in full and may Tigger the need for consents first.”