Christopher Robin Addenda

As usual when dealing with human relationships, deeper delving will show that almost invariably "there are two sides to every story". Both A.A. Milne and Christopher R. made their contributions to the rifts that developed through the years. Christopher did suffer emotionally during his childhood, at school, and as an adult from time to time when the constant interest of people with the fictional representation of the little boy and their lack of understanding of the feelings of the real-life individual caused distress. It seems that his early childhood was untainted by the books, but his antipathy began when he attended boarding school at about ten.

To his credit, Christopher seems to have worked hard to become his own man. He studied hard and at University took great geat pleasure in having greater Mathematical skills than his father, though a little less in the literate side. He had sporting interests, particularly in Cricket and Boxing. He learnt the latter in order to deal with the schoolboy teasers who persisted in equating him with the long, blond-haired "angel" of the poems and stories.

He showed great interest and skill in repairing and creating objects, particularly in the mechanical field, and took great pride as a boy and as a man at the extreme effectiveness of his skills. He volunteered to join the army and was accepted in the regular corps, but later transferred to the Engineers which he considered more suited to his talents. Incidentally, this transfer was effected by Milne's intercession with high Army brass. He served effectively in several theatres of war. He married happily, and for many years they ran what became a well-known Bookshop. In later years, he wrote several books, including two biographies about his childhood and subsequent adult escape from Winnie and Co. Extracts from these seem to indicate a wry, witty man and I shall have to begin a search for "The Enchanted Places" and " The Path Through The Trees". Unfortunately, both are now out of print, so it looks like a patient trawl through Thrift and Second-hand Book Shops will be necessary.

An interesting aside: A.A. had hoped for a girl and had Rosemary chosen as a name. When the baby was a boy, one parent chose Robin and the other Christopher. However the boy chose his own name as soon as he could speak properly. He called himself Billy Moon, and the family ended up calling him Billy. So that's how that happened.

And now we say farewell to Christopher Robin and his fictional friends.