An Ethnography of Urban Exploration:

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LEISURE STUDIES IN A GLOBAL ERA

An Ethnography of
Urban Exploration
Unpacking Heterotopic
Social Space

Kevin P. Bingham
Leisure Studies in a Global Era

Series Editors
Karl Spracklen
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds, UK

Karen Fox
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB, Canada
In this book series, we defend leisure as a meaningful, theoretical, framing
concept; and critical studies of leisure as a worthwhile intellectual and
pedagogical activity. This is what makes this book series distinctive: we
want to enhance the discipline of leisure studies and open it up to a
richer range of ideas; and, conversely, we want sociology, cultural geogra-
phies and other social sciences and humanities to open up to engaging
with critical and rigorous arguments from leisure studies. Getting beyond
concerns about the grand project of leisure, we will use the series to
demonstrate that leisure theory is central to understanding wider debates
about identity, postmodernity and globalisation in contemporary soci-
eties across the world. The series combines the search for local, qualita-
tively rich accounts of everyday leisure with the international reach of
debates in politics, leisure and social and cultural theory. In doing this,
we will show that critical studies of leisure can and should continue to
play a central role in understanding society. The scope will be global,
striving to be truly international and truly diverse in the range of authors
and topics.

Editorial Board
John Connell, Professor of Geography, University of Sydney, USA
Yoshitaka Mori, Associate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
Smitha Radhakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Wellesley College, USA
Diane M. Samdahl, Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Univer-
sity of Georgia, USA
Chiung-Tzu Lucetta Tsai, Associate Professor, National Taipei University,
Taiwan
Walter van Beek, Professor of Anthropology and Religion, Tilburg
University, The Netherlands
Sharon D. Welch, Professor of Religion and Society, Meadville Theolog-
ical School, Chicago, USA
Leslie Witz, Professor of History, University of the Western Cape, South
Africa.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14823
 Kevin P. Bingham

An Ethnography
of Urban Exploration
Unpacking Heterotopic Social Space
Kevin P. Bingham
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield, UK

Leisure Studies in a Global Era

ISBN 978-3-030-56250-2 ISBN 978-3-030-56251-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56251-9

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting,
reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical
way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover image: © Visions of America, LLC/Alamy Stock Photo

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
In memory of Keith Bingham, the problem-solver.
Exemplo ducemus.
 Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to a great teacher and

mentor, Professor Tony Blackshaw. It was nothing less than an honour
to have been a student under your supervision. Without your guidance
and support over the years, this book would not have been possible.
A special thank you goes to my wife, Jenny Bingham. This project has
been a long one and yet you have constantly stuck by me and provided
support from beginning to finish.
I would also like to thank my good friend, Ford Mayhem. Through
thick and thin you have always been there, every step of the way. May
the good times continue for many years to come.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge ‘the Boyz’. Obviously, without
you all this study would not have been possible. Thank you, each of you,
for allowing me to write about your lives and for investing so much into
this project.

vii
 Contents

Part I Setting the Scene

1 In Between the Everyday and the Imaginary 3

Why a Book on Urban Exploration as Heterotopia? 4
A Definition of Heterotopic Social Space 6
Conceptualising the Non-conceptual 10
Outline of the Book 12
References 15

2 Some Reflections on the Existing Literature 19

Introduction 19
Aestheticising Decay 20
Evading the Spectacle 23
Gender Trouble 27
Tightly Fractured ‘Communities’ 30
Consumers in Disguise 34
The Performativity of Urban Exploration 40

ix
x Contents

Heterotopia Redux 44
Summary 46
References 47

3 Constructing a Critical Lens 53

Introduction 53
Metaphysical Orientations 55
The Research Design 57
On Being an Insider 60
Introducing WildBoyz 62
Raising Ethical Issues and Making Moral Choices 68
Summary 71
References 72

Part II Exploring the Interregnum

4 Seeking Spaces of Compensation in Modernity’s

Dark Side 77
Introduction 77
The Utopian Dream 81
Rethinking the Nightmare of Disenchantment 89
Unpacking the Twenty-First-Century Interregnum 91
Finding Enchantment in Disenchantment: Taking
the Spillway 94
Heterotopic Social Space 98
An Interim Summary 104
References 106

5 Finding a Way in the Garden of Forked Paths: The

Ontological Hybrids Extraordinaire 109
Introduction 109
Obligation and Responsibility: Skholērs Unite 111
The ‘Art of Living’ Performatively: The Realm
of the Khôraster 115
 Contents xi

‘Of Other Spaces’: The Non-absolutes 120

Summary 124
References 125

Part III Unpacking Heterotopic Social Space

6 The Cognitive Spacing of WildBoyz: On Thinking

Skholērly 129
Introduction 129
Skiing in the Interregnum 132
Cognitive Spacing in Heterotopia: The WildBoyz Way 135
Traitors and Ominous Strangers: Overcoming
the Arcane ‘Other’ 140
‘The Fr3e Roamer Cunts’ 141
Heterotopic Space and Its Politics of ‘Otherness’ 143
References 150

7 Aesthetic Social Spacing: Altogether Now

with the Khôrasters 153
Introduction 153
Admission to the Attractions of the Underground 154
The Playful Ingeniousness of Urban Exploration 157
Chaos: On Exploiting the ‘Telecity’ 161
The Ephemeral Ecstasy of Aesthetic Space 165
References 168

8 Being with and Being for: Moral Social Spacing

in Action 171
Introduction 171
A Night on the Town 173
On Free Floating Responsibility 178
Re-examining the Moral Party 183
Another Interim Summary 188
References 190
xii Contents

Part IV Heterotopic Ways of Being

9 Practised Life Strategies of WildBoyz 195

Introduction 195
Schizophrenia: A Polymorphic Life Strategy 198
Seeking the Craic: A Nostalgic Life Strategy 207
The Differend and the Sublime: A Parasitical Life
Strategy 222
Living in a ‘Viewer Society’: The Life Strategy for Media
Whores 238
References 252

Part V Restorative Dreams and Potential Futures

10 No End in Sight 259

Some New Research Directions 261
Re-Imagining Urban Exploration 263
The Ongoing Myth 267
References 272

Index 275
 List of Figures

Fig. 9.1 Gazing at the North Sea Producer 229

Fig. 9.2 Trying to capture the moment 232
Fig. 9.3 Mayhem posing in his WildBoyz t-shirt, near Bridge
House Hotel 247
Fig. 9.4 Box posing inside a drain, having adjusted the light to
make himself appear mysterious and furtive 248
Fig. 9.5 MKD revealing his ‘deviant’ flair inside an abandoned
farmhouse 249
Fig. 10.1 Newton Aycliffe Clock Tower 271

xiii
 Part I
Setting the Scene
 1
In Between the Everyday
and the Imaginary

This book provides a critical investigation, and a reflection on my part,

of a precarious world that is likely to appear disturbing and confounding
from the outside because it is legitimated by its own logic and dynamics.
What I am talking about here is the idea of a heterotopia, and the hetero-
topia I have in mind is a place where the stench of decay, the feel of dust
and the sounds of foetid dripping water provides not only purpose but
a sense of home for a group of likeminded individuals. In other words,
the world I am referring to is rooted in a form of leisure known as urban
exploration. It is with this in mind that the reader is invited along on a
journey to witness the unpacking of a very special kind of social space
that has found its footing somewhere between the real and the imagi-
nary. Of course, some aspects of it will no doubt seem uncanny or not
quite right, but the reader will be encouraged to imagine and appreciate
the quixotic qualities of this world. As I will argue, this is a world that is
ontologically dependent on the reader’s preparedness to engage with its
discourse by turning common-sense ideas upside down. It is also depen-
dent on being willing to listen to what I have to say, if only for a short
while, as I re-imagine the ways in which risk, freedom, morality and
passion might be interpreted.
© The Author(s) 2020 3
K. P. Bingham, An Ethnography of Urban Exploration,
Leisure Studies in a Global Era,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56251-9_1
4 K. P. Bingham

Why a Book on Urban Exploration

as Heterotopia?
Urban exploration, which is also commonly referred to as ‘urbex’, is
the term used to describe the activity of exploring human-made struc-
tures and environments in the twenty-first century. Although the name
is relatively contemporaneous, having become popularised in the early
2000s, the activity itself is not a new phenomenon. In fact, examples of
human curiosity about human-made places that somehow became lost or
unknown stretch as far back as many centuries ago (Dobraszczyk 2017).
Nonetheless, in present modernity the practice, or art as it is some-
times referred to, has transformed into a form of leisure that is practised
globally.
At a basic level, urban exploration is all about abandoned build-
ings or ruins that are heavily vandalised and/or damaged by natural
decay. Anyone with a broader knowledge and understanding of urban
exploration, however, knows that it can in fact be broken down into
a number of unique sub-categories. The classifications include, but are
not limited to, ‘derping’ (exploring ordinary abandoned sites), ‘roof-
topping’ (ascending to the top of buildings or other high structures),
‘draining/urban spelunking’ (navigating storm drains and sewers), ‘live
sites’ (active or in use buildings) and ‘epics’ (sites that are relatively pris-
tine and/or rarer than the average urbex). It is this all-encompassing
interpretation of urban exploration that has attracted increasing scholarly
interest in recent years.
Generally speaking, the way urban exploration has been examined in
the current literature is in accordance with several popular themes. I will
peel back the layers and unpack these themes in much greater depth in
the next chapter, but for now the reader should know they include: the
idea that ‘aesthetics of decay’ provides tactile and imaginative encoun-
ters with the urban environment (Edensor 2005; DeSilvey 2017); the
Situationist idea that urban exploration can be viewed as a form of
psychogeographical experimentation (Pinder 2005; Mould 2015); the
idea that urban exploration provides the ground under which the condi-
tions of community can be realised (Garrett 2013; Bennett 2011); the
 1 In Between the Everyday and the Imaginary 5

understanding that urban exploration is a highly masculinised, misog-

ynistic form of leisure that fails to take into account the multiplicity
of different bodies that can take part (Mott and Roberts 2014; Garrett
and Hawkins 2014); and, the idea that urban exploration is a deviant
and rebellious form of resistance that challenges the panoptic surveillance
strategies that seem to control freedom and autonomy in the twenty-first
century (Garrett 2013; Mould 2015).
There is a crucial problem, however, with many of the above-
mentioned interpretations and this lies with the suggestion that they
often fail to fully take into account the ‘liquid’ modern landscape in
which urban exploration takes place. As key scholars such as Zygmunt
Bauman (2000), Ágnes Heller (1999) and Peter Sloterdijk (2013) have
argued, modern life has become much more contingent and ambiva-
lent, and this means our ways of thinking about modernity must adapt
so that we can try to understand the fluid possibilities of our world.
In other words, too many scholars are recycling ‘zombie concepts’, to
borrow Ulrich Beck’s (2002) apt term, which are no longer very rele-
vant for understanding present modernity. That is to say, there is seems
to be some disparity between academic perceptions of urban exploration
and what actually goes on in reality. In view of this, the central aim of
this study has been to respond to the limits of existing studies of urban
exploration by examining the pursuit in a different way. To achieve this
task, this book suggests an alternative theoretical way of understanding
the phenomenon, one that takes into account the people, the ubiqui-
tous influence of consumer capitalism and the wider social, economic
and political context in which urban exploration takes place.
One of the essential things that is arguably overlooked in extant urban
exploration literature is the issue that conjunctural change has caused
ideas of belonging, identity and community to become far more precar-
ious, insecure and dislocated (Bordoni 2016). What this means is that
these things no longer offer the respite and cordiality they once did.
Therefore, taking as its starting point Peter Borsay’s (2006) argument
that leisure in the twenty-first century often seems to take place in ‘anti-
structural’, liminal places, where people form neo-tribal collectives as
they try to find temporary relief, this book begins by acknowledging
that a different sociology is needed to encapsulate and understand the
6 K. P. Bingham

identities and so-called ‘communities’ of urban explorers. The different

sociology I am advocating draws on Michel Foucault’s (1984) concept
of heterotopia because it can be used to explore the idea that people are
able to create spaces of compensation for themselves where they can, for a
short time, express certain ‘deviant’ interests and performative identities
alongside likeminded others.
In brief, then, what this book unpacks is what I have referred to
as heterotopic social space. This is my way of exploring urban explo-
ration differently, and it is against this background that three key
objectives have been attended to. First, this book explores heterotopic
social space generally through a leisure studies framework and specifically
through Blackshaw’s (2017) devotional leisure thesis. Secondly, it identi-
fies and explains how a group of urban explorers understand and control
their heterotopic social space. And finally, it frames the central inter-
penetrating and intertwining life strategies that are adopted by urban
explorers.

A Definition of Heterotopic Social Space

An Ethnography of Urban Exploration offers an interpretation of an
inimitable leisure world—that of a group of urban explorers who call
themselves WildBoyz. It involves unpacking their space of compensation
in a way that enables the reader to sense how WildBoyz actually expe-
rience their heterotopic social space by providing access to the ways in
which they feel, think and behave. However, the book does more than
this because it also recognises the value of my role as an urban explorer
turned researcher and my involvement in this world. In other words, this
book follows Anthony Giddens’s (1982) idea of the double hermeneutic
which means it seeks to collapse the dichotomy between what is really
going on in the world, as perceived by ‘lay actors’, and what the social
sciences say is happening by understanding and explaining social action
with abstract theories and technical terminology. As my definition of
heterotopia is disclosed it will hopefully become clear why this position
is an essential one, and why the heterotopic social space of WildBoyz
could not have been explored as effectively in any other way.
 1 In Between the Everyday and the Imaginary 7

Keeping that last point in mind, my definition of heterotopia is built

on the concept outlined in Foucault’s paper Of Other Spaces and there-
fore denotes a ‘place of otherness’. Analogous to Foucault (1984), this
book suggests that heterotopia is best defined if it is juxtaposed with
the idea of utopia (that word used to describe paradisiacal places or
spaces that have been wholly imagined). In contrast, then, heterotopia
might be referred to as a ‘fallen paradise’ that is ‘decentred’, ‘found in no
place in particular’ and ‘associated with deviance’ (Blackshaw 2010: 137).
Heterotopias, in other words, are the opposite of anything utopian. They
are real compensatory places or spaces ‘without geographical markers’
and they can be found in all cultures and societies (Foucault 1984: 5). In
this regard, my definition of heterotopia begins with the notion that it is
a type of ‘imaginary community’ that lies outside all other rational places
in a culture or society while also being located in culture and society.
The second crucial feature of my definition is that heterotopias are
collective (and therefore social) spaces where likeminded individuals
come together to engage in forms of leisure, especially those that are
perhaps less acceptable or forbidden in the everyday world. In this sense,
urban exploration is a prime example. However, what my definition also
takes into consideration is the fact that while heterotopias are invariably
social, they also cater to the needs of individuals because people are able
to find their own personal sense of meaning in heterotopia. As Foucault
(1984) points out, heterotopias challenge the hegemony of a single space
as they can juxtapose several spaces that are perhaps incompatible and
contradictory in one single real space.
The third important component of my definition of heterotopia, as
the reader might already have guessed, is that they tend to be ‘deviant’
(Foucault 1984). However, in reality their inspiration springs from the
performativity of the individuals involved rather than anything more
serious. What this suggests is that heterotopias are spaces of intense
consumption that involve performances which are so incredibly powerful
and compelling individuals end up being totally consumed by the event
(Blackshaw 2017). Heterotopias, therefore, are interpreted in this book
as arenas of Dionysian performativity that emanate difference and, on
the face of it, allow for the exhibition of behaviours that seem more
dangerous, grotesque and wild.
8 K. P. Bingham

The fourth point to consider is that heterotopias are viewed

throughout this book as being episodic . They are experienced as slices
of time which means they belong to the ‘time of possibilities’ rather than
the ‘time of necessity’ (Bauman 2007: 33). That is to say, heterotopias
begin to function when people arrive at a break in traditional time, but
it is inevitable that everyone will later return to the linear trajectory of
their lives once a heterotopia has run its course (Foucault 1984).
The fifth feature of my definition involves the suggestion that hetero-
topias exclude certain ‘Others’ by restricting who can enter and who
cannot (Foucault 1984). The point of excluding ‘Others’ is to isolate
and protect heterotopic social spaces against threatening external influ-
ences that do not belong. In turn, this helps to preserve the intrinsic
magic of the collective and ensure its enchantment survives every time
it is brought to life. What this means is that people must have certain
‘credentials’ and be authorised to join heterotopic social spaces. Never-
theless, it is not enough to possess the necessary knowledge, skills and
understanding; people must believe in the heterotopia sincerely and
authentically to be a genuine part of it (Blackshaw 2017).
It is these key principles then that not only form my definition of
heterotopia, they also provide the foundation for the rest of the book.
However, even with this thumbnail sketch of my definition in place,
I was conscious that defining heterotopia thoroughly and unambigu-
ously still required something else. In other words, I had a feeling that
something important was conspicuously missing. In view of this, and
the fact urban exploration is unequivocally a form of leisure, I decided
to explore the additional idea that it is a form of ‘devotional leisure’
(Blackshaw 2017). In this way, this book supports the suggestion that
the heterotopias urban explorers create for themselves are still of this
world, but that they are situated in khôra (ibid.). As Jacques Derrida
(1995) argues, khôra can be loosely translated to mean ‘anything goes’
and a place for all things that are ‘hardly real’ and ‘always on the move’
(Blackshaw 2017: 140). What this means vis-à-vis my definition of
heterotopia is that finding it is to discover what it means to feel emanci-
pated and free of constraints normally encountered in day-to-day life. In
other words, heterotopia signifies a temporary stopping place for indi-
viduals to perform and parade identities that do not have a place in
 1 In Between the Everyday and the Imaginary 9

the everyday world. In short, it is about theatricality, performativity and

finding alternative ontological understandings of the world.
However, and this last observation notwithstanding, there is more
to say about urban exploration being a form of ‘devotional leisure’
because this kind of leisure has another side to it. What I mean is
that heterotopias created by people such as urban explorers also provide
the temporary comfort of a home. As Blackshaw (2017) suggests, this
is space shared and invented by likeminded others that provides those
warm, cosy feelings of meaning and purpose that seem to be disap-
pearing in present-day societies. Yet, what is being referred to here is not
a ‘community’ in the traditional sense, it is purely a sense of belonging
and safety that has been made real by the careful craftmanship contribu-
tions that have gone into creating it. What this indicates is that there is
a precarious kind of order to heterotopias that feels community-like and
as though it should be safeguarded, but in the same breath it also defies
rationality and reason because it is always short-lived.
What all of this tells us is that heterotopic social space is all about the
art of living , and how people make their own identities and homes in
the world (Blackshaw 2017). To summarise it now, the definition I have
given to heterotopia is that it is a temporary home for individuals who
have great interest in the way and flair in which they live their leisure
lives. That is to say, heterotopia involves ‘devotional leisure’ and so it
not only encapsulates what it means to feel truly alive, it is also about
the coming together of drifting performers who are united in common
spirit (ibid.). In this regard, to ensure it is inimitable and dissimilar from
established traditions, heterotopia represents a completely different type
of cognitive, aesthetic and moral space where alternative life strategies
(ways of living) are employed. It is this prolonged definition of hetero-
topia, then, that has allowed me to establish a starting point from which
we can go on to understand urban exploration and its ‘communities’ in
much greater depth than they have previously been examined.
Another random document with
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came out and said "Go away, I'm thinking—oh it's you?" which was
how he always began.
"Owl," said Rabbit shortly, "you and I have brains. The others have
fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest—and when I say
thinking I mean thinking—you and I must do it."
"Yes," said Owl. "I was."
"Read that."
Owl took Christopher Robin's notice from Rabbit and looked at it
nervously. He could spell his own name WOL, and he could spell
Tuesday so that you knew it wasn't Wednesday, and he could read
quite comfortably when you weren't looking over his shoulder and
saying "Well?" all the time, and he could——
"Well?" said Rabbit.
"Yes," said Owl, looking Wise and Thoughtful. "I see what you mean.
Undoubtedly."
"Well?"
"Exactly," said Owl. "Precisely." And he added, after a little thought, "If
you had not come to me, I should have come to you."
"Why?" asked Rabbit.
"For that very reason," said Owl, hoping that something helpful would
happen soon.
"Yesterday morning," said Rabbit solemnly, "I went to see Christopher
Robin. He was out. Pinned on his door was a notice."
"The same notice?"
"A different one. But the meaning was the same. It's very odd."
"Amazing," said Owl, looking at the notice again, and getting, just for
a moment, a curious sort of feeling that something had happened to
Christopher Robin's back. "What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"The best thing," said Owl wisely.
"Well?" said Rabbit again, as Owl knew he was going to.
"Exactly," said Owl.
For a little while he couldn't think of anything more; and then, all of a
sudden, he had an idea.
"Tell me, Rabbit," he said, "the exact words of the first notice. This is
very important. Everything depends on this. The exact words of the
first notice."
"It was just the same as that one really."
Owl looked at him, and wondered whether to push him off the tree;
but, feeling that he could always do it afterwards, he tried once more
to find out what they were talking about.
"The exact words, please," he said, as if Rabbit hadn't spoken.
"It just said, 'Gon out. Backson.' Same as this, only this says 'Bisy
Backson' too."
Owl gave a great sigh of relief.
"Ah!" said Owl. "Now we know where we are."
"Yes, but where's Christopher Robin?" said Rabbit. "That's the point."
Owl looked at the notice again. To one of his education the reading of
it was easy. "Gone out, Backson. Bisy, Backson"—just the sort of
thing you'd expect to see on a notice.
"It is quite clear what has happened, my dear Rabbit," he said.
"Christopher Robin has gone out somewhere with Backson. He and
Backson are busy together. Have you seen a Backson anywhere
about in the Forest lately?"
"I don't know," said Rabbit. "That's what I came to ask you. What are
they like?"
"Well," said Owl, "the Spotted or Herbaceous Backson is just a——"
"At least," he said, "it's really more of a——"
"Of course," he said, "it depends on the——"
"Well," said Owl, "the fact is," he said, "I don't know what they're like,"
said Owl frankly.
"Thank you," said Rabbit. And he hurried off to see Pooh.
Before he had gone very far he heard a noise. So he stopped and
listened. This was the noise.
NOISE, BY POOH

Oh, the butterflies are flying,

Now the winter days are dying,
And the primroses are trying
To be seen.

And the turtle-doves are cooing,

And the woods are up and doing,
For the violets are blue-ing
In the green.

Oh, the honey-bees are gumming

On their little wings, and humming
That the summer, which is coming,
Will be fun.

And the cows are almost cooing,

And the turtle-doves are mooing,
Which is why a Pooh is poohing
In the sun.

For the spring is really springing;

You can see a skylark singing,
And the blue-bells, which are ringing,
Can be heard.

And the cuckoo isn't cooing,

But he's cucking and he's ooing,
 And a Pooh is simply poohing
Like a bird.

"Hallo, Pooh," said Rabbit.

"Hallo, Rabbit," said Pooh dreamily.
"Did you make that song up?"
"Well, I sort of made it up," said Pooh. "It isn't Brain," he went on
humbly, "because You Know Why, Rabbit; but it comes to me
sometimes."
"Ah!" said Rabbit, who never let things come to him, but always went
and fetched them. "Well, the point is, have you seen a Spotted or
Herbaceous Backson in the Forest, at all?"
"No," said Pooh. "Not a—no," said Pooh. "I saw Tigger just now."
"That's no good."
"No," said Pooh. "I thought it wasn't."
"Have you seen Piglet?"
"Yes," said Pooh. "I suppose that isn't any good either?" he asked
meekly.
"Well, it depends if he saw anything."
"He saw me," said Pooh.
Rabbit sat down on the ground next to Pooh and, feeling much less
important like that, stood up again.
"What it all comes to is this," he said. "What does Christopher Robin
do in the morning nowadays?"
"What sort of thing?"
"Well, can you tell me anything you've seen him do in the morning?
These last few days."
"Yes," said Pooh. "We had breakfast together yesterday. By the Pine
Trees. I'd made up a little basket, just a little, fair-sized basket, an
ordinary biggish sort of basket, full of——"
"Yes, yes," said Rabbit, "but I mean later than that. Have you seen
him between eleven and twelve?"
"Well," said Pooh, "at eleven o'clock—at eleven o'clock—well, at
eleven o'clock, you see, I generally get home about then. Because I
have One or Two Things to Do."
"Quarter past eleven, then?"
"Well——" said Pooh.
"Half past."
"Yes," said Pooh. "At half past—or perhaps later—I might see him."
And now that he did think of it, he began to remember that he hadn't
seen Christopher Robin about so much lately. Not in the mornings.
Afternoons, yes; evenings, yes; before breakfast, yes; just after
breakfast, yes. And then, perhaps, "See you again, Pooh," and off
he'd go.
"That's just it," said Rabbit, "Where?"
"Perhaps he's looking for something."
"What?" asked Rabbit.
"That's just what I was going to say," said Pooh. And then he added,
"Perhaps he's looking for a—for a——"
"A Spotted or Herbaceous Backson?"
"Yes," said Pooh. "One of those. In case it isn't."
Rabbit looked at him severely.
"I don't think you're helping," he said.
"No," said Pooh. "I do try," he added humbly.
Rabbit thanked him for trying, and said that he would now go and see
Eeyore, and Pooh could walk with him if he liked. But Pooh, who felt
another verse of his song coming on him, said he would wait for
Piglet, good-bye, Rabbit; so Rabbit went off.
But, as it happened, it was Rabbit who saw Piglet first. Piglet had got
up early that morning to pick himself a bunch of violets; and when he
had picked them and put them in a pot in the middle of his house, it
suddenly came over him that nobody had ever picked Eeyore a
bunch of violets, and the more he thought of this, the more he thought
how sad it was to be an Animal who had never had a bunch of violets
picked for him. So he hurried out again, saying to himself, "Eeyore,
Violets," and then "Violets, Eeyore," in case he forgot, because it was
that sort of day, and he picked a large bunch and trotted along,
smelling them, and feeling very happy, until he came to the place
where Eeyore was.
"Oh, Eeyore," began Piglet a little nervously, because Eeyore was
busy.
Eeyore put out a paw and waved him away.
"Tomorrow," said Eeyore. "Or the next day."
Piglet came a little closer to see what it was. Eeyore had three sticks
on the ground, and was looking at them. Two of the sticks were
touching at one end, but not at the other, and the third stick was laid
across them. Piglet thought that perhaps it was a Trap of some kind.

"Oh, Eeyore," he began again, "just——"

"Is that little Piglet?" said Eeyore, still looking hard at his sticks.
"Yes, Eeyore, and I——"
"Do you know what this is?"
"No," said Piglet.
"It's an A."
"Oh," said Piglet.
"Not O, A," said Eeyore severely. "Can't you hear, or do you think you
have more education than Christopher Robin?"
"Yes," said Piglet. "No," said Piglet very quickly. And he came closer
still.
"Christopher Robin said it was an A, and an A it is—until somebody
treads on me," Eeyore added sternly.
Piglet jumped backwards hurriedly, and smelt at his violets.
"Do you know what A means, little Piglet?"
"No, Eeyore, I don't."
"It means Learning, it means Education, it means all the things that
you and Pooh haven't got. That's what A means."
"Oh," said Piglet again. "I mean, does it?" he explained quickly.
"I'm telling you. People come and go in this Forest, and they say, 'It's
only Eeyore, so it doesn't count.' They walk to and fro saying 'Ha ha!'
But do they know anything about A? They don't. It's just three sticks
to them. But to the Educated—mark this, little Piglet—to the
Educated, not meaning Poohs and Piglets, it's a great and glorious A.
Not," he added, "just something that anybody can come and breathe
on."
Piglet stepped back nervously, and looked round for help.
"Here's Rabbit," he said gladly. "Hallo, Rabbit."
Rabbit came up importantly, nodded to Piglet, and said, "Ah, Eeyore,"
in the voice of one who would be saying "Good-bye" in about two
more minutes.
"There's just one thing I wanted to ask you, Eeyore. What happens to
Christopher Robin in the mornings nowadays?"
"What's this that I'm looking at?" said Eeyore, still looking at it.
"Three sticks," said Rabbit promptly.
"You see?" said Eeyore to Piglet. He turned to Rabbit. "I will now
answer your question," he said solemnly.
"Thank you," said Rabbit.
"What does Christopher Robin do in the mornings? He learns. He
becomes Educated. He instigorates—I think that is the word he
mentioned, but I may be referring to something else—he instigorates
Knowledge. In my small way I also, if I have the word right, am—am
doing what he does. That, for instance, is——"
"An A," said Rabbit, "but not a very good one. Well, I must get back
and tell the others."
Eeyore looked at his sticks and then he looked at Piglet.
"What did Rabbit say it was?" he asked.
"An A," said Piglet.
"Did you tell him?"
"No, Eeyore, I didn't. I expect he just knew."
"He knew? You mean this A thing is a thing Rabbit knew?"
"Yes, Eeyore. He's clever, Rabbit is."
"Clever!" said Eeyore scornfully, putting a foot heavily on his three
sticks. "Education!" said Eeyore bitterly, jumping on his six sticks.
"What is Learning?" asked Eeyore as he kicked his twelve sticks into
the air. "A thing Rabbit knows! Ha!"
"I think——" began Piglet nervously.
"Don't," said Eeyore.
"I think Violets are rather nice," said Piglet. And he laid his bunch in
front of Eeyore and scampered off.
Next morning the notice on Christopher Robin's door said:
GONE OUT
BACK SOON
C. R.
Which is why all the animals in the Forest—except, of course, the
Spotted and Herbaceous Backson—now know what Christopher
Robin does in the mornings.

CHAPTER VI
IN WHICH Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In
By the time it came to the edge of the Forest the stream had grown
up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run
and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but
moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to
itself, "There is no hurry. We shall get there some day." But all the
little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly,
eagerly, having so much to find out before it was too late.
There was a broad track, almost as broad as a road, leading from the
Outland to the Forest, but before it could come to the Forest, it had to
cross this river. So, where it crossed, there was a wooden bridge,
almost as broad as a road, with wooden rails on each side of it.
Christopher Robin could just get his chin to the top rail, if he wanted
to, but it was more fun to stand on the bottom rail, so that he could
lean right over, and watch the river slipping slowly away beneath him.
Pooh could get his chin on to the bottom rail if he wanted to, but it
was more fun to lie down and get his head under it, and watch the
river slipping slowly away beneath him. And this was the only way in
which Piglet and Roo could watch the river at all, because they were
too small to reach the bottom rail. So they would lie down and watch
it ... and it slipped away very slowly, being in no hurry to get there.
One day, when Pooh was walking towards this bridge, he was trying
to make up a piece of poetry about fir-cones, because there they
were, lying about on each side of him, and he felt singy. So he picked
a fir-cone up, and looked at it, and said to himself, "This is a very
good fir-cone, and something ought to rhyme to it." But he couldn't
think of anything. And then this came into his head suddenly:

Here is a myst'ry
About a little fir-tree.
Owl says it's his tree,
And Kanga says it's her tree.

"Which doesn't make sense," said Pooh, "because Kanga doesn't live
in a tree."
He had just come to the bridge; and not looking where he was going,
he tripped over something, and the fir-cone jerked out of his paw into
the river.
"Bother," said Pooh, as it floated slowly under the bridge, and he went
back to get another fir-cone which had a rhyme to it. But then he
thought that he would just look at the river instead, because it was a
peaceful sort of day, so he lay down and looked at it, and it slipped
slowly away beneath him ... and suddenly, there was his fir-cone
slipping away too.
"That's funny," said Pooh. "I dropped it on the other side," said Pooh,
"and it came out on this side! I wonder if it would do it again?" And he
went back for some more fir-cones.
It did. It kept on doing it. Then he dropped two in at once, and leant
over the bridge to see which of them would come out first; and one of
them did; but as they were both the same size, he didn't know if it
was the one which he wanted to win, or the other one. So the next
time he dropped one big one and one little one, and the big one came
out first, which was what he had said it would do, and the little one
came out last, which was what he had said it would do, so he had
won twice ... and when he went home for tea, he had won thirty-six
and lost twenty-eight, which meant that he was—that he had—well,
you take twenty-eight from thirty-six, and that's what he was. Instead
of the other way round.
And that was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks, which
Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to play on the edge
of the Forest. But they played with sticks instead of fir-cones,
because they were easier to mark.
Now one day Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Roo were all playing
Poohsticks together. They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit
said "Go!" and then they had hurried across to the other side of the
bridge, and now they were all leaning over the edge, waiting to see
whose stick would come out first. But it was a long time coming,
because the river was very lazy that day, and hardly seemed to mind
if it didn't ever get there at all.
"I can see mine!" cried Roo. "No, I can't, it's something else. Can you
see yours, Piglet? I thought I could see mine, but I couldn't. There it
is! No, it isn't. Can you see yours, Pooh?"
"No," said Pooh.
"I expect my stick's stuck," said Roo. "Rabbit, my stick's stuck. Is your
stick stuck, Piglet?"
"They always take longer than you think," said Rabbit.
"How long do you think they'll take?" asked Roo.
"I can see yours, Piglet," said Pooh suddenly.
"Mine's a sort of greyish one," said Piglet, not daring to lean too far
over in case he fell in.
"Yes, that's what I can see. It's coming over on to my side."
Rabbit leant over further than ever, looking for his, and Roo wriggled
up and down, calling out "Come on, stick! Stick, stick, stick!" and
Piglet got very excited because his was the only one which had been
seen, and that meant that he was winning.
"It's coming!" said Pooh.
"Are you sure it's mine?" squeaked Piglet excitedly.
"Yes, because it's grey. A big grey one. Here it comes! A very—big—
grey——Oh, no, it isn't, it's Eeyore."
And out floated Eeyore.