We all love that cuddly bear ‘of very little brain’, Winnie the Pooh. Were you captivated by the original illustrations of E H Shepard in books, or have you enjoyed Disney’s later film versions? Perhaps it is also the innocent but profound commentary on life that A A Milne presented through the adventures of Winnie and his friends that has captured people’s hearts for almost 100 years.

In the first of the Winnie the Pooh stories, Pooh uses a balloon to try to capture his favourite ‘hunny’ from the bees. He thinks that if he disguises himself as a black cloud and flies up to their nest in the tree with his balloon, the bees won’t realise he is a bear. Unfortunately, Winnie neither steals the honey nor knows how to get down to the ground again. His owner Christopher Robin has to shoot the balloon and he drifts back to earth as the air comes out.

Balloons feature in many of Pooh’s other outings too, so it is fitting that he is holding a balloon in this stained glass Winnie the Pooh light catcher. This was treasured by its owner, who had it in her nursery as a small child over 30 years ago. She wanted to pass it on to her own daughter to hang in her bedroom. However, the weight of the glass had stressed the neck area and torn the soldered foil. There were a few other areas where the foil had come away as well.

I removed the damaged foil and added a small piece of steel reinforcing strip under the new foil to support the glass better. The foil on Winnie the Pooh’s nose was also coming away, so I replaced that as well.

Now this sweet, vintage Winnie the Pooh light catcher is ready for the next generation to enjoy. Winnie will be having lots more balloon adventures! I am glad its owner decided to have it repaired rather than throwing it away.