A Tudor Christmas

Today is the shortest day of the year, when many wild bears will be hibernating.  We small bears feel very much like doing the same!  However, I have a blog to write for you, about a visit we made to Little Moreton Hall last weekend.

Our human guardians, Polar and Grizzly, like to take us out for fresh air and regular walks during the winter but, when it has been very rainy, lots of our favourite footpaths are too muddy for small furry feet.  

'I know where we can take you,' Polar said.  'There's a Tudor house nearby, which is always decorated for Yuletide and will be fun for you to visit.  We take most of our friends there, but we haven't yet taken you three yet.'

We put our Christmas jumpers and hats on and scrambled into our bear bag.  Soon, we were at Little Moreton Hall.  It is a fantastic-looking house, with walls and floors running at all sorts of funny angles because it is so old.  Polar carried us up to the top of a little hill - made by humans - for a better view.

'The upstairs rooms aren't open at this time of year,' she said.  'We'll have to come again in the spring or summer, so you can run about in the Long Gallery.  I think you'll enjoy what they do downstairs, though.'

On the way in, some nice ladies were giving all the grown-up human visitors spiced apple brandy and little ginger biscuits.  Grizzly let us try a little sip of his drink and Polar shared her biscuit between us, which made us all warm inside.  

In the courtyard, we made friends with the jester, who was doing silly things to make the human cubs laugh.  He told us that there would be music in the Great Hall shortly and that there was a feast laid out on the table.  We all cheered.

'It's time for your run first, bears,' Polar said.  You can explore the Knot Garden.  People aren't allowed to walk on it but I don't think anyone will mind if small bears run around on the gravel.'

We ran about playing hide-and-seek among the hedges for a little while, before Polar called us back to get in the bear bag.  

'There will be lots of people in the Great Hall to hear the musicians,' she explained.  'You'll need to stay in the bag to avoid being accidentally trodden on.'

Polar was right.  We were squashed right at the back of the hall.  The musicians were a group called Piva, who play instruments like the ones the Tudors had and sing and play music from over five hundred years ago.  We liked it a lot.  Some of it was very pretty but there were also sing-along songs about drinking beer which made us laugh and had us bobbing up and down in the bear bag.

After singing songs about feasting and smelling the food on the table, we small bears felt very hungry.  Polar and Grizzly told us that the food was only for display and not to eat, but when the bear bag swung us close enough, we stretched out our paws and sneaked little pieces of fruit and nuts.

In another room there was a big octagonal table covered in sweet things to eat, but the lady sitting at the table was watching too closely for us to nibble anything.

Endon liked the look of the Tudor Rose sweets, which were made with honey.

'We'll have a nice tea, with home-made bread and mince pies, when we get home, little bears,' Polar promised.

'Can we make ginger biscuits and spiced apple brandy too?' asked Hanley.

'I don't know if more brandy would be good for small bears,' Polar replied.  'I could make you some warm apple juice with honey and spices, if you like?'

We thought that sounded like the perfect Yuletide Tea!

 

Standing Stones

We have been so busy getting ready for Christmas that I have forgotten I have one of our adventures still to write about.  This happened last month, when we were travelling around the south and west of England with our human guardians.

We had another nice visit to Polar and Grizzly's friends in Evesham before setting off for Hampshire.  Polar worked out a route through the Cotswolds and across the Wiltshire Downs avoiding the busy main roads, which meant we could enjoy looking at some lovely countryside and pretty small towns. 

When we stopped for elevenses, a small bear's most important meal of the day, Polar lifted us in our bear bag out of the car and carried us with her along a footpath beside a cricket pitch towards a small village called Avebury, where she said there was a café. We hoped we would have hot chocolate and cake, as it was a bright but cold day.  As Polar reached the end of the path and stepped out onto a lane, we were very surprised to see a row of huge stones in a field beside the village.

'Whatever are those for?' I asked Polar and Grizzly.

'We don't really know,' said Grizzly.  'Archaeologists, who study ancient civilisations, think the stones might have been put here to help people keep track of the seasons, so they knew when to sow their crops.'

'Aren't humans funny,' said Endon.  'Wild bears know when to hibernate, when to hunt and when to have cubs without standing up big stones to help them.'

'That's because bears are brilliant!' Hanley cheered.  'But I think the stones are part of a castle - they are standing at the top of a big ditch, like a moat.'

'There is a theory that this might have been a sort of hill fort,' Polar told him.  'Although it's also possible it was a site for festivals or religious ceremonies.  We're going to have a walk right round it so you can see all the different stone shapes.'

'Can we have elevenses first?' I asked.

Fortunately that was the plan.  The café was in an outbuilding of a manor house, next to a big barn.  I stayed with Polar and Grizzly, drinking hot chocolate, but Hanley and Endon went to explore outside.  

Hanley climbed the Christmas tree to look at the decorations, while Endon scurried into the dovecote and climbed up the little alcoves where the birds used to nest.

'There was Christmas music playing inside,' Endon told us, when he came back.  'And cosy blankets for people to put over their knees if they were cold.  I almost snuggled up for a nap.'

Polar helped us all back into the bear bag, ready for a walk around the whole site.  There were big stones everywhere, forming a big outer circle and a smaller one on the inside, but with the main village street running through the middle of the big circle and on one side of the smaller one.  

The other bears got me to pose as if I was trying to push one of the biggest stones over, then told me to sit on it to give a sense of scale to Polar's photograph.

You can just see me in these pictures.  I look even smaller than usual!

Polar was delighted that it was such a clear day as she got lots of very good photographs, most of them without small bears in, although Hanley decided he wanted to climb one of the stones too.

Endon said he thought the stones were rather spooky and he would rather stay in the bear bag, even though he usually likes to climb things.

'People who lived in the Middle Ages thought the same, Endon,' Polar told him.  'Most of the stones were pushed over or buried, or broken up to build houses or walls.  They were only stood up again in the 1930s.  There are lots of other strange structures around here, including the famous stone circle at Stonehenge.  We will go past Silbury Hill when we drive back to the main road.  That was built by ancient people too, but nobody today really knows why it was built.'

Polar pointed out the funny conical hill as Grizzly drove us along.  The ancient humans had obviously worked very hard to make something so big.  We decided we needed to add more books about history to our small bear library so we could become archaeologist bears and understand why.

'That's very weird,' said Hanley.  'Wouldn't it be fun to climb up and roll down!'

But nobody is allowed to climb it, not even small bears - although we might be allowed, if we were proper archaeologists, so we will have to study hard.

Coming Home

We had a really lovely holiday in Cornwall but, after our visits to the beach and to our new friends Izzy and Nancy Bear, it was time to come home.

Luckily for us, our human guardians Polar and Grizzly try to make sure we have small bear adventures to break up long journeys, so we stopped to see a little section of the Grand Western Canal in a town called Tiverton.

There was a super little visitor centre full of interesting things to read about the canal, and a model of a boat horse.  Polar let me sit on it and pretend I was guiding it along the towpath.

 

The next morning, we got up early and went to visit Slimbridge, a huge nature reserve near the River Severn where kind people look after wild water birds and tame ones too.  Polar and Grizzly took us along in our bear bag, so we could meet some of the birds.

'I hope the geese and swans won't peck us,' said little Endon.

'We'll make sure they don't, little bears,' promised Grizzly.  'We'll buy some seed to feed them.' 

Grizzly likes feeding the little Hawaiian Geese, which are very gentle little creatures and certainly not at all fierce towards small bears.  

Polar took us to one of the hides to look for wild birds.  She told us we had to be very quiet and not make a noise, as there were some people with binoculars and big cameras trying to take photographs.

 After lunch, we met lots of very pretty little ducks on our way to another hide.  There are birds from all over the world living on nice ponds and lakes and there are otters too!

We were very lucky at our second hide because we saw some wild cranes. They are very tall, long-legged birds and look quite strange when they fly.  Polar and Grizzly had never seen them before and nor had we.

There were some great big models of insects to see as well, to help educate human cubs about how important they are to our world.  Hanley Bear thought they were real giant insects at first, because they made buzzing noises and moved their wings and legs, and little Endon was quite frightened of them.  We were very lucky and saw a real dragonfly too, perched on the handrail of a little bridge.

Before for left to drive home, Polar and Grizzly carried us up to the top of the viewing tower for a look out over the whole reserve and across the river.  It was a wonderful view and we could see all the birds swimming and flying below us.

We enjoyed such an exciting day that, on the journey home from Slimbridge, we fell asleep in the back of the car and didn't wake up until the following morning, when we found ourselves tucked up in our bear basket by the radiator.  

We are very lucky little bears and have another Small Bear Adventure coming up soon, so I will soon have more writing to do, but now  I am feeling sleepy again as it is bedtime!

 

Our New Friends

On our last day in Cornwall, we made some very special new friends.  We went to visit Grizzly's sister and her family, including her grand-daughter Izzy, a very kind and thoughtful human cub who likes furry creatures and unicorns, and loves reading about our adventures.  

They live in a part of Cornwall called The Lizard, which has wonderful coastal scenery.  We looked hard but we didn't see any lizards while we were there, but we did see people surfing at Poldhu Cove.

'This would be the best place ever for a holiday!' cried Endon.  'We could build sandcastles again, or even learn to surf.'

'I think we might get too soggy and salty surfing,' I said.  But I really hoped we could play on the sand again.

When we got to Grizzly's sister's house, we met Nancy, a very nice lady bear who lives there.  She told us that she loves it when Izzy visits, as they have lots of fun together.  

We had a super afternoon with Izzy and Nancy, which started with us exploring the garden, which is like a small version of the park in Penzance, with palm trees and tree ferns, and nice smelly herbs.  

We all had fun climbing the palm trees.  Hanley Bear climbed very high in one, then found he couldn't get down again - luckily, he was just within reach for Polar's long arms.

While the small bears carried on climbing, Nancy and I sat in the rosemary, enjoying the sunshine and the lovely smell, until it was time to go in for tea.  

After tea, which included a delicious home-made rice pudding, Izzy helped us bears do some colouring in.  When it was time for her to go home, she gave us all big hugs, then tucked us into our bear basket, to go to sleep.  Because we had been out in the fresh seaside air, we all fell sound asleep very quickly.

We were all very sad to leave in the morning, as we had hoped to go to the beach again and have more adventures with Nancy and Izzy, but Grizzly and Polar said we had to go home.  When we had finished our porridge and it was time to say goodbye to Nancy, little Endon started to cry.

'We've got some more exciting things to do on the way home,' Polar said, cuddling us all.  'You can write to Nancy and Izzy, and we'll try to visit again soon, so don't be too sad.'

We promised Nancy we would write to her and asked her to hug Izzy for us, then we jumped back into our basket, and Polar carried us out to the little red car, ready for our journey home.