A Visit to Dorset

After our visit to Grizzly's grandcubs, we found ourselves on another adventure as Polar and Grizzly had booked to stay in Dorset for a couple of days.  I had never been to Dorset before, possibly because it has no canals.  Despite that, some of it is very nice. 

Polar wanted to explore Wimborne, because that is where lots of her father's ancestors come from.  We bears have seen her using the computer to build her "Family Tree", looking up the census reports and parish records, sometimes when I want it for writing bear blogs. 

'Stay in the hotel this morning, bears,' she told us, the day after we arrived.  'We'll be back after lunch and we'll take you out for a drive this afternoon, when we go to some of the small villages.' 

The hotel was very nice, with a big bed we could jump on and a model horse that Hanley Bear climbed up on to pretend to be a jockey, but after a couple of hours we were keen to take a look around the town. 

'As long as we're back by one o'clock, Polar and Grizzly won't even know we've been away!' I said.

When we got outside, we were not sure which was the right way to the town centre, but we could smell cakes and pasties on the breeze, so decided to go towards the lovely smell.  We carefully crossed a busy road, climbed a wall and scurried along the top, hidden by a hedge. 

'There's the town!'  I said to the other bears, pointing to some buildings which looked quite a long way away.  'I remember seeing pictures of the Minster Church on Polar's computer.  That's where her great-grandfather and great-grandmother got married.'

'It sounds like there's a wedding happening there now,' said Endon.  'I can hear organ music.  Let's go and see!'

We ran across a grass lawn to the town.  It was actually much nearer than we thought, because the houses were very small - only just big enough for small bears to live in.  We knocked on the door of the nearest one, but nobody answered.

'They must all be in the church,' said Hanley.  'Let's make our way there.'

We walked along deserted streets, past small shops and tiny gardens.  From time to time, we climbed up to make sure we were heading the right way.  Eventually, still without meeting anybody, we got to the church.  Peering in through the window, we saw a very small bride and groom standing at the altar, with lots of people gathered around.  We cheered for them, but none of the people looked round.

'They probably can't hear us over the music,' said Hanley.

'Polar and her dad are very tall, so isn't it funny that her ancestors were from somewhere where everyone is so small?' said Endon Bear.

'Not everyone!' cried Hanley.  'Look out, there are some big people coming!'

We quickly scurried behind one of the houses and peeped around the side to look.  Sure enough, there were three big humans striding through the town like giants.  To our surprise, one of them was Grizzly.  Then they started waving and an even bigger person - Polar - came to meet them.

'We had better stop hiding and say hello,' I said to the other bears.  'It's starting to rain.  If we get wet, they will know we've been outside anyway.'  We climbed onto the roof and waved to Polar, who picked us up.

'Were your ancestors as little as the people in the church?' asked Hanley, as she carried us towards a building for big people.  'If so, how come you are so tall?'

'You funny little bears!' laughed Polar.  'This isn't the real Wimborne, it's a model of the town, rather like Grizzly's model railway isn't the real Stoke-on-Trent.  If I hold you up, you can look over the hedge and see the real Minster and, if you promise to be quiet, I'll take you inside to meet some small bears having a harvest festival picnic, and the very old bears in the Priest's House Museum.  But first, we're going to the café for lunch with our friends.'

We all cheered, because this was where the nice smell of cakes and pasties was coming from.

Small Bears and a Big Hill

We bears enjoyed a lovely visit to Grizzly's grandcubs.  We had a quiet morning after our bear sleep-over party, as all the humans went out, and spent the afternoon helping the cubs and grown-ups to make Lego things, as well as being parts of a furry rainbow. 

The day after that, the human cubs were going on a nature walk with their mummy and daddy, Polar and Grizzly and lots of other human cubs and their grown-ups, organised by the local Scouts.  We were invited to go too. 

'I'll have to carry you in the bear bag most of the way,' Polar explained.  'If we stop for snacks or lunch, and you promise to be careful not to get lost, you'll be able to run around and do a little climbing then.'

Grizzly made the grandcubs a walking stick each.  One was slightly too long; when he trimmed it to size, there was a little bear-length stick left over.  Grizzly's grandcubs decided to give it to little Endon, to help him walk, which was really very kind of them.

Our walk was to the top of Leith Hill in Surrey.  Because the human cubs included many who were only little, like Grizzly's grandcubs, the walk started from a car park not too far from the top but it was still quite a long walk.  On the way, we looked for signs of autumn in nature, like berries and fungi, brown and yellow leaves from the trees, acorns and pine cones.  

Polar let us do a little bit of climbing, one at a time.  We enjoyed sniffing the new plants and trees and seeing the human cubs all having fun and learning.

When the group stopped for a mid-morning snack, we all climbed out of the bear bag to explore together.  

We were almost at the top of the hill.  There was a tower there which Grizzly told us was a 'folly' and not for defending anything.  Even without climbing the tower, if we stood on Polar's shoulders we could see all the way to Gatwick Airport on one side of the hill and. on the other, the City of London.  Hanley Bear cheered when Polar showed him Wembley Stadium.  It was funny to think that I had been very close by last year, on Uppie. 

We walked a little further, to an area of open heathland, before coming back to the tower for lunch.  Out in the open, where we wouldn't get lost, we had another run and skip.  Endon found his new walking stick helped him to get around as well as Hanley and I, which made us all very happy bears.  

Then we enjoyed some nibbles of Polar and Grizzly's sandwiches before having naps, except for Hanley, who was woken up early and given the important job of guarding acorns gathered by the cubs.

Soon it was time to go back down the hill.  We took it in turns to be allowed out of the bear bag on the way down, giving us chance to explore the woods a little more without worrying our humans that we might split up and get lost.  

Little Endon left his stick in the bag when he went climbing, as he needs to use both of his front paws to get up trees.  'The trees are almost as furry as small bears!' he said.  I explained that the fur was actually moss.  It was very soft with a nice, cosy smell.

When we got back to their house, the human cubs still had enough energy to go to the park to play football.  We played football too - table football, with Hanley Bear winning again.

The next morning, it was time to leave Grizzly's grandcubs.  After lots of hugs, they went off to school and we were sat on the back seat of Polar and Grizzly's little red car.  We thought we were going straight home - but there were more adventures yet to come!

   

Much-Loved Bears

A little while after we got home from our boat journey on the River Weaver, it was time for a visit to Grizzly's grandcubs.  We are always a little wary around human cubs because, although they love and cuddle us, they also tend to throw us around, drop us on our heads and pick us up by the ears.  Hanley Bear does his best to protect his ears by wearing his football hat but my hat has ear holes, so mine are still accessible.   

Human cubs don't mean to be cruel, I'm sure; they simply don't appreciate that these things hurt! 

Although there are a few risks to us bears when we visit Grizzly's grandcubs, there are also lots of fun things to do because they have some great toys.  We had hoped we could stay hidden in Polar and Grizzly's room during our visit, having daytime naps and sneaking out to play with the toys at night, but Grizzly took us to meet the cubs in a café, when they were coming home from school.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' I asked him.

'Oh yes,' said Grizzly.  'The boys love you, little bears.'

They love Grizzly too, but they also jump on him, pretend he's a monster - and they pull his ears as well.

The cubs were pleased to see us.  We had chocolate brownies to eat, then we went to see the dinosaur statue in the village square.  Of course, we bears had to climb it but it was bronze and quite slippery to climb and I fell off.  The older grandcub picked me up and cuddled me, which made me feel better. 

When we got home, the humans had tea and we started exploring the toy box and shelf.  We found Star Wars things, including an X-wing fighter which the small bears could sit in.  We were having lots of fun with these when, suddenly, the grandcubs came in from the kitchen and picked us up.  We worried that we might get bounced or dropped or carried by the ears, but instead, the boys sat us nicely on the settee. 

Then they went to fetch all their small bears.  Soon, we were surrounded by new friends, all having a bear party together.  We felt very loved and welcome.

When it was bedtime for the human cubs, they decided it was bears' bedtime too, so we were all tucked up under a blanket together in a big, cosy hug.  Of course, as soon as the humans were asleep, we all got up to play with the toys.  Hanley Bear's favourite was table football.  He was always the red team and always won against other bears, but not when he was playing against the grandcubs the next morning.

'Boo!' he complained, although he didn't really mind as we were getting ready for another small bear adventure with them, which I will tell you about in my next blog post.

Coming Home from the Weaver

We bears had a wonderful holiday on the River Weaver but we knew it would be time to leave Uppie and come home soon. 

After our visit to The Danny, we decided Uppie's brasswork needed shining, so we helped Grizzly and Polar to clean the brasses and bells and put up some plaques in the cratch showing where we had been. 

'We will have to keep these polished too,' I told the other bears.

Travelling up river was easy, as there was very little current against us, although we did have to watch out for the big dredgers and their tugs and barges.  There were lots of water birds to see, including the big grey herons and pretty great-crested grebes.  

They have stripy chicks, which came very close to the boat if we were quiet bears and didn't frighten them.

In the evening, we moored near the big boat lift at Anderton.  Polar and Grizzly agreed to let us sit on the roof while we were in the lift, if we promised to be sensible bears and if it stayed dry, but there were heavy showers the next morning, so we had to watch from the cratch again.  It was not as scary going up, because we knew what was happening this time. 

Soon we were back out on the Trent and Mersey Canal.  Polar and Grizzly decided to stop at one of the flashes again, so we could look for kingfishers, but all we saw and heard this time were noisy geese.  Polar put on our CD of Paddington stories while we waited for our tea and gave us rice pudding, which cheered us up as we had been feeling sad that our holiday was almost at an end.

The next day was showery too, so Polar and Grizzly took it in turns to steer the boat and we stayed indoors, either helping the human who wasn't steering to do boat chores or reading our books.  We shared the Big Lock at Middlewich with another crew, then started up the narrow Cheshire Locks, stopping near a place called Wheelock.  We saw one of our Inland Waterways friend's boats moored there and went to say 'hello', but there was no-one at home.

We were lucky that the next day was fine and sunny, so Polar and Grizzly didn't get wet working up the locks.  We stopped for the night only a little way from home but with ten locks still to do.

'We are going to have a short trip on the Macclefield Canal in the morning,' Grizzly explained.  'We're going to a boatyard to get Uppie some fuel and to get the sewerage tank pumped out.'

'Poo!' went Hanley Bear.

'We'll go back over this canal on an aqueduct,' added Polar.  'Watch out for kingfishers near there.'

We all like to see new waterways and love seeing kingfishers, so we were very excited by the time we reached the top lock.  We could just see our usual mooring but Polar steered us right at the junction and soon we had gone round in a loop and, just as she said, went over the top of the Trent and Mersey, two locks below us.

Polar and Grizzly say the Macclesfield Canal is one of their favourites but we will have to wait to do a proper journey on it until there has been enough rain to fill up the reservoirs.  This time, we only went a little way, through an odd little stop lock, before turning at the marina and getting the end-of-cruise jobs done.  Then we came back down the canal to Hardingswood Junction and turned right towards Uppie's moorings.

We had enjoyed an excellent small bear boating adventure.  Although this trip was over, we had other autumn adventures to come, as you will soon see.