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.