Small Bears in Oxford

Earlier this month, Polar went to see her Dad in Southampton, who is now ninety years old.  We like visiting him, as his wife Pat gives us lots of hugs.

Polar and Grizzly decided to have a little holiday on the way there and booked in to pub near Oxford for two nights bed and breakfast, so we could visit that city. 

We bears had not been to Oxford before.  Polar explained that it was most famous for its university, founded in the Middle Ages, which is made up of many different colleges.  Because it was a bright, sunny day, we were going to have a walk around to see some of them while the sun was out, then visit a famous museum in the afternoon.

We found there was a very good park-and-ride bus service, which dropped us right in the city centre - after Grizzly had squeezed our little red car into the last space in the far corner of the car park!

We watched from our bear bag as Polar and Grizzly walked through Christ Church Meadows to the Botanic Gardens, beside the River Cherwell.  There were lots of little boats there, called punts, which are propelled using a long pole, but there were no students trying to steer them that day, because it was cold and the current in the river was quite strong.

Not far away, we found the oldest coffee shop in the whole of England and Polar and Grizzly decided it was time for a mid-morning drink and snack.

We bears climbed out of our bag and sat on the table, hoping for treats.  We were in luck!  Although Grizzly had coffee, which we don't like, Polar ordered hot chocolate, which is one of our favourite drinks, and Grizzly ordered some carrot cake, which we love.

We sipped all the froth off the top of Polar's drink and nibbled Grizzly's cake too!

 Polar and Grizzly's walk took them past some more of the Oxford Colleges and some famous buildings, including the Bridge of Sighs and the Radcliffe Camera.

'That doesn't look anything like Polar's camera!' I said to Hanley and Endon.  'How could you carry that about to take photographs?'

We decided it must be like Dr Who's Tardis, vanishing and materialising wherever it was needed, although it would need a big field or car park to land safely.

We also saw the original Oxfam Shop, a memorial to some humans called the Oxford Martyrs and a Christmas Market, where they were selling decorations made out of dried fruit.  We tried to stretch out of our basket to nibble some, but couldn't quite reach.

Then we got to the Ashmolean Museum.  Polar told us we had to be very good bears and not touch things and definitely not climb on them, as some of the exhibits were thousands of years old and came from ancient civilisations from all over the world.

There were statues, weapons and treasures, and even a whole tomb from ancient Egypt, but what impressed Hanley Bear most of all was how much pottery there was.

'Look at all those vases!' he said.  'They look like the ones Mr Wedgwood and his workers made.'

'These are much older than Mr Wedgwood's vases,' Polar explained, showing him vases from ancient Greece and Crete.  'Just think, Hanley - there have been potters for tens of thousands of years.  We know this, because pottery preserves very well, so archaeologists almost always find some when they dig up lost towns and cities.'

'So, in thousands of years from now, pots made in Stoke-on-Trent might be dug up by archaeologists?' asked Hanley.  Polar said that was right, which made Hanley very quiet and thoughtful, for a change.  

As he was so interested, we took Hanley to see a display of hundreds of pieces of fine china from the 17th and 18th centuries, although he spent most of the time looking for Stoke-made items.  

Finally, after our human guardians had looked at some paintings, we all went for afternoon tea in the rooftop restaurant, which was our favourite part of the whole day!  

We slept soundly in our bear bag on the bus ride back to the car and all the way back to our nice pub and, once we got there, we decided it was probably time for some more sleeps.

Small Bears Dine Out

My friend Hanley Bear is at football with our human guardian Grizzly this afternoon.  It will be half-time now and Polar tells me that the other team are leading by one goal, so his little black ears will be twitching anxiously under his red and white striped hat, but at least his tummy will be nice and warm, because he had spicy snacks before the game.

We bears are very lucky that Polar, our other human guardian, has a friend called Shug who runs an Indian Street Food stall in Stoke Market.  It is called 'Tiffin and Chai' and is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Polar and Grizzly took all of us bears there a few weeks ago, and we tried a feast of tasty things.  As he had been there before, Hanley Bear was quick to recommend the chicken curry, made to Shug's mum's recipe, but Polar and Grizzly wanted to try the vegan food and ordered chickpea dahl instead, along with samosas and pakoras.  They had Indian tea with it - chai - which is made with lots of sweet spices.

We were very good bears and waited patiently for our dinner, sitting on some very pretty embroidered cushions on a brightly-painted chair which were decorated by another one of Polar's friends called Naomi, who has a little business called Doveridge Crafts.

When our dinner arrived, we couldn't believe our small eyes - there were so many different things to try!  It was very exciting for Endon and me, as we had not eaten there before and didn't know what to start with.

Hanley Bear was thirsty so, after giving it a good sniff, he had a big sip of Polar's chai.  'It's delicious, duck!' he told me.  'Try some!'

Endon was more interested in the samosas, and nibbled the corner off of the one nearest to us to get at the spicy vegetables inside.

Soon we were all tucking in, humans and bears alike.  The pakoras were my favourite!  

Mrs Shug and her family were kept very busy serving their customers.  Some of them sat in to eat, like us, while others bought take-away food to enjoy at home.

With three hungry small bears to help them, it wasn't long before Polar and Grizzly had finished their meals.  We hoped we would get to try some of Mrs Shug's lovely home-made cakes too but, sadly, our humans said they had eaten enough and had things to do, so we were gathered back into our bear basket.  

We all hope to visit again soon.  Grizzly has invited Mrs Shug and her mum, and the other nice ladies who help out at Tiffin and Chai, to join us all for a trip on Uppie next spring, when our boat is back from the paint-shop.  

Mrs Shug says she would like that, and will make a vegan picnic for us all.

Yay!

Boatless Bears!

The day after our wonderful visit to the Black Country Living Museum, we were out on Uppie, enjoying the autumn sunshine as we cruised through Cheshire towards Middlewich.  We love boating, although this was quite a sad journey for us, as it would be our last journey of the year and for several months. 

Uppie (Uplander II) our narrowboat, is going to spend the whole winter at a boatyard at Northwich on the River Weaver, being repainted and having some improvements made inside.

There are thirty locks between Kidsgrove, where Uppie usually lives, and Middlewich, but Polar and Grizzly are used to working up and down them, and know where they can moor for snacks and overnight.  We bears look out for things like the little details on the bridges and these interesting old boats hidden away in a little arm at Malkins Bank.

Luckily, we were in the saloon looking out of the window when this big bull was looking at us!

Polar and Grizzly were pleased to reach Middlewich when we did, as some of the locks behind us were due to be closed for repairs.  The boat lift onto the River Weaver was being closed too, so we had to get Uppie down before that happened.

We had spent two days making our way to Middlewich.  We bears spent the wetter second day inside, reading our books and packing small things away that needed to be brought home.

We were very lucky when we arrived in Middlewich, as a boating friend (Mrs Gillian) saw us from her car and gave us all a lift back to Polar and Grizzly's house, as it takes a very long time to get there by bus. 

Uppie stayed at Middlewich for almost two weeks.  During that time, there was an awful lot of rain and lots of local rivers, including the River Weaver, flooded badly.  Uppie was perfectly safe but the boat lift had to be closed and a boat sank at the yard we were going to, which made us very worried bears.

It was a fine day again when we set off for Northwich, and we bears sat on the roof again for the long, lock-free journey from below Big Lock to the Anderton Lift.  We love looking out for kingfishers at the 'flashes', which are big shallow lakes left where the ground has collapsed due to salt mining, and the Lion Salt Works Museum at Marston.

Grizzly decided Uppie should stay in a marina at Anderton until it was safe to go onto the river.  We helped to pack more things, then had a little hug to say 'goodbye' to Uppie for the winter.

Seeing we were sad bears, Polar and Grizzly took us for a snack at the Anderton Lift visitor centre café, before we all went home.

It rained and rained over the following days and three times Uppie's journey onto the Weaver had to be delayed, because it was not safe.  Finally, last Friday, the water levels were low enough and the current was slow enough for Uppie to be allowed out on the river.

We bears stayed at home in our bear basket this time, because Polar said she and Grizzly would have lots of things to do and it might not be very safe to have small bears to worry about when they had a difficult journey to make.

Uppie had a slow journey upstream to Northwich but, eventually, the two black-and-white swing bridges came into view.  Grizzly was very relieved!

Uppie's winter home is beside an island between where the river goes through some sluices and the cut leading up to Hunt's Lock.  We bears have not seen it yet but Polar showed us these pictures of some of the big boats that will be keeping Uppie company.

Polar says that she and Grizzly will visit Mr Steve the Boat Painter whenever there are important things to decide and that if we are good bears and promise to be sensible near the water, she will take us there. 

We will miss our floating home over the winter but we are looking forward to seeing Uppie again when the repainting work has been done and going on lots more exciting adventures with Grizzly and Polar.

Bye bye for now, Uppie!  See you in the spring!