Bears at the Mill

We have been so busy having small bear adventures that I've forgotten to tell you about one of them!

After we returned home from our Peak District adventure, Polar and Grizzly planned to have a couple of days at home.  Then, when Grizzly was looking at the map of where we had been, he saw somewhere else he would like to go. 

So off we went, in Polar and Grizzly's little red car, to a town called Cromford, in Derbyshire, which is famous for its industrial history.  Luckily, as well as having mills and history, it has a tea shop, so we bears could have Elevenses before we started to explore.

We were at Arkwright's Mill, which was the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in the world.  There is still a powerful stream running through the site, so we bears decided it was probably safest to stay in the bear bag while we were out in the courtyard.

Unlike Quarry Bank Mill, there isn't any working machinery here, but we enjoyed the guided tour and learning about Mr Arkwright.  We didn't think small bears would have been very useful factory workers, as we would have been too little.

We tried to make some cotton thread using tools which were used before there were factories, but we didn't do very well at that either, so we just bounced in the cotton until Polar caught us and put us back in the bear bag.

Out in the courtyard, under the cliff at the back of the site, we found what looked like a perfect cave for a small wild bear.  It even had some flowers growing just outside, like a little garden.  We called out 'Is anyone at home?', in Bear, but there was no reply, so maybe the bear who lives there had gone shopping? 

Polar and Grizzly took us for a walk along the river Derwent, which I had last seen joining the Trent near Shardlow, on my adventure travelling up to Staffordshire from the Thames.  We saw Mr Arkwright's big house and the church that he built, and then we saw a canal.

'This is the Cromford Canal,' Grizzly told us.  'It doesn't go very far now, so we can't come here in Uppie, but there is a trip boat that takes you as far as the pumping station.'

'And here it comes!' cheered Endon.

Unfortunately for us, the boat was coming back from its only journey of the day, but we were still allowed aboard to have a look around.  What had been the cargo area was now a super little floating café, with seats and tables for everyone and tea and cakes for them to buy.

At the stern, there was a traditional boatman's cabin, with a fold-down table and a lovely cosy stove and copper kettle.

Seeing the kettle made us think of tea and cake, and our little tummies started rumbling.  Although we couldn't have tea on the boat, there was a café at the wharf and they did scrummy things to eat, so Polar and Grizzly stopped there for tea before we went home.