An Adventure with Horsey - by Waverley Bear

 One day, two people I hadn't met before arrived at our house, wearing masks, and took Sonning, Hanley and Endon away with them!  I was very worried, but Polar said not to panic because they were friends of the other bears from the Inland Waterways group, called Aunty Anne and Uncle Alan, and Aunty Anne wanted to borrow them for a couple of days as she was making something for them.

"We'll see them again soon, when we're on our boat journey, as we'll pass close to their house.  You can help us to look after Horsey while they're away."

I was glad Horsey was with me, as I felt very lonely without the other bears.  At bedtime, instead of going upstairs to our basket, I snuggled up under Grizzly's scarves with Horsey, on the settee.

The next day, I had to pack my friends' things for our boat trip.  I made sure that I put their duffle coats in, as the weather forecast was not very good.

Then I helped Polar sort out some sewing things to take with us, as she said she had a little project for us to work on if it was bad boating weather. 

Then it was time to go to the boat.  Polar and Grizzly were going to load the groceries, Polar's paints and other things the evening before we set off and asked if Horsey and I wanted to stay on the boat overnight.

"Yes please!" we said.  

Horsey hadn't been aboard Uppie before.  I wanted to see if the duck's egg had hatched and sure enough they had - we saw a duck with six little ducklings swimming around near the boat.

When they had packed everything away, Polar and Grizzly settled Horsey and I down on one of the chairs for the evening, but we decided it would be more comfortable to sleep in their bed.

Horsey had a roll and I did some bouncing, then we settled down to sleep.  When Grizzly arrived early the next morning, he didn't mind that we were sleeping in his bed.  We woke up when he started the engine.

"Where's Polar?" I asked.

"She's taking the car back home, then she's going to walk down and meet us on the other side of the Harecastle Tunnel," Grizzly explained.  "We're setting off early so, hopefully, we can join the first convoy of boats going through."

"Oh!" I said.  I had forgotten that we were going through the tunnel.  I wished that I had the other bears with me, as they had been through before and wouldn't be scared.

"Don't be frightened," Grizzly said, noticing me shaking.  "I've steered Uppie through here more than thirty times now.  We'll be out in the light again in about forty minutes."  

He sat Horsey and I in the cratch, where we could look out at the funny orange water and the stalactites, and warned us not to be scared if a funny whooshing noise started when we were part way through, because that was just the fans that clear fumes and gas out of the tunnel.

I was glad Horsey was with me on that journey, as it was dark and spooky, but soon we were on the other side and, a few minutes later, Polar was back aboard.

Polar and Grizzly stopped at Longport boatyard to get the boat toilet pumped out (poooo!), then moored again a little further on at Middleport Pottery to see if the cafe was serving outdoor food, as they fancied oatcakes for second breakfast - but it was not.

"We'll come again and you can have oatcakes and a tour of the pottery," Polar said.

"I wonder if we can get you some Staffordshire oatcakes to try, before you go home?" I said to Horsey.  I think he would like them, as he eats oats a lot.  He has eaten porridge with us, and I fed him Scottish oatcakes for his lunch while Polar and Grizzly were ashore.

Carrying on around Burslem and towards Hanley, we passed where a new link road is being built.  Polar explained that the thing that looks like a big corkscrew is a continuous flight auger for stabilising ground with concrete piles, by pumping grout down the centre of the corkscrew section as it is pulled out of the ground. 

Nearby is Festival Park, which has that name because there was a garden festival there in the mid 1980s, although now it is an office and retail park.

It is quite close to the city centre, so you can imagine how surprised we were to see bunnies skipping about outside the offices! 

We stopped here for some lunch and for Grizzly to get some extra shopping, and I enjoyed another of my special oatcakes, plus some of Polar's chocolate biscuit.  And we gave two oatcakes to Horsey with his apple.

"I hope Hanley Bear will like these oatcakes," I said, but Polar said he is very touchy about Staffordshire oatcakes being the real sort, and I should be careful not to upset him. 

Then it was time to join the Caldon Canal.  At Etruria Basin, we found our friends Mrs Kay and Mr Steve and the Oatcake Boat, but it had broken down and was waiting for a big repair to the engine, which made us very sad.

There is a staircase lock here, where one lock leads directly into another, and it is very deep.  Horsey and I stayed in the cabin where we were safely out of our human guardians' way while Grizzly steered the boat and Polar operated the locks.

After another lock, we were in Hanley Park (or Me Park as Hanley Bear calls it), which looks very smart now the pavillion and bandstand have been restored.  

"Maybe we'll stop there for afternoon tea on the way back?" I said to Horsey.

I pointed out some more bottle kilns as we made our way in a loop around Hanley, under some very, very low bridges and under a lift bridge, where Grizzly had to stop the traffic to raise the bridge.  

We made our way along a very twisty section of canal, then moored just beyond a little bridge.

"Why have we stopped here?" I asked Polar, as I couldn't see any locks or shops or anything very interesting.

"Have a look on the towpath, and see who's arrived," she answered.

I looked out and there were Aunty Anne and Uncle Alan - and all my bear friends, in their light-weight bear bag!  I waved furiously and gave Horsey a big hug.

Sonning, Hanley and Endon were home - and they all had lovely embroidered boaters' belts, made for them by Aunty Anne.  How smart they all look!

"And we've had a brilliant adventure," said Hanley.  "We went to the stadium with Uncle Alan to get his Stoke City season ticket!"

"And we went to see their boat at Market Drayton," added Endon.

"And we met their hug of small bears and anipals," said Sonning.  "They were very kind to us, as Aunty Anne has made us these lovely belts, but we did miss you and Horsey."

We all had a hug, then the other bears told me more about their adventures, and I told them what Horsey and I had been doing, about our night on the boat and our journey through the tunnel.

Polar and Grizzly steered Uppie through some lovely bluebell woods to a mooring overlooking fields and rolling hills, although we were still in the city of Stoke-on-Trent.  We had stew and suet dumplings for tea, then all snuggled up together in our bear basket for a good night's sleep, so we would be ready for more adventures tomorrow!