More Adventures on the Caldon Canal

 We bears were all together again, with Horsey, and looking forward to more adventures on the second morning of Waverley's boat trip.

We had hoped to sit out on the roof of the boat but the day started grey and rainy.  That made us bears rather sad and, as Horsey was missing his human guardian too, we all got together for a shared hug.

Polar and Grizzly decided to stay where we were until the rain eased.  Polar showed us where we were going on a map, then showed us a little surprise she had bought us - some Paddington fabric!

"I'm going to cut it into shapes to make you patchwork quilts for your bear baskets," she said.  "Would you prefer squares, diamonds or hexagons?"

"No!" cried little Waverley.  "You can't cut Paddington!".  We all agreed that Polar couldn't do anything that would mean cutting through a Paddington or putting pins in him, so instead she agreed to use the fabric pieces whole to make our new bedclothes.

The rain eased a little later in the morning, so Polar stopped sewing and Grizzly stopped reading, and they worked Uppie through Engine Lock, then along the canal to the five locks at Stockton Brook.  We bears found we could see out of the window very well by sitting with Horsey on the back of Polar's usual chair.

Grizzly pointed out a funny little island near Endon (the village, not the bear!) which had once been the pivot of a railway swing bridge, and showed us where the Canal and River Trust had done lots of dredging work and made more stable banks along the canal.

At Hazelhurst Junction, our human guardians decided to follow the Leek Arm of the canal, because they wanted to see the bluebell woods along that section.  We had planned to moor at an aqueduct that carries this arm of the canal over the line to Froghall, but it was busy with other boats.  Luckily, Polar and Grizzly found a good mooring overlooking the Froghall Arm further along, and we settled down for the evening.

Horsey was starting to miss Nearly-doctor Rachael again, so Hanley decided we could cheer him up by teaching him to play football.  Because he was so big, Hanley Bear said Horsey should be the goalkeeper, but Horsey was such a good goalkeeper that Hanley couldn't score any goals at all!

If he was feeling cross or sad about that, Hanley soon had a reason to cheer up, as Polar had warmed up some rice pudding for tea, which is one of our favourites.  Grizzly made sure we all had a share and Horsey agreed it was very nice!

In the evening, we played the 'Peril of the Pole' board game from our Once Upon a Time in the North book.  Grizzly joked at the beginning that Hanley could have some of his beer if he won the game, not expecting Hanley to win - but he did!

When it was bedtime, we were thrilled to find we had a bright new Paddington cover for our basket, made by Polar - and she hadn't cut any Paddingtons to make it.

We were delighted to see the sun was shining the next morning.  We climbed up to Horsey's lookout on the back of Polar's chair.

We could see across the valley to the lower arm of the canal, where more boats were moored, and soon we were on our way through the bluebell woods.

We couldn't be sure but we thought there might have been even more than we had seen at Parrot's Drumble earlier in the year.  It looked as if there was a blue mist through the woods and we all agreed it was one of the prettiest places we had ever been on Uppie.

We thought we would turn at the wide section at the end of the bluebell woods, where we have stopped before, but this time, Grizzly decided we would carry on through the tunnel.  None of us were scared, because it is only a short tunnel and you can see right the way through it, unlike the big Harecastle Tunnel.

It is also high enough that even Polar can steer the boat through safely!  It was exciting for us, as none of us bears had been through it before or travelled along this section of canal.

When we reached the other end of the tunnel, we saw rolling hills and green fields.  Grizzly explained that the canal didn't go all the way into Leek anymore, but that one day it might be restored.  

 "For now, we have to turn around before we get to what used to be an aqueduct over the river," he explained.  "Polar and I are going to have a walk a little way along the feeder from the reservoir, but we think you bears ought to stay aboard and look after Horsey.  You could all come with us, but there is a risk of thundery showers, and we don't have a bag big enough to put Horsey in to keep him dry.  If it's a walk we think you bears would enjoy, we'll come here again another day."

We didn't mind staying on the boat with Horsey that morning and, when our human guardians got back, they said their walk was through a country park that would be perfect for small bears to explore, so hopefully we will be back in Leek again quite soon.