Sonning goes to Sonning!

In between boat trips on Uppie, we bears had another adventure, back where I was first found by Polar and Grizzly.

It started with a return visit to the village of Sonning, where my human guardians (Polar and Grizzly) found me in the summer of 2017, in an elderberry tree beside the River Thames.   

I was sad to see that my tree has been cut down, but I was still able to show my fellow bears where I was found and our “Hug” of small bears was founded. 

However, our visit to Sonning wasn’t just to allow me to show my friends where I was found.  Polar and Grizzly had been invited to join Grizzly’s second cousin Dominic and his in-laws on a very special journey on the Thames, aboard a delightful little boat called Duet. Duet is an historic steam launch, built in 1901 and owned by Mr Dominic’s father-in-law, Mr Robin Wodehouse, and his friend Mr John Puddy. 

Polar explained to us bears that we couldn’t all come on the journey, because there would be about a dozen other people, including some human cubs, and picnic things to fit onto quite a small boat, and a risk that if too many small bears were running about, one of us might be lost overboard without it being noticed for some time.  

I suggested Hanley should go, because he likes science and engines, but he said it should be me because I’m the Knobsticks reporter bear, and the other bears agreed. 

Mr Dominic and Mr John launched Duet onto the river at Wargrave, then steamed upstream to collect us at Sonning, before steaming back to towards Henley to collect the other passengers.  I skipped and cheered when I saw her coming along the river towards us.

Soon after we were aboard, Mr John told Polar she could take the tiller to steer the boat.  Being smaller and lighter than Uppie, Polar found it very easy to manoeuvre and quick to change course.  Duet has a wheel as well, which Mr John had been using from his engineer’s seat next to the boiler.  

I was going to ask if I could try steering with that, as it was just about small enough for a little bear, but I found I couldn’t see around the engine, so left the steering to the humans.

It was a very warm, sunny Sunday afternoon, so there were plenty of other boats on the river and, when we got to the locks, we found queues of big fibreglass boats waiting to use them, as well as narrowboats and Dutch-style barges.

“Oh no,” I thought, “We will be late collecting the other humans and they might eat the picnic before we get to them!” but Mr John sounded the whistle to let the lockkeepers know there was a steamboat on the river, and the lockkeepers waved us forward, past all the other boats.  

Mr John was able to slow the engine right down so we could creep into the locks very carefully, and we gave the lockkeepers a loud “toot, toot!” from the whistle to thank them for letting us in.

Duet has a twin cylinder compound steam engine, built around 1900 by Guy of Cowes, and a vertical cross tube coal fired boiler by Philip Harrison of Wraysbury, built in 1969.  Mr John Puddy, who is a very clever engineer, has made some repairs and improvements too, including some condensing equipment to re-use the steam.  I liked being able to watch the engine, although I wished I could show it to Hanley Bear.

When we got to Henley, Mr John and Mr Dominic took off several bags of coal, for more journeys later in the week, and then the other passengers got on.  I was very pleased to see that they hadn’t eaten the picnic!  There were bags and cool-boxes full of scrummy food and drink, which had to be packed in around ten grown-up humans and three human cubs, including Mr Dominic’s little baby daughter, Florence.  

Polar advised me to get into the Bear Bag (which she was also using for her camera things).  Luckily, we weren’t going very far and there were no locks between us and our picnic spot.

It is quite different mooring on the river to mooring on a canal.  When we had decided where we wanted to stop, Mr John pulled in alongside the riverbank and found some trees he could tie Duet’s ropes around, and everyone had to climb up over the tree roots to get to the field.  Then a man in a boat arrived and charged us money for mooring there, so I gave him a Hard Stare!

It’s hungry work out on the river being a reporter for Knobsticks, so I was very pleased when Polar brought me some bread and tasty, herby salad, then some fresh fruit. 

While we were having our picnic, the steamer Alaska passed by.  She is much bigger than Duet and even older, being built in 1883.

After a lovely afternoon by the river, it was time to go back to Henley.  On the way back, Polar sat in the bow of the boat and I found a comfortable spot resting against a straw hat, although it was extra warm there, as I was right next to the boiler and the “Windermere Kettle”!

   

I really enjoyed my return visit to Sonning and think I am a very lucky bear indeed to have been out on the Thames in an historic steam launch with so many kind and friendly humans.