A Holiday in Somerset - Part 4: Some West Country Canals

On our visit to Aunty Ann and Uncle Derek, I was lucky enough to see some canals.  You might not know that there are canals in south-west of England, but there are, although they aren't linked together into a proper network any more.  

Uncle Derek took Endon and I, along with Aunty Ann, Polar and Grizzly, to see two of them.

The first was the Taunton and Bridgwater canal, which was part of a planned route linking the Bristol Channel to the English Channel, although that was never finished.  A section about 14 miles long is navigable today and we did see some boats moored on it.

We started our walk just east of Taunton and, close to the M5 motorway, we saw a kingfisher!  It was perched in a tree just across the canal from us and it didn't fly away when we stopped for Polar to take photos.

Underneath the motorway bridge there was some street art, like we saw in Birmingham, which was quite a surprise.  It is quiet when you are right underneath, but the traffic noise is very annoying on either side.

We were soon far enough away from the traffic for Endon and I to forage blackberries!

We found a World War II pill-box further along, which was built with the idea that invading enemies could be attacked from it if they were trying to cross the canal.  Luckily, it was not needed and now makes a good roosting site for bats!

When we reached the point that was the junction with the Chard Canal, Endon and I scrambled up to read the information board.  None of that canal is navigable now and it would be difficult to restore, as it used inclined planes and boat lifts, rather than locks, to move boats up and down the hills.

We loved these little narrowboats!  We don't think we will ever be able to bring Uppie to this canal, but it would be fun to boat on it one day.  We'll have to see if there is a trip boat and treat Aunty Ann and Uncle Derek to afternoon tea!

We had quite a long walk along the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, then Uncle Derek took us all to see something quite amazing - the remains of a section of the Grand Western Canal. 

This part is not far from their village, but you couldn't get a boat along it - except, perhaps, a small-bear-sized canoe.  A section has been restored at Tiverton, but this part is completely derelict.

In the middle of a clearing in the woods, however, are the remains of a huge brick structure which was a boat lift!  It must have been an amazing sight when it was working.  There are information boards to tell you about it, and you can follow a footpath around it to the upper level.

The lift stopped working before photography was invented, so the artist's impression in the picture is what people think it looked like back then.  We wished we had brought Hanley and Huddlesford with us, as they both love engineering.

Following the upper level along the old towpath, you soon come to a magnificent aqueduct.  This was built over the carriage road to a stately home, so had to look very fancy.  As you can see, it is very close to the main railway line into Devon and Cornwall.  

We think we are very lucky small bears to have visited such interesting places, and are very grateful to Uncle Derek for finding out about them and driving us to see them.  

There is just one more post to come about our holiday in Somerset - and it's about how we got a new Bear Bag!

 

Paws Around the Potteries - Bears at the Match

 Ay up, everybear!  It's time for another Paws around the Potteries with me, Hanley Bear.  This one is about football, my favourite subject, and supporting the best football team ever, Stoke City. 

I almost always go to home games with Grizzly.  Sometimes, Polar comes too and brings some of the other bears, particularly if we think it will be a tough game and we will need extra Bear Luck to win.

Stoke City didn't need Bear Luck when they had the famous Sir Stanley Matthews or the bear-illiant Mr Gordon Banks playing for them.  There is a great statue of Sir Stanley near where the coaches park, so look out for it if you ever visit.

The Boothen End is the Stoke version of The Cop at Liverpool, and it is where Grizzly and his friends have their season ticket seats.  Before the game, it's become traditional for the fans around us to pat my head for luck, and I get lots more pats if we win!

Here I am with Sonning and Huddlesford (and Polar) for the game against Hull last month.  I decided three bears would be enough to get us a win in that game, and I was right!

Stoke didn't play particularly well but still managed to score two goals and Hull didn't get any, so that was another three points for us.  Yay!!

After the game, we went to get the bus back to Stoke, where Polar had parked the car, which meant waiting in a long queue, but I don't mind as that is where the statue of Mr Gordon Banks is.  

Our last home game was against West Bromwich Albion, who are top of our league at the moment.  Grizzly was going and so were Polar and Grizzly's son Mr George.  It was going to be a tough game, so I said we needed as many bears as possible to come too.

I tucked into Grizzly's coat, which is what I usually do when it's just the two of us going, and the other four bears went in the Bear Bag.  We saw the International Space Station fly over, and I remembered that Captain Tim Peake had taken a Stoke City flag up to it, so decided it was a lucky sign.

Polar and Mr George were at the opposite end of the stadium to me and Grizzly, so we could send Bear Luck to the team from behind both goals!

It didn't seem to be working, though!  Stoke City hit the post, then they hit the crossbar, then a West Brom "Own Goal" that would have put us ahead was disallowed, and then we missed a penalty!  It was looking as though this needed to be a six or even seven bear game, when Mr Nick Powell scored a late goal - and we won!

I cheered and cheered, and everyone patted my head.  If we can beat the team who are top of the table, maybe we can be top ourselves and get promoted again?  I have my paws and claws crossed!

I was very happy and very cosy, wrapped up in Grizzly's lucky scarf on the way home.  We had all enjoyed a very exciting game.  

The team will have to manage without Bear Luck in their next home game, which is against Bournemouth, as Grizzly has decided we will be away on Uppie that night!  I gave him a hard stare when he told me.  But we will be listening on the radio, wherever we are, and cheering them on.

Come on you Mighty Potters!  Yaaayyyy!!!

Garden Bears' World - Harvest Time on the Allotment

 Hello again everyone!  It's time for another Garden Bears' World and this one is about the harvest from the allotment.

We have grown our best tomatoes here, as they get more sunshine than at home and the insects can get in through the louvre windows to pollinate the plants easily.

Polar grew a variety called Cherokee Purple which are very big (as big as a small bear's head) and very tasty, as well as the stripy Tigerella and Green Zebra.

After picking the tomatoes, it was time to check on Chomper B's magic beans and Polar's experiment to see which grew best.  We decided that there wasn't much difference at all, although the bigger, pink/brown seeds seemed to produce more short, fat pods that tended to be stringy, so Polar isn't going to save those for next year and will concentrate on the typical purple/black beans and the white/brown ones, which both did best. 

Polar and Grizzly dug the last of their potatoes too.  Grizzly lifted the big Sarpo Mira potatoes, while I helped Polar find all the funny-shaped Pink Fir Apple ones.

Polar says we ought to have lifted these a couple of weeks ago, as the slugs had got into some of them and made big holes, and the rain had washed the soil away from others, so they had gone green, but most of them were sound, even if they were very odd shapes indeed!

We were pleased to see the broccoli and leeks both still growing very well, although the leeks are a little bit late.  Polar says the purple sprouting broccoli looks like it might be rather early, though!

Here are some more pictures of the tomatoes when we got them home, because I am very proud of them and they look so bright and cheerful.

This weekend, Polar says she will pick the ones still on the plants and take the plants down, as they won't be happy when the weather gets colder anyway, and it will stop them going mouldy and spreading disease in the greenhouses.  

But at least we can enjoy some summery tomato salads before the cooler weather arrives!