Paws around the Potteries - Red Bull Locks

 It's usually my little Potteries pal Hanley Bear who writes this column for the blog, but I am doing today's Paws around the Potteries as it's about a short journey Huddlesford and I made with our human guardians one sunny morning last week.

Also, the walk is right on the border with Cheshire and I know that, if Hanley was writing about it, he would start claiming it for Staffordshire instead!

  

We were near the top of the Cheshire Locks flight that runs from Kidsgrove in Staffordshire all the way down to Middlewich in Cheshire, through more than thirty locks, and we started our walk at what used to be the Canal and River Trust offices at the Red Bull Wharf, although we were sad to see they seem to have closed.

 

It was nice for Huddlesford and I to have a quiet walk, enjoying the sunshine and looking at the reflections, and not have to worry about looking after the smaller bears.  They are usually very good, but we still worry about them, especially the smallest bears, when we are near the water.

 

Huddlesford and I were both found next to waterways, so we know how to stay safe there, by not getting too close to the edge of the towpath and not climbing on the gates and balance beams over the water.  Both bear and human cubs also have to be careful on the steep stone steps around locks, which can be slippery in wet or icy weather.

Huddlesford's post, where he was sitting when Polar found him, was near the West Coat Main Line, so he got used to spotting trains.  He was able to hear this diesel loco coming along the line from Kidsgrove to Crewe, where there are usually just passenger trains, and quickly climbed up on a gate for a better look.

We walked with Polar and Grizzly down the hill from Lock 43, which is just above Red Bull Wharf and opposite the Red Bull pub where we had our nice Christmas dinner, to the farms below Lock 46.  On the way back, we decided to do some climbing to get better views of the canal and the scenery.

We were pleased to see there was a boat on the move.  The crew told Grizzly that they had come through the Harecastle Tunnel that morning.  We were quite envious small bears, as it was such a lovely day for boating.

"I hope we can have adventures on Uppie again soon," I said to Huddlesford and he agreed that, for boating bears, those were the very best sort of adventures.

But who knows what our next small bear adventure will be?  We'll just have to wait and see!