A Visit to Cambridgeshire

Last month, we had a short holiday with our human guardians in a part of England we had never visited before - Cambridgeshire and The Fens.

We were going, because some friends of our humans from the USA were coming to England with their grandchildren, and some of them wanted to visit the RAF Museum at Duxford.

Polar and Grizzly drove us to Duxford mainly along 'A' roads rather than using the motorways, in case Pam the Micra was poorly in the warm weather.  We saw the River Soar near Kibworth, which I remembered from my first journey on Uplander II, and from there we carried on eastwards to Oakham and Rutland Water.  

Once we reached The Fens, we found ourselves driving on roads that ran along the tops of the dykes and canals used to manage the water in that area, much of which is below sea-level.  We stopped for lunch at Crowland, where Polar wanted to explore the ruined abbey.  Hanley Bear went with her and learned about the strange story of St Guthlac, who supposedly founded it.

Before all the drainage work was done, two rivers used to join under Trinity Bridge in the town centre.

We got a little bit lost from there as a local chap told Grizzly about a "short-cut" across to Ely, which turned out not to be a short-cut at all!  This meant we arrived in Ely too late to visit the cathedral, but Polar said we would try to get there on the way home.  At least we were able to stop for tea and cake!

Polar had booked us a hotel room close to Whittlesford Station, as their friends were going to come up from London on the train, but we later found there was going to be a rail strike affecting that line.  Luckily, the American friends could get to Cambridge on another railway line, so the adventure could go ahead.  Endon, Huddlesford and Dudley settled in for a day bed bouncing in the hotel, while Hanley and Waverley went to Duxford with Grizzly to meet the friends who wanted to see the museum.

Doesn't Grizzly look smart in his RAF blazer and beret!  Grizzly's pal Tom is on the left side of the picture and the other boys are his grandsons.  You can just see Hanley and Waverley, being held by Oliver and Owen (the lad in the middle with long hair is Thibaud).

I stayed with Polar, Claudia (who is married to Tom), her daughter-in-law Jessica and Claudia's grand-daughter Margaux.  I really liked Margaux, who gave me some of the nice shake she bought when we visited the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge.

I felt sad that Endon Bear hadn't been able to fit into the Bear Bag with me and Polar's camera, as he would have loved the gardens.  Polar took plenty of pictures so we could show him later.

The glasshouses were amazing, with plants from all over the world in different habitats, including these giant waterlilies.  I wanted to see if I could walk across it, but there were big signs asking people not to touch them, so I thought it best to stay in the Bear Bag.

From the Botanic Gardens, we made our way to the FitzWilliam Museum.  It was absolutely huge!  Even if we had stayed there all day, we wouldn't have been able to see everything.  Mrs Claudia wanted to go to the art gallery section to see an exhibition of paintings by Mr David Hockney, which were very clever.  On the way out, we saw the new portrait of Prince William and Kate.  I thought it was a shame that the royal cubs weren't in it too.

Polar had hoped to get everyong on board for a trip in a punt, the famous little flat-bottomed river boats, but Mrs Claudia had a nice surprise for us that meant we didn't have time.  Because it was a warm and sunny day, there were lots of people waiting for punts and we enjoyed watching them.

By now, we were right in the heart of the university quarter, surrounded by famous colleges and students, some of them proudly wearing their graduation gowns and accompanied by their friends and family.  I could see it was a very important day for them, after years of hard work and study, so I cheered for them and waved, though I don't know if they noticed.

I wonder if there will ever be a Small Bears' University and what we would study there if so?

Mrs Claudia's special treat was a very posh afternoon tea, which was something Margaux had really wanted to try, as this was her first visit to England.  We all tucked in to scrummy little sandwiches, nice fluffy scones and tasty cakes!

Then we had another special treat - we went to listen to Evensong at King's College, with its famous choir.  Grizzly, Mr Tom and the boys, plus Hanley and Waverley, got back into town just in time to join us in the queue to go in.  Polar loved looking at the architecture in the chapel but wasn't allowed to take any photos as there was a service taking place.

After a nice pub dinner, with pies or fish and chips and beer, it was time to go back to the station to see our friends off on their train to London and collect Pam from the car park.  We had all enjoyed a wonderful day!

It was time to go home on Sunday so, after breakfast, we set off back to Ely, one of the country's smallest cities.  Polar says Ely Cathedral is one of the finest early medieval cathedrals in England and has several very unusual features.  She had not been to see it since the 1980s, when she was a history student.

You can see that the west front isn't symmetrical, because the towers of the north-west transept fell down in the 15th century and, earlier, so did a huge tower that used to be in the centre of the cathedral.

The central tower was replaced by a unique structure known as the "lantern" - Polar said we would be really impressed when we saw it from the inside.

Before we went inside, we had Elevenses.  We were a little bit scared while we were waiting for a table, as we could see a peregrine falcon swooping about overhead.  Polar and Grizzly reassured us that as small bears don't fly we were quite safe, as peregrines catch their prey in flight.

Polar had a great surprise when she went in to the cathedral, as the ceiling had been cleaned and the paintings (which are Victorian but medieval-style) had been restored.  When she had been before, they had been covered in dirt and grime and couldn't be seen at all.  It looked amazing, as did the famous octagonal lantern.

We bears were all stretching our necks to look up to admire it.  It made us think about how strange people are.  Although humans often do very silly or cruel things in the name of their religions, they can also be inspired to do good and kind things, and to build very special buildings for their gods.  Grizzly thought it was so beautiful he just sat quietly for ages, admiring it and thinking deeply.

Polar carried us around the whole building, quietly explaining different features to us.  She showed us that while most of the building had rounded, Romanesque arches, later repairs and additions have more pointed Gothic arches.

Hanley Bear was allowed out of the Bear Bag to scurry back down the nave to find Grizzly, so we could show him the RAF window and standards to the north side of the choir.  Grizzly explained that Ely Cathedral had been an important landmark for bomber crews making their way back to their bases during the Second World War.

Something we bears loved was this very long table.  It is made from "bog oak", five thousand year-old timber which has been preserved after falling into one of the fenland bogs.  It was made for the Queen's Jubilee but I think it is probably too long to fit in her dining room.

There were some peregrine chicks for adoption in the gift shop but Polar said we should leave them to be adopted by other people, as twelve bears is a big enough hug for now.  We gave them hugs and said we were sure they would find nice homes soon.

Then it was time to make our way back to the car.  Polar and Grizzly made our way back via the waterfront of the river Great Ouse, which is navigable by narrowboats and broad-beamed boats too. 

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We wondered if we might be able to come here on Uppie one day and Polar said it could be possible, although it would mean navigating the River Nene from Northampton into the fenlands.

We enjoyed our walk along the waterfront very much.  There were all sorts of different types of boat, including big fibreglass cruisers and some lovely Dutch barges being used as houseboats.

As we set off home, the sky grew very stormy-looking.  Hanley hoped we would get a thunderstorm but I was very glad we didn't. 

When we got to Rutland Water, Polar and Grizzly stopped for a cup of tea and a walk and we were allowed to play on a little beach which had been made so human cubs could swim safely - there was even a lifeguard station!  Polar said that ospreys nest somewhere around the lake but she didn't know exactly where, but perhaps we could come back to see them another day.  Endon Bear's ears pricked up when Polar told him that Barnsdale Gardens were nearby and we could visit them one day too.

"I wonder if we'll get to the proper seaside this summer?" said Waverley, as we played on the sand.

We haven't yet, but it's only the middle of August and, all being well, we'll have some more adventures soon.

 

Small Bears to Murgatroyd's!

Here's another post catching up on some of our late spring adventures with an industrial archaeology theme.  It's about a site called Murgatroyd's Brine Pump in Middlewich, hidden away in a small industrial estate not far from the three locks and the dry dock where Uppie the narrowboat's hull was blacked last time.

Huddlesford Bear and I went with Polar, after we had been to the Trent and Mersey Canal Society's AGM, which was early in May.  Grizzly and Hanley couldn't come with us because there was a Stoke City home game and they were there instead.  Huddlesford and I wore our boaters belts made by Mrs Ann and smart jumpers as it was an important occasion.

We decided our humans should join the T&M Society and so Polar did, although she didn't buy any of the hats or shirts for supporters for herself or Grizzly, and there were no bear-sized items.

After the meeting, the humans made their way across the road and along a path beside some units, and suddenly we were in the Brine Pump site.  The restoration work had only been completed quite recently and there had not been many open days because of the nasty virus, so we were very lucky to have a private visit.

The site was important because the brine stream found there had been a huge boost to the town's salt industry and the development of a local chemical industry.  We were amazed to learn that the underground stream was found by humans digging a narrow shaft, with shovels, at least 100m into the ground!

The workers doing the digging were lowered down in a canvass sling which was turned round and round so they didn't know which direction they were facing when they struck the "brine run", so rival companies couldn't sink shafts upstream of Mr Murgatroyd's well.

Outside there are lots of items from the salt industry, most of them very good for small bears to climb on.  There are tools and trolleys, plus the corner of one of the big evaporating pans.  Huddlesford is looking at a mould for making blocks of salt.

The engines at the site aren't steam - they were electric ones which replaced the old steam pump in the 1930s.  Huddlesford and I looked at them and both of us thought what a shame it was that our pal Hanley Bear, who loves sciences and engineering, wasn't there to see them - but soon he was!

There was an open weekend just a fortnight later, so Polar took Grizzly and Hanley back to look around.

At the public open day he found extra things to look at, especially activities for any small human cub visitors.  Hanley started by reading about the history of the brine pump - including the sad story of poor Mr Murgatroyd, who poisoned himself - before looking at some samples of rock salt.

He was thinking about doing some colouring and puzzles, to see if they were as much fun as they looked, when Grizzly said it was time to look at the engine. 

On the way, he had a look at some of the other artifacts from the salt and chemical industry that they have at the site.  Hanley was very interested in how brine was passed through electrical cells to collect different gases and minerals.

And he loved the engines.  He was sad that they don't work any more, but brine extraction from runs was stopped in the 1970s to stop the subsidence that tended to happen as a result.

Being a bear, Hanley could smell the salt from the shaft, under the little grill just behind him and to the left in the left-hand picture below.  You can see some of the disconnected electrics in the other picture - Grizzly said he thought it might be a "DC" system, hence the really big cables.

There were a few pieces of the original pumping gear on display, so Hanley Bear went to have at those.  Then Polar lifted him into the Bear Bag and took him for a run outside where there are some wild flowers for the bees and butterflies!

Hanley was glad he hadn't missed his chance to visit.  The site is open about once a month and you can find the dates and more about it by following the link below.

Brine Pump Open Days 2022 | Middlewich Heritage Trust (middlewich-heritage.org.uk)