We Bears are having a super boating adventure right now, which makes it tricky to write posts for my blog, but Polar and I have come home for a quick check of everything here which means I can put a little post on.
Earlier this month, the adventure began with Grizzly and Polar taking our narrowboat, Uplander II, through the Harecastle Tunnel to Longport Boatyard, where the hull was going to be cleaned and blacked. Hanley Bear volunteered to go too, so he could look after Grizzly while they were going through the Harecastle Tunnel.
With Hanley's help, Grizzly steered "Uppie" through the tunnel in record time and soon they were moored safely at the boatyard.
It was only a short walk from there to Westport Lake and the brilliant green visitor centre, so Hanley and our human guardians decided to get a snack there before getting a taxi home.
Hanley enjoyed a big cup of tea and then a choice of cakes; being a kind bear, he saved some for the rest of us too.
A few days later, Uppie's hull was repainted, and we were ready to set off on our journey. Four of us were going with our human guardians on a very long trip, all the way to London for a boat festival called Canalway Cavalcade, which is held at Little Venice near Paddington over the May Day weekend.
We were going to start our journey at quite a brisk pace, so we could travel part of the way with another boat, but Hanley Bear insisted that he wanted to go to a final game at Stoke City, as he would be missing the end of the season. We moored near the stadium and Polar took him to the match, but Stoke lost, so he and Grizzly were both quite sad.We had an evening cruise after the game, with two of Polar and Grizzly's friends coming along for a short trip on the boat as far as Trentham lock. We cruised on to Barlaston for a pub dinner.
The next morning, we got off to an early start and cruised right through Stone, down to Great Haywood and on to the outskirts of Rugeley, mooring near the aqueduct over the River Trent.
When it wasn't too breezy, we too it in turn to sit on the roof in Polar's painted watering can (which leaks, luckily, so it isn't full of water!). This is a very pretty section of the Trent and Mersey Canal, with a few locks spaced well apart from each other, so Polar and Grizzly could take it in turn to steer the boat.
At Great Haywood, a floating market was taking place, with lots of trading boats including the Oatcake Boat, which had travelled down through the evening before, after the football game. We couldn't stop to look around, because we were on a long journey, but maybe another year we will make a special visit.
We had hot crossed buns for Easter the next morning, and cruised from Rugeley to Fradley Junction, and then onto the Coventry Canal. Huddlesford sat on the roof for this part of the journey, as we were approaching a very special place.
A little way down this canal we came to Huddlesford Junction, which is, of course, where we found Huddlesford Bear, and is also where the Lichfield Canal used to join the Coventry - and will again, when Huddlesford's friends at the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal's Restoration Trust have completed their project.
Huddlesford gave us all hugs when he remembered what a sad and muddy bear he was when we found him, and sat back on the post where he was sitting when Polar saw him for a few moments to think about what a lucky bear he had been to be rescued. Then we all went for Sunday Lunch at the pub with Polar and Grizzly.
Hanley and Huddlesford decided they had to check Grizzly's beer, to make sure it was good enough for him. After several sips of the bubbles, they decided it was.
When we got to Fazeley Junction, we didn't take the turning for Birmingham, but went north-east with the Coventry Canal, which was exciting for us as none of us bears had been that way before. We moored for the night after going through two locks at Tamworth and, because we had been good bears, Polar gave us an Easter egg to share. It was full of chocolate buttons! We gave our human guardians the egg to eat, and we ate the buttons.
The next day we had many more locks to work up, at the town of Atherstone in Warwickshire. Hanley Bear was sad to be leaving Staffordshire and kept saying that things like the scenery and the villages were not as nice now, but eventually he settled down.
It was a pretty flight of locks, with primroses in the banks beside, although our human guardians got rather soggy as there were heavy April showers. But there was a long section with no locks after that, so after lunch we cruised on through Warwickshire, eventually mooring near Hawkesbury Junction.
It was my turn to sit in the watering can the following morning, and I stayed there even when we went through a short tunnel at Newbold on the outskirts of Rugby.
But then Grizzly decided the rain was too heavy and my fur would get too wet if I stayed out, so I went back into the boat to warm up. All of us stayed inside the rest of the afternoon as Polar and Grizzly steered us along the last part of the journey to meet our friends at Braunston - and we made it!
There is still a long journey ahead of us, but I will tell you all about that in future posts.
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