Hanley Bear Goes to London!

 Ay up, everyone!  Sonning has asked me to do a guest post for his blog about a great adventure I had in the middle of May, when I went to London with Polar and Grizzly.

I put my best boating bear clothes on, including my boaters belt, but decided to wear my Stoke City badge too.

We caught the train down from our local station at Kidsgrove.  Polar and Grizzly said they would have liked to bring all of the Bears but they didn't think they would be able to get more than one Bear through "security", because they were going to a very special occasion.

Polar had booked us into a hotel not far from Little Venice and Paddington Basin, where we were last year on our big boat trip.  From our room, I could see all the way to the BT Tower, which I knew was not far from Euston, where the trains to Stoke are.  This made me feel a little bit homesick, as I love Stoke.

I cheered up when Polar and Grizzly took me out for a meal in Paddington Basin, along with Grizzly's son, Mr George, who comes up to go to football with us sometimes.  We had beer and pizza and caramel ice cream desserts in a nice restaurant right by the canal, but did not stay out late because we had a busy day coming up.

The next day we went to the station named after a very famous Bear, and caught some underground trains across to St Paul's Cathedral.  The trains were busy, but people were very kind to Grizzly and offered their seats to him, just as they did on the bus the day before.

When we were near the cathedral, Polar pinned Grizzly's MBE medal on him, which he got for all his hard work campaigning for better train services for our area.  Polar explained to me that we were in London for a special church service for people with honours like Grizzly's and because Grizzly's invitation had come from the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, they had decided to bring a Staffordshire Bear with them - but Polar wasn't sure I would be allowed through security!

So I hid in the Bear Bag under Polar's walking shoes (she put some smart ones on to go into the cathedral) and, when I crept out again, we were inside!  Then I spotted some Yeomen of the Guard, so I hid again in case they were searching for Small Bears without tickets.

Polar wasn't allowed to take pictures during the service, so there aren't any of the speakers, or the choir, or of Mr King Charles and Mrs Queen Camilla, who had seats quite close to us as we were seated under the big dome in the middle.

It was a nice service, with lots of singing by a choir of human cubs, some singing by all the hooms (well, not Polar, because she can't sing and it is very bad if she tries) and some music from the RAF band, who are really good.  I waved at Mrs Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, when she was doing a nice speech, as I remembered her blessing the boats at Cavalcade last year, but I don't think she saw me as she didn't wave back.

Polar took some pictures afterwards, and a lady sat in front of us took one of the three of us.  She had travelled up from Cornwall and lives there now, but I was over the moon when I heard she was originally from Fenton in Stoke-on-Trent!

After the service, we only had time for a little bit of a look around the cathedral, and as it was nearly lunchtime, Polar suggested to Grizzly that we have a meal at the Tate Modern Art Gallery, which has a very smart restaurant on the top floor and is across the Thames from the cathedral.

On the way to the gallery, we passed a brilliant memorial to the firefighters who saved St Paul's and lots of other buildings from burning down during the Blitz.  I like statues to ordinary humans doing good or brave things and I hope the firemen got honours and special church services too!

I wasn't very brave when we went over the Millenium Bridge, and tucked myself securely into the Bear Bag (with Polar's smart shoes) as it didn't have rails close enough together to stop a small bear falling in the river!  But I did peep out for a look at the funny-shaped buildings in the City of London.  Polar told me that light reflected from the wedge-shaped one slightly to the right of the centre of the photo once melted parts of an expensive car, which made me laugh!

I enjoyed being up in the restaurant, watching all the boats going up and down on the River Thames, and I had some nibbles of Polar and Grizzly's dinners and most of Polar's lemony dessert.

 

Being a Stokie Bear, I had to turn one of the plates over to check that their crockery was made by the best potters in the world, so you can imagine how cross I was when I saw that it wasn't from Stoke-on-Trent at all!  I was going to give the staff my very hardest stares, but then Ciara, who had been looking after us, brought Grizzly a platter of fruit and sweets decorated for him specially, so I let them off this time.

After we had finished our posh lunch, Polar suggested that we use one of the fast ferry boats to go back towards our hotel, and Grizzly and I thought that was a bear-illiant idea.

We went speeding down the Thames, passing lots of famous sights, like the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament, until we got off at Vauxhall to get underground trains back to Paddington.

I made some new friends on the boat, who were Japanese schoolchildren.  They took lots of pictures of me and stroked my fur and were very kind to me.  I wonder if they thought I was a sort of Stokie Pokemon?

 

By the time we got back to our hotel to collect our bags, I was quite a tired Small Bear, and fell alseep on the train home to Staffordshire.  But I had enjoyed a great adventure and was very proud of my human guardian Grizzly, and glad that he had moved to my home county of Staffordshire and adopted me as his little Bear buddy.

A Visit to the South Coast

 One of our recent adventures was a journey down to Hampshire with our human guardians, who used to live there before they came to Staffordshire, and still have some friends and family living on the south coast.

On the way down, we stopped near Newbury for the weekend with our friends the Berkshire Bears (who aren't all bears, by the way).  

Endon Bear helped them to take some cuttings from a big geranium plant that had got rather "leggy".  Mrs Mo Mouse promised to look after them and give them a gentle misting with water while they were making roots.

Then Endon and I went to the garden centre with Little Brown Bear (LBB) and Mrs Mo Mouse and our great friend Gecko bought huge cheese scones for us and our human guardians.

It was the last day of Premiership football and our pal Charlie from the London Canal Museum, who joined our Hug on our way home from the Lee Navigation, was hoping that his team (Arsenal) might win the title.

They didn't, but LBB had the bubbles from a consolatory beer to share with poor little Charlie (Grizzly got the actual beer).

After our lovely visit to Gecko's house, it was time to continue down to Hampshire.  Polar had booked us into a small hotel in the New Forest, which is a place none of us Bears had visited before.

We had a nice room with a settee for Small Bears, and just across the road was some typical New Forest scenery, with woods and also some open heathland - and ponies!  While Grizzly and most of the Bears had a nap, Polar and I went out to explore and we saw some lovely ponies.  

Polar said it was important not to get too close to the horses, as they are not tame, and that we should give plenty of space to the little foal as the mother would get very cross if we got too close.

Polar and Grizzly decided to go to Lymington for their evening meal, and took Hanley and Huddlesford with them.  After a drive down through the New Forest, and spotting some deer in the woods, they arrived at the pretty little harbour town.

They enjoyed looking at the boats in the harbour, and enjoyed the bubbles on Grizzly's New Forest beer!  They also saw where the trains go out to meet the Isle of Wight ferries that come and go from Lymington and agreed that it would be great to visit "The Island" one day.

They travelled back to Lyndhurst along the road towards Beaulieu and saw more deer, ponies and lots of donkeys.  Grizzly drove very, very carefully as it was getting dark and it wasn't always easy to see the animals if they crossed the road.  

Polar and Grizzly were meeting some of their friends the following day, and started with another trip to Lymington.  This time, Endon and Charlie went with them.  While the humans enjoyed their morning coffees, Endon and Charlie watched the Isle of Wight ferries going to and fro.

   

Then it was time to set off on another adventure, to Calshot Spit.  There is a castle here, and a lifeboat station, and it was also where lots of fampous seaplanes used to be built.  

 

Mr R J Mitchell, who was from Stoke-on-Trent and designed the Spitfire, designed some of the best ones and there are murals on the old hangers showing some of the planes.  There is also a special Transport Trust plaque, like the ones Hanley Bear likes to spot along the canals at special places.  Hanley had sad ears that he missed it.

Endon and Charlie thought that it would be fun to spend some time in one of the little beach huts along the shore, watching the big boats and ferries coming in and out of Southampton, until Grizzly's friend Mr Chris told them about the flooding there was during the spring at high tide.  He was very worried, as he says it is getting worse every year.

Everyone went on to Mr Chris and Mrs Maureen's house for a nice lunch, and a look around their garden.  Endon Bear loved the garden, particularly a beautiful Tulip Tree that was just coming into flower.  And the Bears were also pleased to meet a little man who they thought must be one of the crew from the Calshot lifeboat station, who brought them some cookies to eat.

 

It was my turn to have an adventure on our next day in Hampshire, as Polar took me with her to visit a friend of hers who lives in Portsmouth.  We went by train from Ashurst station, while Grizzly went by car to visit a friend that he used to work with.

 

 Polar's friend met us at the station and drove us to a smart little town called Emsworth, where we had a walk along the shore and around the old mill pond, before having a nice lunch in one of the cafes.  After that, we went to Southsea, and saw where the old railway station used to be, so we had something interesting to tell Grizzly about.

 

Then it was time for more tea and some cake, so we went to a cafe on the seafront.  Here, I met another Small Bear who had just been adopted by a human cub and his dad.  They had decided to call the Bear Strawberry.  I told him about my blog and I hope that, if he is reading this, he is setting in very well with his new adoptive family.

It was very rainy outside, so I couldn't enjoy the view across to the Isle of Wight and the forts out in the sea, but I did enjoy the cake.  I wonder if my friend Henry Bear knows where this is, as I know he goes to see the hovercrafts sometimes so I think he might not live very far away.

Luckily, the rain stopped and we had time for a visit to the Old Town at Portsmouth, where there are fortifications and a big ferry port, and also the historic dockyard where famous ships like the Victory and Mary Rose are looked after.  And there is the Spinnaker Tower.  I don't know if I would be brave enough to go right up to the top - Polar says there is a glass floor you can stand on (but I don't know if she did, as she doesn't like heights very much).

Hanley and Huddlesford saw boats going to the Isle of Wight from Lymington, Endon and Charlie saw Isle of Wight ferries from Southampton to Cowes, and I got to see some Isle of Wight boats too!  Polar says she thinks they go to Ryde from Portsmouth.  I don't know which way we will go when we go there, but I am sure we will visit one day.

 

On our last day in Hampshire, we made our way to Dr Rachael's mum and dad's house, as they had invited us to stay overnight so Polar could collect an old friend of ours. Dr Rachael has been giving Horsey too many big hugs, and the seams in his neck and shoulders are split and he has lost some stuffing!  

 

Dr Rachael's mum helped Polar put him in a big bag, to catch any loose stuffing that came out, and we Bears looked after him on the way home.  Huddlesford hadn't met him before and, after being told to keep away from the New Forest ponies, was surprised to find one right beside him in the car!

 

We will all do whatever we can to help Polar make Horsey better and we look forward to returning to the south coast with him - perhaps on our way to the Isle of Wight!