Tunstall's Travels

One member of our Hug, Tunstall Bear, has been away from home for a very long time enjoying a very big adventure.

Tunstall is one of the Small Bears brought to live with us by Aunty Tina, who also rescued Hanley Bear.  Tunstall was called Tunstall because he was adopted from the Barnardo's shop in Tunstall, the most northerly of the Six Towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent.

Tunstall is dressed as an airline pilot and, inspired by his outfit, he has always wanted to fly in a plane to other countries and, two years ago, he got the chance to do exactly that.  One of our friends (Hattie the Otter) was going to California, and said that Tunstall could go with her!

 

Hanley Bear helped Tunstall prepare for his journey, taking a photo for his passport and helping him to choose special things from Stoke-on-Trent to take to the Bears and Humans he would meet when he was abroad.

 

In August 2023, I travelled down to Hampshire with him (and with Polar) to meet Hattie.  It was a difficult time for Polar, because Grandad Polar was very poorly in Southampton Hospital, so it was good for her to have something cheerful to do with Bear Friends.  

Tunstall had a lovely surprise when we met Hattie - a Tiny Bear called Amy, from the Berkshire Bears, was going to be travelling with him, as well as our friend Hattie.  Our great pal Little Brown Bear and some of his friends had come to see them off too.

Tunstall and Amy had some wonderful adventures in the USA with Hattie and her humans.  They travelled all over California and went to music gigs and festivals - including seeing K T Tunstall - and explored the landscape and National Parks.  And of course they enjoyed trying the local food and drink.

When it was time for Hattie and her humans to come home, however, Tunstall and Amy were travelling on because, by an amazing coincidence, another Bear Friend called Oliver Bear had been in California at the same time as Hattie and was on the way home from the same airport - to near Melbourne in Australia!  So Tunstall and Amy had another long flight and more tremendous adventures.

There were more trips into wild and spectacular landscapes, more wild creatures to see, visits to interesting cities and buildings, and there were music concerts too - including going to see Paul McCartney!  Oliver's Hug made them very welcome.

Tunstall and Amy enjoyed celebrating Christmas and New Year in the summer and stayed through the Australian autumn too.  We were wondering how to get them home again, when our friend Milly the Mammoth suggested that, if they could fly to Canada, she could collect them when her human guardian went to visit her mother there.  

So, after giving Oliver and the rest of his Hug their biggest and best hugs, Tunstall and Amy flew back across the Pacific Ocean to Canada.  There they had some adventures with Milly and her friend Blueberry Bear, including visits to Prince Edward Island and Toronto.  Of course, there was also plenty of good food to eat too.

Milly and Blueberry brought Tunstall and Amy home to England and we met them on Uppie last summer at Shugborough Hall.  However, Tunstall and Amy were soon on their travels again, going to Austria and Germany with Grizzly's son, Mr George, then to Switzerland where our Bear Friends the Swiss Pipe Bears met them.

The Swiss Pipe Bears and their humans looked after Tunstall and Amy very well - they even made Oatcakes for Tunstall in case he was feeling homesick.  And he had a special birthday cake too!

As well as sharing adventures in Switzerland, the Pipe Bears took Tunstall and Amy to Greece and, on the way back to Switzerland, he was allowed into the cockpit of the plane to see what it was like to be a real airline pilot!

Tunstall and Amy had another quick break in the UK when the Pipe Bears and their humans came over, and Tunstall could have come back to Stoke with us - or he could enjoy Christmas in Switzerland!  We all said he ought to go back to Switzerland and of course he agreed, so he and Amy went back with the Pipe Bears and they had a marvellous time.

They went hiking, they travelled on modern and steam trains, little boats on mountain lakes, chair lifts and cable cars, they visited Christmas markets and festivals and had lots of tasty treats too.  In fact, they were having so much fun that the time flew by and, before they realised, the summer had arrived and, finally, it was time to come home.

They had a little adventure in Liverpool with the Swiss Pipe Bears before catching the train to Stoke to meet us and our humans.  All of our Hug came downstairs to get ready for a tea party, although we had a day out with our friends first.  

We took the Pipe Bears to see Hanley Park - although Hanley Bear was at football with Grizzly - and then went to the Potteries Museum to meet more of our pals.  Then we helped the human guardians to decorate some plates and pots at the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent.  The Swiss Pipe Bears did special plates to remember their visit from Tunstall and Amy, as they were going to miss them.

Then it was time for Tunstall's Tea Party and a big welcome home from all of our Hug.  The next day, we showed the Swiss Pipe Bears some of our favourite places in North Staffordshire, including the Caldon Canal, the Churnet Valley Railway and the Roaches, and on the last day of their visit, we all had a little trip through Stoke-on-Trent on Uppie the Narrowboat.

Tunstall and Amy both cried when it was time for their friends to leave, as they had been so kind and generous to them during their visit.  But a little Swiss plane and Rhaetian Railway train have stayed with us, to remind them of their wonderful visit.

And they are off on more adventures very soon!