Boat Bears Again!

We had very cold weather in Stoke-on-Trent at the beginning of this week, with snow and ice.  It was so cold that Polar and Grizzly were worried about Uplander II.  Boats don't just float in water; they have some water inside them as well, even if they are not sinking, which is supposed to be there.  They have hot and cold taps and water tanks, just like houses, and cooling water for the engine.  If the boat gets too cold during the winter, this can freeze, damaging the pipes and tanks and making a mess.

Polar and Grizzly decided we should all move back onto Uppie for the coldest nights of the week.  We were hoping that we could play in the snow while Grizzly and Polar were looking after the boat, but it was far too cold for games outdoors to be fun, and soon it got dark too.  Grizzly carried us onto Uppie and settled us onto my favourite old cushion on the settee to warm up

Inside the boat, it was very cosy, because Polar had lit the stove and got it glowing well - she says that making a good fire is a skill she learned from her dad, who used to work on steam engines.  We had a nice tea of stewed apple and custard, scones and biscuits, listened to some funny music on the radio called 'jazz' that Grizzly likes, then made ourselves a cosy bear bed out of all of the cushions and slept very soundly.

In the morning, when we woke up, a very big trading boat called Halsall was going by, heading towards the Harecastle Tunnel.  It was covered in snow and the crew were wrapped up in lots of warm and woolly clothes.  Trading boats are very important in winter, because they bring diesel fuel, gas, wood and coal to people who live on boats and in houses beside the canals.  Polar told us that, because they are so big and heavy, they are also good at breaking ice, although there was no ice on our part of the canal. 

Grizzly made us porridge before we went outdoors to play.  It was still very chilly.  We wanted to build a really, really big snow bear, as big as Grizzly or even Polar, but the snow was too powdery.  No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't make it stick together into snowballs.  Our paws were getting very cold, so we came back inside Uppie and warmed up in front of the stove.

That night was even colder than the one before, but we stayed very snug in our bed of cushions.  In the morning, there was ice on the windows and we thought the canal must be frozen over now, but no - it was still runny!  Polar explained to us that, because the water around Uppie comes out of the very, very long Harecastle Tunnel, where it is the same temperature all year round, it almost never freezes during the winter.  We could see little wisps of mist rising from the water where it was warmer than the air above it.  I haven't told you what it is like to go through the tunnel on a boat, as that comes at the end of my voyage story and we are still only a little way into that, because I keep thinking of other interesting things to tell you.

Polar and Grizzly realised that the warm water would stop Uppie freezing unless it got very, very cold again.  So they brought us home, to help them get ready for Christmas, but we couldn't help wrap presents for Grizzly's grand-cubs, because the selotape stuck to the fur of our paws. 

Grizzly says we might go for a proper cruise on Uppie again very soon, maybe on Christmas Day, and Polar says she hopes to make us new Christmas sock jumpers, so we are going to be very good bears, at least until then.

Sonning and the Lock

Here is another one of Polar's stories about when I first became a Boat Bear. 

As you will see, I knew very little about boats and how they move around the waterways back then.  I am a much wiser small bear now!

Sonning and the Lock

Sonning was inside the boat, sitting on a cushion, waiting to find out what a lock was.  There were lots of things the little bear still didn’t understand.  He didn’t know the boat people’s names, so he had given them bear names – ‘Polar’ for the big lady with white hair and ‘Grizzly’ for the brown-haired man.  He didn’t know what a lock was either.  Polar had said the locks on the Thames were ‘intimidating’ and, as she was a very big human, Sonning thought a lock must some sort of monster.

Sonning heard the noise from the boat change and noticed the trees and fields weren’t going by so quickly.  The river forked, passing to either side of a little island.  A small blue sign on a post pointed the way to the lock.

‘I wonder why Polar and Grizzly don’t turn left and avoid the lock, if it’s so frightening,’ Sonning thought.  ‘That’s what I would do!’  He looked wistfully along what he thought was the safer channel until he saw a big red and white notice sticking up out of the water.

Danger!  Weir! it said.

‘Oh no!’ gasped Sonning.  ‘Whatever a weir is, it must be an even fiercer monster than a lock.  That must be why we’re going the other way.’

Both routes seemed to lead to monsters of some sort.  The little bear trembled with fear.  He hoped Polar and Grizzly had chosen the right channel. 

Sonning saw land close to the boat now.  It was very level, hard-looking land with gigantic black mushrooms growing at regular intervals along the edge.  Sonning saw a pair of feet in big boots walking beside the boat, then someone bent down to loop a rope around one of the mushrooms.  It was Polar.  The boat came to a halt beside the hard, grey path.  A few seconds later, he saw Grizzly walk by.

‘I’m all alone on the boat!’ he cried.  ‘I hope Polar and Grizzly don’t think I can fight the lock monster on my own!’

He saw another sign on a fence beside a pretty house, close to the boat.  ‘Lock-keeper on duty,’ he read.  ‘Well, that’s a relief.  If there’s a lock-keeper, hopefully the lock will be in a cage or on a lead, so it can’t bite or scratch us.’

Grizzly was talking to a man by the house.  Sonning saw Polar’s big feet passing the window again, then the boat moved forward, passing more giant mushrooms and a very big gate.

‘The lock must be shut in behind that,’ said Sonning, studying it carefully.  ‘Now we’ve gone past the lock-keeper and the gate, we must be safe.’  

When Grizzly stepped back onto the boat, he expected them to set off down the river again.  To Sonning’s horror, the engine stopped.

‘Why aren’t we getting away from the lock monster as quickly as we can?’ he asked Grizzly, when the man came through the cabin and went out to the front of the boat.  Grizzly didn’t seem to hear him.  He was busy, looping the front rope around one of the mushrooms.

‘The lock monster must have escaped!’ cried Sonning.  ‘I wonder if Polar and Grizzly have to help the lock-keeper catch it again?’

There were other people coming to help, on other boats.  Sonning could see the glossy wooden hull of a boat quite different to Uplander II from the window on the opposite side of the cabin and his keen little ears could hear other boat noises, which stopped as the boats gathered together.

‘It must take a whole army of people to recapture a lock monster!’ he said to himself.  ‘I hope nobody gets hurt, especially my new friends.  I don’t think I can watch!’  

Sonning cowered down on his cushion and covered his little black eyes with his paws.  He felt quite poorly, as if he were sinking downwards.  When he uncovered his eyes, it was quite dark in the boat but he could just see a slimy, wet wall through the window.  Sonning gave a small squeal of terror.

‘Uplander’s been eaten by the lock monster!’ he cried, reasoning that the slippery surface outside must be the inside of a huge creature’s throat or stomach.  ‘How will we ever escape?’

As his eyes go used to the dark, Sonning saw Grizzly at the front of the boat, calmly holding the rope.

‘Maybe the lock-keeper can pull us out?’ he thought.  ‘Or, if he feeds the lock monster those giant mushrooms instead, perhaps it will spit out the boats?  I would rather eat big, tasty mushrooms than wood and metal – but that might just be because I’m a small bear, not a huge, scary monster.’

Suddenly, there was a familiar rumbling noise and Sonning realised that Uplander II was making a noise again.  He heard an unfamiliar clanking and grumbling sound too.  In front of the boat, something started to move, letting in more light.  Grizzly pulled on his rope and, as it dropped down from high above him, gathered it into a coil and put it neatly on Uplander’s nose.  The gap in front of the boat got wider and wider, wide enough for at least one boat to pass through, then wide enough for two boats or more.  Sonning could see the whole width of the river, running bright and clear under a blue sky ahead of them. 

‘The lock monster is spitting us out!’ cheered the little bear.  ‘Grizzly’s rope must have pulled out the big mushroom it was tied around and it’s going to eat that instead.  Well done, Grizzly!  You’ve saved us!’ 

Uplander II started to move forward and was soon in the sunshine.  Sonning was very relieved indeed, until he remembered that Polar had said there were more locks ahead.

‘I hope there are giant mushrooms to feed to them too,’ he thought.  

Water was flowing fast into the river from the left.  Looking back up the channel, where the weir monster was, Sonning saw a waterfall.

‘How lovely!’ he said, looking the tumbling plumes of white water.  ‘If only there was a way of safely getting boats over the falls and avoiding the terrible weir monster, it would be much nicer than being eaten by the lock monster.  I wish there was a pretty waterfall along this channel too.’

That set Sonning wondering how he, his friends and their boat had got from above the waterfall down onto this lower section of the river without going over a cascade or down rocky rapids, but he just couldn't seem to work that out.  

If you don't know what a lock is, don't worry - I will explain soon!

It's Snowing!

Hanley Bear was very sad yesterday, because his home city wasn't chosen to be City of Culture 2021.  Instead, another city in the English Midlands called Coventry was chosen.  When the result was announced, Hanley sat in front of Polar and Grizzly's television with his face in his paws, hiding the fact that he was crying.  Seeing him so sad made me cry too!

'I'll have to take my special flag down from the Christmas tree now, duck!' he said.  This time when he said 'duck' he was talking to a duck, as we had put his Stoke-on-Trent-for-City-of-Culture flag and a Tim Beak duck on top of the Christmas tree when we helped Polar to decorate it.

'Don't be upset, little bears,' Polar said.  'We didn't win the competition, but we still have all the lovely places, art, culture and kind and clever people that you were telling everyone about.  You leave the flag and Tim where they are!'  Then she made us cocoa and biscuits and tucked us up in our little bear bed near the Christmas tree. 

When we got up this morning, we saw there was white stuff all over the garden and there were flakes of it in the air.  'Oh no!' I said.  'There must have been an explosion at a pillow factory!'

'It's snowing, duck,' said Hanley.  'Sometimes, when it's really cold, the rain turns into icy crystals and we get snow.  Come outside and see!'

'Put your coats on, little bears, and don't throw snowballs!' said Polar.

'Snowballs!  That's an idea!' giggled Hanley.  'We could build a snowbear, too!'

Hanley trotted down the steps into the garden and I followed him onto the lawn.  The snow was very cold on my paws but it was soft and fluffy.  Hanley showed me how to squish it together to make a ball and together we rolled a big one for our snowbear's body and a smaller one for his head.  Then we moulded him some front and back paws, a nose and ears.

'He looks like you, duck!' said Hanley.

When I turned round to tell him that I didn't think so, something very cold, powdery and wet hit me on the nose.  Hanley Bear had thrown a snowball at me!

'I'll get you back, Hanley Bear!' I said, and I did!  We were still running around throwing snowballs at each other when Polar came out to check the garden. 

Just as she came down the steps, Hanley threw an extra big snowball at me, which went right over my nose and into my eyes.  Because he had scooped the snow up in a hurry, he hadn't noticed there was a stick in it too.  Polar was very cross.

'You silly little bears!' she said.  'It can be lots of fun playing snowballs, but you must be careful there aren't sticks, or stones, or even animal poo in the snow.  Come indoors now.  Grizzly's made you some toast and marmalade to warm you up.'

'Can I bring in the snowbear as well, to warm him up?' I asked.

'You are a daft bear, duck,' said Hanley.  'If you bring the snowbear indoors, you'll turn him into a puddle!  He'll be much happier out here where it's cold.'

I still felt sorry for the snowbear, so I borrowed Hanley's Stoke City scarf for him.  Then we went back indoors to dry our paws and eat our toast.

Bears Backing the Bid

My friend Hanley and I are keeping our paws and claws crossed this week because, on Thursday, we will find out whether Hanley Bear's home city, Stoke-on-Trent, will be City of Culture 2021.

We have been busy bears trying to help this happen, because we think it will be especially good for the human cubs who live here.  They know that their home has lots of great places and clever people, but they almost never see those good things on the news.  Instead, there are sad news and bad news stories about Stoke, which is not very fair.  

Here are some of the best things Hanley Bear and I have done together on our journeys around the Six Towns.

I came home with Polar and Grizzly past the Wedgwood factory, where beautiful china is made, before we went through the very famous, very long and very dark Harecastle Tunnel, which has funny orange water and is on the Trent and Mersey Canal. 

We've been Up 'Anley, Duck to visit the brilliant Potteries Art Gallery and Museum and the Bethesda Chapel.

We've visited Middleport Pottery, Westport Lake and Burslem Park, and we've eaten oatcakes from the B'Oatcake Boat.

  

We've been to Central Forest Park and climbed right to the top of the big hill - although Grizzly carried us some of the way because we are very small bears and it is a very big hill.

We've been to Longton Park to feed the squirrels and to the Knypersley reservoir, where there are woods and waterfalls and lots of cheerful wild birds.

Our latest trip was to Trentham Gardens, where there are wonderful gardens and beautiful fairies.  I asked Polar if she could make sock jumpers like ours for the fairies, to stop them getting cold, but she said they didn't need them because they could use magic.

Hanley has asked Polar and Grizzly to take us to lots of other places too, so we can carry on with our #BearsBackingTheBid campaign for Stoke-on-Trent.

Wish us all lots of luck!

Hibernation!

It was very cold yesterday and, if I was a wild bear and didn't have my nice, warm jumper and rice pudding with jam for tea, I would have been very tempted to hibernate. 

This is a special deep sleep that some wild bears can do when it gets too cold and they can't find food.  I have never hibernated because of the cold but I tried to once, when I ran out of bear food. 

The morning after my interesting journey along the Thames to Staines, Polar and Grizzly took our boat, Uplander II (or Uppie) through another big lock, at a place called Shepperton.  When we came out of the lock, I thought they would carry on along the Thames but instead, they turned right and started steering towards a smaller river coming out from the trees.

'Oh no!' I thought, watching from the front of the boat.  'Polar seems to have got lost!'  She didn't seem worried, however.  In fact, she and Grizzly seemed pleased they had found the small river.

A little while later, Polar brought the boat alongside a funny metal landing stage and Grizzly got off.  I thought he was going to get directions back to the Thames but he wasn't.  He had gone to ask a lock keeper if she would let us onto a different river altogether, the River Wey.  We had to go uphill, rather than downhill, in the locks on the Wey.  They were very scary locks, even though they were smaller than the Thames locks, because the water rushed in very fast at the front, and we had to use ropes at the front and back of the boat (which boat people call the bow and the stern, for some silly reason).

Once we were through the first two locks, which were close together, we found ourselves on a very pretty waterway.  There were lovely green trees and glades and lots of great big houses with nice gardens.  When we got to a town called Weybridge, there was a very strange lock which seemed to be hiding from us, but luckily another boat was travelling in the same direction and they helped Polar and Grizzly to find the way in.  After a busy afternoon, we moored at a proper landing stage between two boats.  Polar and Grizzly went ashore to get a cooked meal for themselves and I scurried about eating my usual snacks of grapes, small tomatoes and crunchy biscuits.  There weren't many left so when, the following morning, Polar and Grizzly went ashore carrying a big bag each, I thought they must be going shopping, but they weren't!  They were going to their land house - for a whole week!

At first, I thought it was fun having the boat to myself.  I read the boat maps to see where we were, I climbed on the settee and, when they didn't come back at night, I had lots of fun jumping up and down on their bed!  I ate the last crunchy biscuits and some jam, which was a funny meal as the biscuits are herby and salty and the jam is sweet, so they don't really go, but there were no grapes or tomatoes to have with them so I had to make do.  I needed to drink something too.  Usually, I could run a little fresh water out of the kitchen tap, but this time, nothing came out.  There was a little pool of water in the washing-up bowl, which tasted soapy.

'I'll look in the big, cold, white cupboard,' I said, remembering that there was usually orange juice and milk in there.  It was very hard work opening the door and, when I had, I was horrified - there was nothing in it at all and it wasn't even cold inside.

The brown food cupboard was full of tins, which I couldn't open, and dried food like rice and pasta which was too hard even for strong little bear teeth to chew and needed cooking.  The tea and coffee smelt nice but was no good to eat either.  There was a jar full of raisins, so I ate lots of those.  There was also a small glass bottle full of funny browny-orange water which made my eyes water when I smelt it and made my mouth all hot when I took a tiny sip, so I decided it was probably for cleaning things with, and left it alone.  Luckily, I found a plastic bottle of fizzy water and drank lots of that, although it made me burp a lot, which was funny.

After three days I had plenty of raisins left but had nearly finished the burping water.  I had stopped thinking burping was funny too, and was bored with being on my own, even if I could climb and jump and play.  I couldn't find a way out of the boat, because Polar and Grizzly had locked and bolted everything.  I started to worry that they might not come back and even that I might starve.

'What do wild bears do when they get short of food and water?' I thought.  Then I remembered that some of them ate lots and lots of food while they could, then went to sleep for months and months in a den.  So I ate all of the raisins and the last of the jam.  Then, feeling very fat and sleepy, I got my cushion and some towels from the bathroom, made myself a bear cave behind the settee and settled down to sleep.

Fortunately, I didn't have to sleep for months and months, but I did sleep for three whole days.  That isn't a very big sleep for a bear but it would be for a human.  What woke me up was a funny drumming noise, which I recognised as the sound that happened when Polar or Grizzly turned on the tap.  I was very, very thirsty, so I rushed out from my bear cave and ran into the kitchen (or what boat people call a galley, which is another one of their special names for ordinary things).  I had forgotten that Polar and Grizzly didn't know I was a real bear but luckily, one of them had put the kettle on and gone back to the stern to fetch something, so I could have a quick drink and scurry back to my old place on the settee without them seeing me. 

Imagine how pleased I was to see Polar and Grizzly carry in lots of bags of shopping, including my favourite crunchy crackers, tomatoes, bananas and biscuits.  I started to wonder if they knew I was a real bear when Polar sat me down next to a pot of marmalade and took my photograph but, as she didn't open it and turn it into a sandwich for me, perhaps she didn't.  Poor Grizzly was in trouble for 'forgetting' that they had run out of raisins, which they hadn't really, of course, and Polar was confused that she couldn't find the fresh towels she had left in the bathroom. 

Watching them eating their tea made me feel very hungry but, as soon as they had gone to bed, I had a good bear feast of fresh food, smuggled the towels out of my bear cave and back into the bathroom and had lots of fun climbing on the furniture and jumping on the settee, and I didn't go to sleep all night!