Bears on "The Danny"

Although I have been having other adventures this week, I ought to finish telling you about our boat journey before I write about those, especially as we met another boat with a crew of bears on our travels along the Weaver.

Our human guardians wanted to travel as far as they could along the River Weaver - or, more accurately, what was now the Weston Canal - into a town called Runcorn.  We set off from Sutton Bridge on a very sunny morning.  Soon we were out of the countryside.  There were high banks on either side and, to the right of the boat, lots of pipes and tanks and buildings for chemical works.  It was interesting but not very pretty.

There was a lock ahead but to one side of the canal rather than across it.  Polar and Grizzly moored at a landing stage beside it and went to explore.  I asked them where it went and if we would be going through it.

'This goes to the Manchester Ship Canal,' Polar told me.  'Uppie isn't allowed out there, as there are too many other very big boats on the move, but the lock is broken anyway.'

She took me up the ramp from the landing stage to see the Ship Canal.  It was so big, I thought it was the sea!  I was glad we weren't going that way.

A little further downstream, our waterway was blocked by a very low swing bridge and it was clear we weren't allowed to go any further into the old Runcorn Docks.  Polar turned us around and we went back past the chemical factories and out into the countryside again, through the locks at Dutton and back to Acton Bridge, where the steamboat was moored.  

We stopped very close by and Polar and Grizzly went ashore to have a meal.  We bears decided to take a closer look at the steam tug while they were away.  Although it was closed to human visitors it was easy for small bears to crawl under the barrier and scurry up the gang-plank onto the deck.

Suddenly, we heard a growl and a voice asked, 'Who's there?'  There was another bear on board.  He was quite grubby with coal dust and he sounded cross.  He asked us for our tickets.

'We don't have any,' I explained.  'We've come here by boat.'

'Other boat bears are always welcome on The Danny, with or without tickets,' said the sooty bear.  He introduced himself as Fireman Sam.  'Come and see my engines!' he said proudly.  'My human crew have lit them, as we are having a cruise on Saturday and they take two days to warm up properly, but I will be looking after them tonight.'

We carefully climbed down some metal steps.  It was very hot and dirty in the engine room and we found the huge fires under the boilers very scary, but Sam showed us how the bears and humans kept everything in good working order between them and all the brass was very shiny.

'Clean your paws properly and I'll take you up to see the bridge,' said Sam.

'We saw the bridge when we moored,' said Endon.  'It's that big black and white thing the cars drive over.'

'I mean the bridge of the ship, where we steer from,' said Sam.

This time, we had to climb up lots of steep metal steps.  We helped each other all the way to the top.  Here we found a neat little cabin with lots of shiny brass and a big wheel for steering the boat.

'You have to be very careful manoeuvring a big boat like The Danny,' Sam explained.  'We had a bit of a bump at Weston Lock when we came in from the Ship Canal and now we're stuck on the Weaver until they've mended the lock!'

We didn't like to ask whose fault it was, but we were sure it wasn't any of the bears.

Finally, when we had checked that our paws were very clean, Sam showed us the first class lounge.  We thought it was lovely.  There was another small bear in there whose job was to polish the wood and a bear-steward shining glasses behind the bar.  

We helped them by jumping on the seats to check that the cushions were springy and comfortable for the human guests due at the weekend, then we all had nice little drinks from the bar together.

'Tell your humans to pay us a visit tomorrow morning, when we're open to the public,' said Sam.

'We will!' we promised.  When Polar and Grizzly came back to Uppie, we told them all about our adventures and, next morning, they visited too, which is how I have some photographs to share with you.  Like most humans who visit, they think other humans run the ship, but us bears and human cubs know that the real captain is a bear!

Wanderings on the Weaver

Once we were down on the River Weaver, we had a proper view of the Anderton Lift.

We started our voyage travelling upstream, south to the town of Northwich, where our human guardians needed to do some food shopping.

We stayed on board Uppie.  I rummaged about in Polar's box of scraps and found what was left of the "Bag for Life" that she had used to make my lifejacket.

'I think there's enough here to make you two bears lifejackets too,' I said to Endon and Hanley.  'If we leave this out where Polar can see it, I'm sure she will make them for you.'

Sure enough, after dinner, Polar started making the smaller bears their lifejackets.  We were all sitting patiently watching her (while Grizzly washed up the dinner things) when there was a teriible drumming noise on Uppie's roof.  Some very bad and stupid human cubs had jumped onto the roof from the quayside, run along it and jumped off again.  By the time our humans had got out of the boat to see what was happening, they had disappeared.  They were very cross indeed and we were very scared small bears.  Fortunately, they didn't come back and we had a very peaceful night, although little Endon decided to sleep in his lifejacket just in case.

In the morning, we turned around to head downstream.  From our basket, we could see a bridge across the river.  Polar explained that it was a swing bridge and could be turned out of the way if a boat to tall to fit under it wanted to go up river. 

'Uppie can fit under all the bridges but, when the river was used for more freight boats, many of the bridges needed to be swung to let them through,' she said.  'You can see the little cabin where the bridge-keeper still works the mechanism for this one, if there's a high-masted yacht or big boat wanting to go through.'

We thought pressing the buttons to open and close the bridges would be a super job for small bears.  Soon after we passed the boat lift again and went under another swingable bridge, we saw a big dredger at work, taking mud and silt out of the river.

We were away from the industrial area soon afterwards and cruising along through a wooded valley.  The river was very calm but we still all put our lifejackets on, humans and bears alike.

'We're coming up to the first lock,' said Grizzly.

'I wonder if it's as big as the locks on the Thames you've told us about?' Hanley said to me.

'It's even bigger!' I said.

Luckily, there are very helpful lock-keepers at all the Weaver locks to operate the paddles (which are all electronic) and make sure boats use the big locks safely.  They give boaters lots of helpful information about the next stage of their journey and let the next lock know when you are on your way.  The lock keeper at Saltersford Lock warned us to look out for more dredger boats on the move.

The river wound on through the countryside.  There were very few other boats on the move and it was very tranquil.  We bears thoroughly enjoyed looking out for the water birds, especially the pretty grebes.

Between Saltersford and the next lock, Dutton, we passed under Acton Bridge.  As we passed under the bridge, we saw a very handsome steamboat moored alongside it.

'Wouldn't it be fun to go aboard that boat for a look around?' said Hanley.  Endon and I agreed, but Polar and Grizzly were cruising on down the river towards Dutton Locks.

Below Dutton Locks, the valley was even lovelier than it had been above them.  There were woods, sometimes with buzzards flying above them - we are quite scared of them - and green fields full of cows and ponies.

Late in the afternoon, we stopped at Sutton Bridge for tea.  Polar and Grizzly had bought us some tasty little cakes for our tea in Northwich.

'What a perfect day on the river!' said Endon.  'I wonder if we will have this much fun tomorrow?'

In fact, we had at least as much fun - but I will have to write about that another day.

Bears on a Boat Lift.

After breakfast, we continued our journey onwards from the nice mooring at the flash, where Hanley Bear had seen the kingfisher. 

At one point we seemed to be cruising right through the middle of a chemical works.  It wasn't very pretty but it was interesting, especially to Hanley Bear who likes science and wondered what was in all the pipes and tanks. 

Soon we were out in the countryside again, passing along the north side of a town called Northwich.  When he came inside to make a cup of tea, Grizzly pointed out the Lion Salt Works, which is now a museum about the salt industry.  Our human guardians had visited it on a previous trip and said it was very interesting.

'We can't stop there today, bears,' Grizzly told us.  'We're on our way to the River Weaver.'

'Do we have to go through more locks?' asked Hanley Bear.

'Wait and see!' said Grizzly.

Soon we moored again and Polar brought our basket in from the cratch, just in case naughty human cubs tried to bearnap us.  Polar and Grizzly left the boat for a little while.  We thought they might have gone shopping again so read some more of our small bear library books.  

They were soon back, however and, when the engine started, we dashed back to the cratch to see where we were going.  Uppie made a sharp turn under a bridge and suddenly, right in front of us, we saw the strangest thing.  The canal went out over a valley far below on what looked like a wide metal aqueduct, except it was blocked by a metal gate.  Beyond the gate was a funny metal structure with lots of cogs and wheels.

'Polar must have made a wrong turn,' said Endon Bear.  'This looks like another sort of factory.'

But he was wrong.  This was the Anderton Boat lift - our way down onto the River Weaver.  As we watched, the gate in front of us was lifted out of the water and Uppie chugged forward, underneath it and into what looked rather like a metal lock chamber, wide enough for two boats.

'Polar and Grizzly will get dripped on as they go under the gate,' chuckled Hanley Bear.  'While we are nice and dry!'

'They will be wet anyway,' I said.  'It's raining.'

A little while later, we heard clunking and swishing noises and guessed they had closed the gate behind us.  We expected the water level to start falling after that, as it does when you are in a lock.  Instead, the whole chamber shook slightly, as if it was starting to move.  Hanley Bear stopped laughing and looked anxious.  Little Endon Bear held my paw and whimpered slightly.  I tried to be a brave bear but we were definitely moving, even though the boat engine was off and the water level was steady.

'I'm going to ask Grizzly what's happening,' said Hanley Bear.  He jumped down from the basket and raced to the back of the boat.  I gave Endon Bear reassuring hugs and looked forwards, as a big industrial building came into view ahead of us.

Suddenly, Hanley Bear rushed back, leaping back into our basket with a big smile on his face.  'It's brilliant, duck!' he cheered.  'This is a boat lift.  We're in a big metal bath, called a casson, and we're being lowered down to the river, while there's another casson balancing us coming up on the left.  Here it is!'

We looked out of the side panel and, just as Hanley had said, there was a huge metal box passing us, going up.

'Wow!' cried Endon, who had stopped being scared now.

After a few more minutes, everything stopped moving.  We could see the big building across the river very clearly but we couldn't see the river any more, because there were still metal gates between us and the open water.  After more rumbling noises, the one at the front of the casson started to lift and we saw the river properly.  It was much wider than a canal but didn't seem to have much of a current.

'You little bears will need lifejackets out on the river,' I said to Endon and Hanley.  I fetched mine from the top of the settee and put it on.  'Polar and Grizzly always wear theirs on the river.  I'll remind Polar that she needs to make some for you.'

For now, we would all be safe in our bear basket as we sailed out of the boat lift and onto the river.