Three Bears reach Manchester

After our trip to Stalybridge, it was time for Uppie to head along the Ashton Canal to the centre of Manchester.  It was quite a long cruise to the first lock, passing more big mills but also lots of houses and flats.  We could tell we were heading into a big city.

Polar and Grizzly told us that there were eighteen locks we had to go down through to get to our mooring for the night, so we bears would be safest sitting inside, where we could see what was happening but not fall overboard or be left behind anywhere.

Polar rigged us up a hammock, so we could see out of the saloon window and wave to any human cubs walking along the towpath.  It was still a little bit frightening when we dropped down into a lock but the ones on the Ashton Canal weren't too deep and we were going down, so there was no bumping about, except for in one pound between locks where the wind blew Grizzly aground and some nice men doing jogging had to help lever Uppie afloat again.

Hanley Bear was excited to find out that the canal ran very close to the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City FC and that we would see Manchester's busy little yellow trams too.  He said there was lots to see and do there, according to Grizzly, but first we had all the locks to work through and a safe mooring to find.

Endon Bear and I thought we wouldn't enjoy the journey as much, as there wouldn't be very much nature to enjoy in the heart of a big city, but we were wrong.  There were still plenty of trees and birds, and beside one lock there was a big patch of wild orchids.

Manchester is famous for football and its history, but it is also famous for being a very rainy city.  Before we reached the last of the locks, it turned very wet.  We wished we were big enough to work the cooker and boil a kettle, so we could make tea for Grizzly and Polar, but we knew it would be too dangerous to try.

Outside, we started to see some very clever art on the walls.  We didn't know if all of it was supposed to be there but it made the dull walls and empty buildings much brighter and more cheerful.

Suddenly, there weren't any empty buildings - just lots of very big, new buildings.  Some of them were very shiny, with lots of glass and metal, and others were very strange shapes and colours.  We were very surprised when we got close enough to see that they were for people to live in!  We bears didn't think we would like to live so high up, especially without a garden to play in.

Imagine how surprised we were then to spot a very old house right by the canal, tucked in between all the funny-shaped apartments, with lovely ox-eye daisies growing alongside.  When the clouds broke and the sun shone on an old mill which was being turned into more apartments, we bears thought it might be a nice place to stay for a few days and explore, even if we didn't really think we'd like to live here all the time.

By the time we had gone through the last of the locks, we were in Piccadilly Village, where there are some very nice houses and low-rise apartments.  Polar and Grizzly saw there were mooring rings in a little basin just off the canal and decided this looked like a safe place to stop for the night.  

Even here, there were new tall buildings going up behind the houses.  We felt quite sorry for the people who lived there, as their nice houses and little gardens would soon be overshadowed by all the new towers.

We bears were almost too excited to sleep when Grizzly and Polar told us we had a day out on the trams to look forward to, but after rice pudding and strawberry jam for tea, followed by a bedtime story, we soon settled down  It was very peaceful in the little canal basin we had found and hard to believe we were right in the heart of a very big city.  

Small Bears in a Very Big Tunnel

The thought of visiting a very long, deep, scary tunnel wasn't the best thing to wake up to on our second day in Stalybridge, although we do love railway journeys and the one from Stalybridge to Marsden was very nice.  We had a nice table for our bear bag, big windows to see out and good views of the valley and the canal.

'This will get us to the tunnel a lot quicker than working up all those locks,' said Polar.  We bears weren't sure whether to be pleased about this or not!

 We went through a long railway tunnel and came out at a place called Marsden, which Grizzly told us was in Yorkshire.  This was our first visit to Yorkshire and we thought this part of it looked a lot like the Staffordshire Moorlands, so would be very good Bear Country.  Polar and Grizzly carried us along the canal towpath towards the Visitor Centre and the tunnel's northern entrance.  It looked very dark and scary.

Suddenly, Hanley Bear cheered.  He had found one of his special red transport history signs.

'If it's got one of these, it must be alright!' he said confidently.

Endon and I were still quite nervous about going into the tunnel, even just a little way on the trip boat, but we felt much better after we had tucked into some chocolate cake and seen Grizzly chatting cheerfully with the man who steers the boat.

Once all the human passengers were aboard, including a very small human cub, we set off.  The trip boat is electric, so there is no engine noise or nasty fumes, but the tiny human cub started crying so little Endon Bear went to give him hugs.  This was very brave of Endon, as he was quite frightened by the tunnel himself.

We were close to the front of the boat so we had a very good view forward, into the gloom.  Polar and Grizzly remembered going all the way through on their friends' boat, well before they were bear guardians, when the electric boats towed the other boats through.  These days, you steer your own boat but have a Canal and River Trust Pilot to help you stay safe in the very low and twisty parts.

Before we reversed out again, Hanley Bear went right to the front of the boat for a proper look.  'It goes on forever!' he cried.  

That's not actually true, as the nice man on the boat told us it was three-and-a-quarter miles long, but that is twice as long as our Harecastle Tunnel so you can see why Hanley was impressed.

It was interesting, learning all about the Standedge Tunnel from the very nice C&RT man, but I was a happier small bear when I was back out in the sunshine, feeling the breeze on my fur and looking at the trees and flowers.

We found a lovely little garden to explore with two benches that were perfect for small bears and had pictures on them designed by human cubs, although their seats had got rather mossy.  Polar said it was because it's very rainy up on top of the Pennines, just as it is in Stoke, so the wood gets damp in the winter.

On our way back to the station, we dropped into the Visitor Centre which was a super old building and so nice that it is used for weddings.  There was going to be one later that day and the bride would be arriving on a little boat, which was decorated specially.  We thought that was a lovely thing to do.

When we got back to Stalybridge, Polar and Grizzly decided there was still time to go back down the locks to Portland Basin that afternoon.  It was easier than coming up and soon the historic wooden boats around the junction were back in view.

Polar said we had another busy day coming up, with lots more going-down locks (which we don't mind too much), so we should have an early bedtime.  She read us a story to settle us down and we slept very soundly indeed.

A Short Cruise to Stalybridge

We bears don't enjoy going up through locks, because we get quite scared by all the water rushing around, so when our human guardians said we were going along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal from Portland Basin up to Stalybridge, through four locks, we decided to stay indoors and read our books.  Of course we did peep out from time-to-time, just to make sure Polar and Grizzly were alright.

The canal goes from Ashton-under-Lyne up towards the Pennines, following the valley of the River Tame and eventually gets to the longest, deepest and scariest canal tunnel in Britain, the Standedge Tunnel.  Polar and Grizzly weren't taking Uppie that far, however. 

The canal goes through a very industrial area.  There are several big mills but we were sad to see that they were all empty and not being used to make things any more, like socks to make into bear jumpers, or even turned into nice flats.  Polar and Grizzly said the locks were quite hard work, for narrow ones.  We managed to get to some nice moorings on the outskirts of the town centre but were sad to see no other boats.  

When our humans took us into Stalybridge, we were surprised to see that the canal ran right through the town centre and was really nicely landscaped.  There was also brass band music in the air, something that Hanley Bear really loves.

Our human guardians were hungry and wanted to find somewhere to buy fish and chips, but we bears wanted to find out where the music was coming from.  

Polar and Grizzly said they thought it was likely to be from a radio or loudspeaker, but Hanley was sure it was live - and he was right!

There was a brass band festival taking place, with bands from all over the north of England taking part.  We really liked the sound that all the shiny instruments and clever people playing them made, and Hanley Bear did a little dance.  There was even one band who had come all the way from Norway, called 'Rong Brass', which Endon thought was a very funny name for a band who seemed to be playing everything right!

Our humans were too hungry to stay for the whole festival and now really wanted something to eat, as they had been steering the boat and doing locks while we had been reading and eating raisins.  But we were too late for the fish and chip shop - it had sold out of fish and closed.  We bears thought we would be in trouble, as they had missed their tea.

'Let's go to the station,' said Grizzly.

This seemed like a very strange suggestion but was actually a brilliant idea, as Stalybridge Station has a very famous pub in its old buffet.  Although they didn't get fish and chips there, they did get a plate of other tasty nibbles and a railway timetable, because Polar and Grizzly decided that the next day, we should all have a train journey and visit the big, long, scary Standedge Tunnel!