Meeting the Vaarks

Today is a very special one, because two of our friends are getting married.  Their names are Dimitri and Matilda and they are Vaarks.  If you haven't heard of Vaarks before, read on, as I am going to tell you about when we met lots of them.

It was a wet morning when we left Manchester and cruised along the Bridgewater Canal, so we bears stayed in the cratch, watching as the tall towers of Manchester slipped behind us and we headed into the suburbs.  

Polar and Grizzly were making for Sale, because I had arranged to meet some of my friends from Twitter there.  

They arrived after lunch to have tea and cake with us on Uppie. The humans were Mrs Sue and Mr Alfred, who are very clever and creative, and with them were a whole bag full of Vaarks, small, squidgy creatures with long noses, button eyes and felt ears.  The Vaarks were all very friendly, even some of the slightly shy ones, and we became great friends straight away.

We gathered for a photo in the cratch, being very careful not to step on the tiniest Vaarks, Microvaark and miniscule Nanovaark, who you can just see sitting in the centre of the painted daisy.  We were also introduced to Ratvaark, Esther, Fury, Winston, Hypnovaark, Ernest, Ofelia, Bernard and of course Matilda and Dimitri, whose wedding was today.  

I might have missed a couple of Vaarks as I can count fourteen of them in the photo and I've only got twelve names, so big hugs and bigger apologies to them both!  

There were also Peggy and her boyfriend, but I'm afraid I can't remember his name either.  Fourteen Vaarks, two dollies and two new humans is a lot of names for a small bear to remember in one day.

Polar had bought us some special small bear-sized cakes to share with our friends.  It was just as well there were plenty of them, as three hungry bears and fourteen Vaarks can eat rather a lot of cake!  While the humans chatted about all sorts of things, we enjoyed our afternoon tea.

It helped the Vaarks to relax and forget that they were on a boat, as they are not built for swimming and were nervous about being on the water.  Soon, all the cakes were gone!

We helped the Vaarks to explore Uppie.  While Mrs Sue took some photographs of Nano and Micro playing on Grizzly's little model railway, Mr Alfred told Grizzly all about a very special building project he and Mrs Sue had been involved in, which we would visit later in our journey.

All too soon, it was time for our friends to set off home.  We hugged all the Vaarks and their human friends, big and small, and promised to stay in touch and get together again, hopefully one day soon.  In the meantime, we can follow their adventures on their website: https://www.mousevaarks.co.uk/

The next day, we travelled on down the Bridgewater Canal.  It stayed very rainy, so we watched from the cratch again.  There were some very strange modern buildings at Altringham and some old ones too.  We hope this old printworks is being turned into something nice.

We moored out in the Cheshire countryside, near a big country house called Dunham Massey, which we would visit in the morning.  It was very peaceful, but still rainy.  

There was a very big heron fishing close to the boat and some swans, which can be fierce, so we bears stayed indoors and Hanley Bear helped Grizzly get the tea.  

We had enjoyed being boat bears in the big city but it was lovely being back in the countryside again.

More about Manchester

The afternoon after we came down the nine nasty locks, Polar lifted us into the bear bag ready for another adventure.  We were going to explore the area around Castlefield Basin, including the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

On the way there, we saw some signs about the people who restored the canal basin, so we could moor there and enjoy it.  We bears are very grateful to these people and those who carry on looking after our canals today.

Some of it was being repaired and wasn't open to the public, including the Turbine Hall where the railway locomotives are kept.  We were sad not to see them, although there was a very special locomotive in the main building - the original Rocket!

There was a Textile Hall where we could watch the machinery that made cotton working.  We were reminded of Quarry Bank Mill, where we got the fabric for our best boating shirts.

Hanley Bear found another of his red transport plaques celebrating the oldest railway station in the world, which is now part of the museum.  We had lots of fun sliding on the counter in the ticket office!

Upstairs in the main building we got to try some experiments.  I found a puzzle where I had to arrange some wooden wedges into a pyramid shape.  It took me ages to get it right - with a little bit of help from Polar!

Hanley Bear thought he had found a shaft that went right to the centre of the Earth and was scared that he might fall in and never get out again, but it was actually a clever illusion using mirrors.

Little Endon had lots of fun exploring with us and made friends with an astronaut bear who was in the shop, waiting for his next mission into space. 

Before we left the museum, Grizzly bought us an ice cream, because it was so hot and, having fur, we really needed to cool down before we set off on a short walk through the city.

On the way down Deansgate, we were shown a big swarm of bees on one of the buildings.  We thought this was very special, as the bee is the symbol of the busy city of Manchester! 

We were amazed at the number of huge tower-blocks being built all around the city.  As we came back towards Castlefield, we felt much more at home beside the boats and under the trees.  Polar and Grizzly found a nice pub where we all had dinner, with more ice-cream for dessert.  Then our human guardians carried us back across as very unusual bridge to Uppie.

We were sleepy bears by then and started settling down in our bed on the cushions, until we heard music outside.  A group of people had started gathering in the amphitheatre area near the moorings and were doing juggling and fire-eating - not for an audience but to entertain each other.

We bears watched from the windows.  The young humans practicing their circus skills were very clever but we didn't want to get too close, in case we singed our fur. 

The music stopped and they all packed up before it got too late, so we slept very soundly, ready for more adventures in Manchester the following day, when we were going to meet some very special and very small friends. 

Down the 'Rochdale Nine'

The morning after Polar came back to the boat, it was time to leave our moorings in Piccadilly Village and travel right through the heart of Manchester to the Bridgewater Canal. 

This sounded very exciting but we bears were rather worried when Grizzly explained we had nine very big double locks ahead of us, which are the last of the Rochdale Canal, which runs right across the Pennines.  He said they often have lots of water flowing through them which floods over the back gates when you try to empty them, and some have funny gate opening gear with chains and pulleys, so we were relieved that he had found another boat who could share with us, with a kind and friendly couple, called Mrs Jackie and Mr Steve, on board, and a small dog called Dexter. 

We were also very lucky that a nice man called Mr Ian, who volunteers with the Canal and River Trust, came to meet us as we reached the first lock.  He had his bicycle with him, so he could get ahead of our boats and start opening locks for us.

We bears sat in the cratch, where we could see what was happening but were safely out of the way.  After the first lock, we disappeared under the road, very near Manchester Piccadilly station.  It looks very interesting in Polar's picture, but it was very smelly and nasty.  Somehow, we managed to lose Mrs Jackie near here and although Polar went back to search for her, she couldn't find her anywhere!

Because there isn't any way on to the towpath for quite a long way. Mr Ian and Polar had to work the next locks without her.  We were all very pleased when she found us again, especially Mr Steve.

We met some boats coming up, which was good because it meant the locks would all be full up ready for us.  I think they might have been full anyway, however, because there is so much water pouring down this canal.

The Rochdale Canal goes through some well-known areas of Manchester, including Canal Street, and there is a huge amount of work going on to make it nicer and safer for people to use.  We were very glad we had Mr Ian with us because, at the moment, there are several sections where the towpath doesn't join up and you have to get back on your boat to get from one lock to the next.

Looking out as we came through one lock, we saw a huge glass tower rising up right beside the canal.  We bears had never seen such tall buildings so close up! 

Hanley Bear said we were very close to where we had gone on the trams and trains a few days earlier.  He pointed out the railway arches around Deansgate as we went underneath them.

There was even more water pouring down the canal now.  When we got to the very last lock, Mr Ian opened the paddles at both ends to let some water drain out of the pound, so we could get Uppie and Willoughby through the very last lock and out into the Castlefield Basin.

 After all their hard work steering and working the locks, the humans went for a drink, while we bears had little naps. Polar and Grizzly had told us there was still a lot to see and do in Manchester and they were right.

We had a very exciting afternoon ahead of us, at the Museum of Science and Industry, which I will tell you all about in my next post.