Back on Our Boat

We Bears have lots of wonderful adventures on land but our first love is being Boating Bears. We have been missing our trips out on nb Uplander II ("Uppie"), as we didn't have our usual Christmas cruise this year, because we went to visit Grandad Polar in Hampshire instead.  

In fact, with lots of work happening at our house as well, poor Uppie hadn't been out on a journey for over four months!

Polar and Grizzly are planning to take us on a very exciting boating adventure in the spring, so need to make sure everything is working properly now.  Polar and Grizzly were worried that there might be problems with the water pipes after the cold weather earlier in the year, or that there the fuel would have condensation in it, or the engine wouldn't want to start. 

As it was a fine, sunny day on Sunday, they decided to do a short journey up to Ramsdell Hall and the winding hole just beyond Scholar Green, and back to our mooring at Kidsgrove.

"We won't take all of you Bears, just in case there is a problem," said Polar.  "Sonning and Huddlesford can come, as they are the Bears with the closest connection to waterways."

We put our overalls and neckerchiefs on and jumped into the Bear Bag.  "Can we bring Hanley Bear too?" I asked.  "He was sad yesterday, because Stoke City lost again, and it would cheer him up."

Polar agreed that Hanley could come too.  He cheered, and jumped into the bag with us. 

Soon we were at the boatyard.  Grizzly took our bag from Polar and carried us into the saloon.  We were pleased that it didn't smell damp or musty, because Polar had put moisture traps with special crystals in the boat, but we were even more pleased when we heard the engine start first time.

Grizzly was delighted!  And our good luck continued, as we were able to float away from our mooring without too much trouble - sometimes, if water levels are a little bit low, we have to have help from some of the other boaters to push us off the mud!

      

Soon we were on our way along the arm to the Macclesfield Canal, through the funny little lock at Hall Green and heading for Scholar Green.  It was a lovely, bright day and we had great views of Mow Cop and the range of hills running towards the Peak District.

       

We arrived at the moorings near the pub in time for lunch.  The pub had been redecorated - we liked the wallpaper, as there were some of Polar's Sarracenia pitcher plants on it.  Hanley Bear was allowed some bubbles from Grizzly's beer and we all had snacks from Polar and Grizzly's dinners. 

Then it was time to go back to Uppie and cruise up to the winding hole at Ramsdell Hall.  Huddlesford and I watched as Grizzly turned the boat around and started steering back towards Kidsgrove.

 

There are some lovely stone bridges over the Macclesfield Canal.  We were sorry to see that bridge on the road to Mow Cop had been damaged and hope it will be repaired soon.

  

A little while later, we were overtaken by another boat - it was a man in a canoe!  We bears waved, but we don't think he saw us.

Polar took over steering the boat while Grizzly had a little nap, and we decided to have naps too.  The duvet is in the main dining room to keep the bed from getting damp, so we snuggled up on it and soon we were all sound asleep.

Polar and Grizzly moored the boat with no trouble, then carefully switched everything off.  Polar woke us up gentle and tucked us into our Bear Bag to take us home for tea, and Grizzly locked up.

Uppie is due to get the hull blacked at the end of this month, then it will be time to set off for our adventure in London.  But I am sure we will have some land adventures before then - and I have some from earlier this year (and from Christmas time) to write up too, so hopefully there will be more blogging from me very soon. 

Huddlesford's Mission

You might remember reading about our friend Huddlesford Bear, who we found in 2021 at Huddlesford Junction, where the Lichfield Canal used to join the Coventry Canal.  Huddles was intrigued to discover that a group of dedicated humans from the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust are busy restoring the Lichfield Canal, and even more excited when he found out that bears and pets could join their society.

 

He saved up some of his pocket money and asked Polar and Grizzly if they would join too, and soon he had a smart certificate with his name on.  Better than that, he also had an invitation to become a mascot for the Trust and to spend the summer and autumn with them, so he could see the work taking place and meet some of the volunteers.

“I’m going to recruit lots of other Small Bears to help them,” said Huddlesford.  “That’s my mission!”

“That’s bear-illiant,” I said.  “I’m sure Polar will make you some overalls and a hi-vis coat to wear when you’re out on site, so you can help out without getting lost or accidently stepped on or run over.”

We all got quite worried about the accidents that might befall him, but Huddlesford promised that he would be a very careful and sensible bear, so it was arranged that he would start his mission at the Brownhills Canal Festival in August.  Hanley Bear and I insisted on going with him, to approve his temporary human guardian, Christine Howles from the LHCRT. 

 

We were delighted to find a whole boatful of other bears at the festival and, when we met Mrs Christine, we all agreed she was nice and could be trusted to take care of our pal.  We all had a fantastic day at the festival before giving Huddles lots of hugs and wishing him luck.

After we left Huddlesford, Mrs Christine took him to have snacks at the cake boat and the marmalade boat, which is the best way to make a small bear feel welcome, then took him home him to read about all the work the Trust were doing in their Cuts Both Ways magazine.

 

Huddlesford was soon having great adventures with the Trust.  Sometimes he was supervising the volunteers and contractors building and excavating, and sometimes he was helping to plant trees and hedging plants.  At the end of the day, everyone got a hug from him for working so hard.

 

Although there are no boats on the canal at the moment, because most of it isn’t in water, Huddles says there are plenty of things for people to see and do if they visit, because the Trust have made canal walks and wildlife parks to explore.  And he says there are plenty of nice benches for them to sit on, to rest and eat their sandwiches.

    

There are even milestones to help people know how far they have travelled, with a certain Small Bear’s name on them!

 

Huddlesford always remembered to wear his bright orange jacket on site, especially when there were big machines about.  One day, when they were checking out the work at Darnford Moors, Huddlesford wandered quite a long way from Mrs Christine, as he wanted to see what a big tractor was doing.  Then he realised it was coming straight towards him!  

  

Huddles jumped about and waved so that the tractor driver could see him, as he had promised us all he would not to get run over.  The tractor driver stopped and picked him up, put him safely up in the cab and even let Huddles have a go at driving the tractor.  Huddles learned that one very important job with canals that need restoring is to keep vegetation clear of the parts you need to work on.  

Huddlesford thought driving the tractor was really cool, but not as cool as the big concrete culvert sections, ready to go under Darnford Lane. 

“I wonder if they’ll let me work the crane to hoist the rest of these into position?” he thought to himself.

   

He was still busy thinking about a career in civil engineering when he heard Mrs Christine calling him and realised it was time for afternoon tea, so he ran as fast as he could back to her, as he could smell scones and jam.

 

Mrs Christine said to Huddlesford that, if he was going to be a civil engineer, he ought to have a proper hard hat, so she found a Small Bear sized one for him (possibly for a smaller bear!).

Huddlesford helped with office-based jobs too, like sending the annual reminders for subscription renewals, selling tickets and drawing the raffle.  And he kept posting about his adventures on social media, to encourage more of his bear friends to join.

  

But his favourite thing was going out with Mrs Christine to visit places along the route of the canal, meeting the volunteers and giving them hugs.

  

Huddlesford’s proudest moment came when he found he was on the Trust’s Christmas cards for 2022.  Of course, we had to buy several packs so we could send them to all our Small Bear friends.

 

Finally, at the beginning of December, it was time for Huddles to pack his things and come home.  Mrs Christine and Mr Bob from LHCRT were coming to talk to our IWA branch and were bringing Huddles back to us at the same time.  

 

We were all thrilled to see him again and to hear about his adventures and we hope to visit some of the places he saw when we are on our canal journeys this year, and maybe go to the Brownhills Festival again this summer, or even the Huddlesford Gathering in September.

Huddlesford says to remember that fellow Small Bears and pets can still join the LHCRT for just £5, which is very good value.  We think the IWA should do something similar, as there are lots of boating bears and pets.

Meanwhile, there is a new apprentice civil engineering bear helping out at the LHCRT – we think his name might be Ogley Bear!

 

Photos from Christine Howles, LHCRT