There's a Hole in My Bucket, Sorry Roof ...

Anyone missed us while we've been busy? Probably not as there's been no clamouring to have some more posts, at least not that we've heard.

We thought we tell you about one of our recent projects. We've told you already how much we love having Ribby, the Eriba caravan, in our extended family.

When Ribby (Ribs) came to live with us, she was a fine caravan in every respect bar one. She had a patch of rot in her roof which had had a quick patch up job, but needed some skilled craftsmanship for a more permanent repair.

Who better to put on the project than Jimmy and Blue Bear, both of whom are skilled engineers and have very skilled and dextrous paws.

The first job was to back Ribs into the right hand side of the garage so she wouldn't be exposed to the elements when her roof came off. It was a good job we had the caravan mover so we could inch her in. It was a tight squeeze as you can see, with lots of calls of 'breathe in Ribs' especially on the freezer side.

The roof came off and was carried carefully into our makeshift workshop - the dining room. Carpenter apprentice Oscar, sitting by the hammer, shows you the piece of wood we had to cut out, with the rotten section in the middle.

In the foreground you can see the beautifully crafted and ultra smooth replacement section. We had to  take a cross cut saw to it to cut some strips in the back, so it would bend into shape, then it was glued in and weighted down. Once the glue was set, we did some fibreglass filling and skimming then, in best Blue Peter style, we finished off with a sticky back plastic covering.

The roof was now fixed but the tricky bit was still to come, getting the roof back onto Ribs and attaching it to the cantilever springs. It took a big work party of bears most of the afternoon, but we're very pleased with the finished job.

Aunty and Uncle G were the first to use Ribs after her repair when they came down for a Norfolk holiday and we think they were quite impressed. We'll be out in Ribs ourselves shortly to check the repair out for ourselves.

Love from the caravan repair crew xxx

Post Wedding R & R

We were impressed by how hard the Suffolk Branch had worked assisting with, and reporting on, last week's Royal wedding. What a day it was, and it made us proud to think that Bears Unlimited had played such an important part.

We thought that a good way for the Suffolk Branch to have a complete and well-earned break, would be to invite them up to Norfolk for the rest of Bank Holiday weekend. This we did, And while we were at it, we decided to invite the Midlands Branch as well, as we hadn't seen either branch for far too long.

The Midlands branch were first to arrive and to welcome them we flew both the bear flag, and, a new addition to our flag locker, Warwickshire's flag featuring the famous Bear and Staff. This is the red and yellow flag flying well in our next picture.

It is a flag with special significance for a large number of our members, as a large part of both Suffolk and Norfolk branches originate from Warwickshire.

In the evening of Royal Wedding day, while the Suffolk branch were still coming off duty, several of us went along to the celebratory lighting of the new beacon in the village of Melton Constable. There was a good crowd and a good atmosphere as we watched some bales of straw blaze fiercely.

By Saturday morning the Suffolk branch had joined us and the latest Bears Unlimited gathering was complete. It was a lovely day so we all headed to the coast for a walk. We headed for Blakeney as George was keen to show off, to his brother Isaiah, the Norfolk branch's latest addition to the B.U.assets register, a sailing boat.

Isaiah was really impressed when George stopped him by a very fine, and large, traditional working boat and demanded a picture. He knew that the Norfolk branch had good sailing skills int the form of Boating Bear, Eddie, but he didn't know the Norfolk branch profits were as good as that!

George then took him to a rather more modest craft and said "I was only joking! It's actually Tarka that's ours".

We all agreed that Tarka is a very fine craft and a much more suitable size for a bear crew. 

Over the rest of the weekend, we enjoyed more fine walks and lots of chatting and eating and drinking. All the ingredients for the best of weekends were present. The highlight of a Sheringham coastal walk was seeing these amazing pebble sculptures on the beach. We loved both the lobster and the crab, and marvelled at all the hours of work that must have gone into their construction. We'd have liked to have seen them being built.

We'll have to pop back from time to time to see how they are standing up wind, tide and, probably most detrimental of  all, the general public.

What a great weekend! We'll be resuming our Spanish postings soon, in case anyones's wondering. 

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Our Palm Sunday Afternoon

We were lucky; the weather continued fine into the afternoon. We all fancied an outing, so took a vote as to where we should go. The verdict came down in favour of one of our favourite walks.

The reason it is so good, is that it combines the delights of the beautiful Sheringham Park, with coast path along the cliffs back into Sheringham - so we get the best of both parkland and coastal scenery.

When in Sheringham Park, it is a B.U. tradition to climb to the top of the gazebo and hang out at the top.


Getting to the top involves quite a few steps, and a lot of puff, but is well worth it for the views. We could see all the way along the coast to Blakeney Point and, nearer to us, we could also see Blue Bear indulging in his hobby of driving a steam train on the Poppy line.

Do you remember our coastal watch activities, reported in the past, where we do our bit to keep the coast safe and sustainably managed? Well, as we arrived in Sheringham, and walked along the prom, we found a rather different coast watch job awaiting us.

A huge caterpillar tracked digger was ready and waiting for us to do our bit to even out some fresh shingle to build up the beach after the winter storms.


Now driving that machine really was fun, especially for a dare devil action bear such as myself (Chelmer), and it was all in a good cause, so worthwhile as well as enjoyable.

The fun didn't end there. As we walked through the town we made a new friend outside one of the pubs.


What a fine lobster he was and patriotic with it too. You may not be surprised to hear that the name of the pub he was guarding is 'The Lobster'.

We definitely enjoyed our afternoon out.

Lots of love Chelmer, Curly and all at Bears Unlimited xxx

A Mystery Spaceship?

You might think that doing Coast Watch in the winter might be a bit grim, and that it would be more fun to be tucked up at home by the fire, with a good book and a pint of Wherry.

However, there are compensations and in winter, far more than in summer, we never know what we are going to find on the beach, especially after a spell of stormy weather.


How about this for one of our finds on the local beach? We took lots of pictures of us on this yellow flying saucer so we could show them to the rest of the guys and consult them about what it was. It certainly didn't belong on that stretch of beach and had clearly escaped and travelled some distance, probably from a port such as Great Yarmouth.

Of course, the great thing about winter Coast watch is that when we finally get home and come in from the cold, that fire and pint of Wherry are appreciated so much more than usual.

Lots of love, all at the Norfolk Branch xxx