Beer & Curry Night

Once we had arrived at Gas Street Basin and moored up, there was lots for us to do.

Firstly we did an on paw exploration of the area. Lots of different canals and branch lines come together in the area and provide a wealth of interest to a canal anorak like me. If you're not such a canal anorak, there are loads of bars to keep you entertained, as Chelmer and some others of my crew discovered.


As you can see from my picture, the area has been well developed and the canal system is key to the success of the area as a recreational zone. The distances to the various areas of interest are nearly all in metres, not miles, so you don't have to walk too far to see lots of interesting history.


The other 'must do' activity (after sampling a few beers in the waterside bars) was to sample a curry. Birmingham is the curry capital of Britain, after all. As you can see, Yorkie lived up to his nickname of 'Piranha' and made short work of a naan bread that was a lot bigger than he was.

Lots of love Eddie, George, Yorkie & Co xxx

Time Ashore

The next morning dawned fine and it was only a couple of locks, and a short hop, to the historic city of Worcester. As we passed some visitor moorings, we noticed a tourist sign advising that the city centre was just 5 minutes walk away. Us smaller bears (George, Yorkie, Chelmer, Rocco, Isaiah, Dale, Tiny, Kiwi & 2 puffins) asked Captain Eddie if we might go exploring and he gave permission for a shore based excursion. (Apologies if you hadn't realised we were on the trip, but we missed the earlier team photo when Chelmer delayed us in the pub).

Our first stop was the cathedral. As you will see in our picture, the main building is quite well hidden behind trees.


Talking about hidden, have you spotted Chelmer & Rocco at the top of the noticeboard. We tried to tell them it was easier to read from below, but Chelmer just couldn't resist a climbing opportunity.

As we tend to get up with the sun on boating holidays, we were in the cathedral early enough to have a good look round before the main service started. Chelmer nearly caused us some embarrassment when he gave in to the temptation to climb the tower of a superb model of the cathedral.


This was clearly one of those behind glass models of the 'do not touch' variety so we frantically tried to get Chelmer to come down before anyone saw him and throwed us all out.

We seemed to get away with it, but decided it was time to leave anyway as the service was about to start.

Not far from the cathedral was a statue of one of Worcester's most famous citizens. No it wasn't the inventor of Lea & perrins Worcester sauce, it was a far more cultural figure, Sir Edward Elgar.

We thought it only respectful to have our picture taken with him. We're trying to remember whether our friend Naughty Bear has also done the same.


Chelmer wondered whether he should grow an Elgar style moustache. We all gave him an emphatic 'no' and told him we wouldn't be seen out with him if he did.

At this point Rocco had one of his inspired moments and proposed a visit to a coffee shop for refreshments. As the morning was warm we were able to sit outside and indulge in one of our favourite sports of people watching.


The good thing about this coffee shop was that it was right next to an Oxfam bookshop, so we took it in turns to make forays into the shop to look for some good holiday reading. As it happens this was a shrewd move, given what happened to us a few days later. All will be revealed soon.

Lots of love from the shore visiting party xxx

A Trip Down Memory Lane

It wasn't long after we had started cruising, that Fred, Ungi and Jimmy, who are well seasoned canal boaters and have been on more trips than me (only because I wasn't born when they started boating), got very excited and said they had something to show me.


They explained that we were passing the boatyard of Brook Line boats at Dunhampstead Wharf and this was where they hired their first ever canal boat from, back in 2001 when they tackled the Stourport Ring for their first taste of canal boating. We tried to spot the names of the boats currently in the yard to see if Ripplingbrook,the boat they'd previously hired was there, but even though boating speed is only 3 m.p.h., we were still past too quickly to spot the boat names.

A few seconds later, there was even greater excitement. Ripplingbrook was spotted, not in the boatyard, but moored to the towpath a few yards further on.


This was simply great for us, as it meant we could slowly glide past and get a close up view.


She looked to be in such good condition that I found it hard to believe that she had been about for so many years. After all, canal boats do get quite a few knocks, even when the helmsman is skilled, as going through bridges and into locks there is often little more than an inch to spare.

I was surprised though at how small she looked. Since I've been with Bears Unlimited, we've hired some much bigger boats - I know I'm an extra traveller but I didn't think I took up that much room! Jimmy explained that on that trip they had had no permanent beds and had had to make up their beds every night. It wasn't much of a hardship but they do now appreciate the luxury of permanently made up beds.

We all enjoyed our first afternoon's cruising very much and especially the hot prawn and vegetable curry we made for our dinner, after trying out the local brew at a canalside pub.

Lots of love Eddie and Bears Unlimited boaters xxx

Avon Calling

Hello friends, this is Eddie reporting back in from my latest adventure. What a time my fellow crew members and I have had. We've been canal boating in the Midlands and chugged our vessel round an extended version of the Avon ring. We had rather more adventure that we bargained for when we got marooned on an island, and I can hardly wait to tell you all about it, and the new friends we met as a result. However, I'm going to have to keep you in suspense for a while as I need to start my tale at the beginning.

I took command of my vessel, a 62 foot narrowboat, named Muscovy, on a sunny afternoon a week and a half ago.


Do you not agree that she's a fine craft? I was very proud to be her Master for the duration of our trip. I was also pleased that she had a respectable boat name, after all, a Muscovy is very much a water bird. This was rather unusual for a Black Prince hire boat. We hire from Black Prince as the boats are smart, modern and well maintained. The only problem is that most of the fleet names are silly girls names, which don't suit a narrow boat at all. Previously we've hired Celia and this year we also saw a Josie and, horror, a Mabel. Narrowboats really should not be called Mabel.

Enough said! One of my first tasks was to settle my crew aboard and to hoist the bear flag.


Hopefully anyone who reads our blog regularly will know the names of all my crew, but don't worry I won't test you.

Once we had cast off and were well and truly underway I couldn't help but put on my happy boating face. I know you saw it last year when I went chugging, but here is this year's version.


If you want to be as happy as I am in my picture, I thoroughly recommend a canal boating holiday.

Lots of love, Eddie and the crew of Muscovy xxx

Missed the Boat!

You know I'd frequently heard my minders and other humans talking about 'missing the boat', but I never really knew what it meant until the other day - after all bears are so sharp and on the ball that such things don't happen to them.

Anyway, there I was on my towpath travels, realising what a good view of Erik I got from the path.


What a fine boat I thought to myself and how lucky I am to be Captain for the week.

Seeing a bridge approaching that would give me an even better aerial view, I hurried onto it and waved to Erik and my minder who was on the helm, as Erik glided through beneath me.


As I clambered down and rejoined the towpath I suddenly understood what 'missing the boat' meant. I could see Erik further down the canal, chugging along at a pace faster than my little legs could propel me. How soon would it be before those on board missed me I wondered.

My panic was only momentary though as my quick thinking bear brain realised that I was carrying a walkie talkie so I radio'd through to let the crew on board know that I had fallen behind. Erik, like all canal boats loses direction in reverse so they weren't able to come back for me, but did slow down a lot to give me a chance to catch up and get back on board at the next bridge.

Once back aboard everyone let me know that they had all been keeping an eye on me and would not have left me, they were just winding me up and making me think I'd been left behind.

They're all such good friends I was able to share the joke and have a laugh with them.

Lots of love Eddie xxx

Towpath Travels

It's quite hard for me to drag myself away from my boat and take to dry land as I love boating so much (have I told you that before?) but I occasionally do so, as I have learnt that there are lots of things to see on the towpath that require a closer look. Also, it is always good to get some exercise, so I don't have to worry too much about putting on weight as result of all the beer and pub meals.


I know that I walked over 3 miles the other day as I passed 3 of these mile markers. They date back quite a few years as they were placed by the Grand Junction Canal Company which was one of the companies that built the Grand Junction Canal back in the late 1700s. The canal only changed it name to the Grand Union Canal in 1929. (Sorry but I specialise in canal trivia, perhaps I should apply for Mastermind).

Talking of history, while walking under the many canal bridges I kept my eyes open for grooves worn into the iron strips which protected the bridges from wear from the tow ropes of the horse drawn barges. Here I am inspecting some of the grooves I found.


I find it incredible to think how many horses and barges must have passed along the route I was now walking to have worn such deep grooves. I would love it if this aspect of the past could be brought back to life.

More about my towpath travels in my next blog.

Lots of love Eddie xxx

Work & Play on a Narrow Boating Day

I can't say it often enough, crewing a narrow boat is great fun. There is always a job to be done, but boating jobs definitely aren't 'chores'. Being part of the overall boating experience which I enjoy so much, I love them all.

When it's a hot day one of the jobs I particularly enjoy is the daily filling of the water tank from one of the British Waterways water points. Here I am waiting by the tap ready to switch it off when the tank starts to overflow before the hose snakes out and showers everyone.


When it's hot though, sometimes I leave the tap on and we have a bit of a waterfight until we've all cooled off, as sadly the canals aren't clean enough to swim in.

As for other boating jobs, I'm a dab hand at turning the stern greaser and clearing any rubbish from round the propellor. I also oversee the mooring arrangments making sure the boat won't drift off while we're in the pub.

Talking of the pub, there does come a time when a boater's work is done and at that point it's time to retire to the pub. Visiting one of the many canalside pubs is always enjoyable and something we look forward to. Although the cooking facilities on board are good we often feel we've earned a meal out. Here are Chelmer & Spike studying the menu and making the difficult decision of what to choose.


Still the way, we look at it, the longer we spend studying the menu the longer we have to sample the local ales.

Lots of love, Eddie & the crew of Erik xxx

That Sinking Feeling

As Eddie said the other day, the lock gates are a little too big for some of us smaller bears to manage. Sometimes we add our paws worth of help to the other bears' efforts, but often we stay on board to make cups of tea for the locking crew and to perform some vital boat in the lock checks. For instance we check that the front of the boat doesn't get flooded when the gate paddles are opened and, at the back, we check that the stern doesn't get caught on the rear cill as the lock empties causing it to go into a nose dive.


There were two lock flights on our trip that we particularly enjoyed: the famous Foxton locks with their double staircase and the Watford flight, also a staircase. The Watford locks were particularly deep ones. We sat at the back of the boat to give an idea of scale and you have to agree it was a very deep lock. It felt like we were descending into Hades and even though it was a hot day it got very cold.


The other advantage of having some paws free as we go through the locks, is that we can fulfil the role of crew photographers. We hope you like this photo we took of Eddie and Erik at one of the Watford locks and also the one below of Erik emerging from one of the Foxton staircases.


Lots of love George, Yorkie & all the crew xxx

Working My Passage

Canal boating can be a great way to relax and watch the world go by. However, for the real enthusiast, and I (Eddie) count myself one, the real fun comes in working your passage. I am hard pressed to decide whether I like locking or steering the boat best.

I guess that as I can steer at any time, and locks come up only intermittently, there is always a great excitement about winding the paddles to work the boat through a lock.


Fortunately I'm a big enough bear to manage a lock gate on my own, even though they are quite heavy and I usually have to have a rest after opening or shutting a gate. Some of the smaller bears have to work together to combine enough strength to manage a lock gate.

Steering, however, is also great fun as it is quite a challenge. The boats are long (50 feet on average) and the canals are narrow so sometimes you have to be really accurate in your steering to pass other boats, bridges, get into locks etc. And of course a narrow boat is nothing like these plastic tubs (as you can tell, I disapprove) that you see all too many of in our part of the world. These cabin cruisers, have a wheel, which is cheating, rather than a traditional tiller, which you always get on a narrow boat.


As you can see from my picture, sometimes in my excitement I forget my extra high stool for bear steering, required becasue of my short legs, and I have to beg some assistance from a minder while one of the other bears goes to find the stool.

I'm guessing that short legs wouldn't have been very good for legging through tunnels as they had to do when boats were horse drawn. Perhaps it's as well boats have engines now, but it would have been fun to meet a few working horses on the tow path.

Lots of love, Eddie & crew xxx

Will it Float ... Eventually?

After passing through the big lock flight at Foxton we looked out for Debdale Wharf marina as we have friends who live there on board on narrow boat called Drake. We think it is a very romantic idea, living on a narrow boat and we were keen to look round and see the difference between a hire boat such as Erik and a live aboard boat.

We found Drake in the marina and her owners were at home. Drake is the fine blue boat with the red front moored next to the restoration project (not yet one of ours, but it could be a good way of keeping in touch with our friends).


We had a thorough look round and were very impressed by the imaginative use of space. There was even a bath and a full size double bed - much better than the 4ft doubles on hire boats - not that that is a problem for bears, just their minders.

While we were looking round the marina we found a very interesting boat that seemed to have forgotten something, basically it's other half.


George & Yorkie were very intrigued and climbed aboard. They wondered if they should search round for the missing parts. They thought they might have to wait around a long time if they were to be present at the launch party!

Lots of love, the boating bears xxx

The Hares & the Tortoise

After emerging from the gloom of the tunnels we needed to put our sunglasses on while our eyes adjusted to the bright sunshine. Later that morning we passed under the A14, a busy road that we frequently travel along when we go to visit the Midlands Branch, and we always look out for the canal when in the Bearmobile. We love it when our our travel experience is the other way round and we are in the fresh air, sedately chugging and completely relaxed. We don't envy the people rushing along on their tin cans and wouldn't swap for anything. 3 m.p.h. is infinitely preferably to us and we could get very used to this pace of life.

We tried to capture the lorries thundering along on our photo of us passing under the A14 but strangely enough there aren't any in our picture.


We had a similar problem when we passed under the main railway line. A train crossed just after we'd taken our photo.

Another set of travellers we didn't envy were the visitors to Watford Gap services on the M1. We don't suppose many of the travellers who pull in to these services realise that the Grand Union canal passes right beside the parking area. We like the section in one of the canal guides which said that if you were running low on supplies and needed refreshment a visit to the services could be considered, but you'd need to be desperate. Fortunately we weren't!

Lots of love, the crew of Erik xxx