I was delighted to be able to spend a couple of hours exploring Dinefwr in Camarthenshire on the way home from our holiday. There are very little people that live on the estate in houses in tree trunks.
There was even a washing line with teeny weeny washing hung out to dry. I didn’t spot any teeny weeny people; they must be quite shy.
Or perhaps they stay hidden as I found another much bigger door in a very old tree trunk…..
Before going inside the house I had to have a ‘selfie’ photo!
Through the window was a view of a knot garden and some flower beds waiting to be planted. I am sure it will look quite splendid once the gardeners set to work.
There was a lady busy dusting the floors so I gave her a helping paw.
In the library I found an interesting book but there wasn’t time to stay and read it (which would have involved staying several weeks).
Here I am sitting in ‘The Bard’s Chair’. (Actually it is a replica, which is why I was allowed to sit in it)
There was an information board stating that there are white cattle at Dinefwr. I was hoping to find them.
Oh dear; not quite what I was looking for!
During the war part of Dinefwr was used as a hospital. We have a stone hot water bottle just like those; it is used to keep the rabbits warm in their hutch in winter.
The butler wasn’t allowed to empty slops into his sink.
An interesting machine for cleaning knives – it looks a bit like a tombola.
I had a quick game of ‘Four in a row’ with my human , who went on to win. I wasn’t really concentrating well as my tummy had started rumbling telling me it was lunch time.
A tasty bowl of Cawl. Yum yum yum….
In the shop next to the café some of the children’s books were in Welsh, reminding me that we were in Wales.
The sun was shining outside so we set off to explore the grounds of Dinefwr, where I was hoping to somewhere find some white cows. I found a very old true that had a special hidey hole just right for bears.
There were some wooden sculptures of animals dotted around the park. Here I am with a wooden badger.
The house looked liked a fairy tale castle from the deer park.
Unfortunately I didn’t see any deer except this carved one. A sign said that the Dinefwr deer are shy so they must have been hiding somewhere.
After leaving the deer park I took a stroll across a board walk through the bog wood.
There were many ferns growing on the branches of the trees; for some reason I felt that a dinosaur might appear at any moment.
After being carried up a quite steep hill I arrived at Dinefwr castle.
There were good views from the top of the castle so I had a good look around to see if I could view any white cows, but didn’t spot any.
Humans were enjoying wandering around.
I was jolly pleased that my humans were hungry again and wanted to pay the café another visit before we continued on our journey. Carrot cake. Yum yum yum….
I could have spent much longer at Dinefwr but we only had a couple of hours to spare. Next time there is a chance to visit I will hopefully see a deer and a white cow!
Horace the Alresford Bear 1/4/19
For more information about Dinefwr see: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dinefwr
The first train to arrive was destined for Manchester. People and bears have to be careful at railway stations that they get on the correct train!
A few minutes later the train to Exeter arrived and I quickly got on, no time for photographs! We were soon on our way and within about 15 minutes after travelling along the edge of the river Teign we reached Teignmouth.
The train track is right next to the sea and the view is amazing. 
Here is a glimpse of ‘Elephant Rock’ which is just before Dawlish Warren.
We got off the train at Dawlish Warren in order to walk along the coast path to Dawlish.
There were lots of splendid buckets and spades for sale in the beach shop but the humans didn’t seem to think it was digging weather.
There was lots of space on the beach, with just a few dogs and their humans enjoying walking on the sand.
While walking back towards Dawlish a few trains went by; I waved to any children on board. Children do like to wave from trains.
The red cliffs are made of sandstone and over the years get washed away by the sea.
Back in 2014 a whole section of the track ended up suspended in midair when a section of the seawall collapsed during a ferocious storm. (
On reaching Dawlish I was keen to find the famous Dawlish black swans. 
Jolly pleased to find one; easy to spot with a bright red bill.
A few more black swans were resting or foraging on the grass. They have white feathers underneath their wings.
I watched this pair for quite a while as they swam up and down dabbling around in the water.
Here is some more information about the black swans: 
My tummy started to rumble as it was snack time. Jolly pleased to find a splendid little tea room ‘A Piece of Cake’ serving freshly made scones. The cheese scone was delicious.
The humans popped me into the bear carrier to get back to Dawlish station to make sure we didn’t miss the train back to Torquay. We got there just as the train was arriving.
I found a seat but didn’t stay in it long as couldn’t see out of the window.
Fortunately being a bear I was able to clamber up onto the table to look at the view. 
The weather was very damp and misty, which tends to mess up my fur a little. I posed for a selfie outside the splendid gothic mansion. 
The carriage rides looked like fun, but unfortunately were all booked up.
The driver did have room for a small bear up front, but I couldn’t leave my humans behind so climbed down again to be with them.
Lots of the trees around the estate were decorated in red ribbons. 
There was another queue to get into the house, but we fortunately we didn’t have to wait long. 
In the entrance hall the footman explained ‘the rules of the house’ to me. 
I had a chat with Mr Loxley next to a splendid Christmas tree.
In another room there was a Christmas tree festooned in crocheted decorations made by volunteers. It was very pretty. I had a chat to a lady who was an author, though I have forgotten her name (do message me if you know). Unfortunately the present that I had my eye on in the gold box wasn’t for me.
Some house maids were helping children make jingly fan decorations. 
Mr & Mrs Gibbs, the owners of the house were dancing. (Unfortunately the photo is rather blurred, which might be because they were dancing very fast, or more likely my human needs a better camera).
After the dancing had finished I had a good chat with Mr Gibbs.
There was a Christmas stocking filled with mysterious items in the children’s room. 
In another room someone was still busy wrapping presents.
The Gibbs family had their own little church next to the house. The vicar read a little from his book to me but I must admit I was somewhat confused. I don’t think he was used to having conversations with bears.
Before setting off back home some refreshments were required. Bears like hot chocolate especially with marshmallows and cream on the top!
I have visited Tyntesfield a few times but have not been at Christmas time before. The experience made me feel very festive.
There is an allotment garden outside the house that used to be tended by the children after they completed their long shifts in the mill. Nowadays it is tended by National Trust volunteers; the beetroot looked very tasty.
We joined a group of humans having a tour of the house. First stop was the school room. The children used to have lessons here on Sunday afternoons after going to church. Monday to Saturdays were spent working in the mill from 6am in the morning until 7pm in the evening. They must have been very tired.
I tried my paw at writing on a slate with slate. It was a tad difficult.
They started off learning to write letters by drawing them in a tray of sand. I didn’t try this as didn’t want to get sand stuck in my fur.
The lady doing the tour didn’t want to be held up by people taking photographs so we quickly followed the rest of the group upstairs to the dormitory where the children slept two to a bed. The beds were very small; poor people didn’t used to grow very tall then as they didn’t get enough nutritious food and had to work very hard. 
The children used to get to their dormitory by means of a ladder through a trap door and were shut in for the night. If they needed to do a wee or a poo they had to use a chamber pot and wipe their bottoms with some straw.
Next we went into a room that would’ve been the boy’s dormitory but a table had been put there to show some of the remedies that the doctor would have used when the mill workers were ill. The leeches were used to draw out infected blood; they are still used today for some medical uses. 
This pot contains Brimstone and treacle. It was used for all sorts of ailments and made people go the toilet. I am glad I wasn’t around back then!
Finally we went into the kitchen where a real fire was roaring. The guide told us all about the food that the apprentices ate, and that although they had a hard life it they had better conditions than some other mills.
The porridge looked a bit thick. Apparently it was made deliberately like this as the children would have been taken some for breakfast while they were working. A dollop would have been given to them in their hand and straight after eating it they would have to get back to work.
The water pump where the children would have been able to wash. It must have been very cold to use this in the winter.
I didn’t feel inclined to try out the toilet.
I did however try on a hat from the dressing up clothes that you often find in National Trust properties for children. I think I look good in caps.
The washing of clothes was carried out using ‘washing dollies’ which must have been very hard work. People didn’t change their clothes so often 200 hundred years ago. The mill children had 2 sets of clothes each and put fresh ones on each Sunday for church and wore them for the following week.
A walk down from the Apprentices’ house took us to Quarry Bank Mill.
Some of the trees were a splendid orange colour due to it being autumn.
This is the stream that feeds the giant water wheel which is still working at over 200 years old.
No visit to a National Trust property is complete without a stop for some cake. The Mill Café was so busy I had to sit upstairs in the overflow area, which is also a function room.
With a full tummy it was time to look around the mill.
The mill still has lots of the original machinery and is also a museum. This lady was demonstrating how cotton was turned into fabric before mass industrialisation. Here she is showing me how to ‘card’ the raw cotton and make it into fluffy cotton wool. This has to be done before raw cotton can be made into thread for weaving.
Cotton has to be spun round and round to make a strong continuous thread. It can be done totally by hand but takes a very very long time, so the spinning wheel was invented. 
The spun cotton was then made into cloth using a pedal powered loom. The fabric could only be a wide as the operator’s arm pulling the shuttle across the fabric.
Spinning was also made more efficient with the invention of the Spinning Jenny which was invented by James Hargreaves in 1764.
In another big room weaving was being done by lots of big powered machines which were being driven by the power harnessed from a water wheel and also steam engines.
When the machines were running is was very very noisy. I was very grateful to this kind National Trust guide who me borrow some protective ear muffs. 
On another floor we found this giant carding machine that turns the cotton into cotton wool.
The spinning was happening so quickly it looked as though all the reels were still. 
This bit of weaving equipment looked like something for bears to stay away from. The person setting up the weaving machine must certainly not be clumsy. 
Another toilet…
There was an exhibition with boards with information about the lives of the workers and the working conditions. Apparently it was hot and humid as that was best for the cotton, and dusty, which wasn’t good for the workers’ lungs. I tried on a pair of Lancashire clogs that felt heavy and uncomfortable.
The huge waterwheel was at first the main source of power in the mill. 
Later steam engines were also introduced to increase production.
Here I am sat on a water wheel shaft which shows how big it is. We got ‘photo bombed’ by a little dog!
We didn’t have time to visit the house where the mill owners lived but finished our visit with a refreshing walk through the woods where the Gregg’s children used to play, but I don’t think the children that worked in the mill would have had much time or energy left for playing.
![thumbnail_20181027_154135[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_1541351.jpg?w=584)
We arrived the day before as Stocksbridge is 190 miles away from Bristol. On checking out the hill we found many cyclists doing the same. I concluded that the hill is too steep for bears.![thumbnail_20181027_172052[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_1720521.jpg?w=584)
The resting place for the night was the Dog & Partridge Inn, though oddly no dogs were allowed inside. There were no specific rules regarding partridges or bears, so I went inside.![thumbnail_20181027_165901[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_1659011.jpg?w=584)
After a long journey I was quiet tired so ![thumbnail_20181027_170619[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_1706191.jpg?w=584)
Twenty minutes later I was woken by someone else being shown into my room. Unfortunately it turned out not to be my room; I was in the wrong one, which was rather embarrassing. After a toddle down the corridor I found the right room where I later settled down for the night.![thumbnail_20181027_214943[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_2149431.jpg?w=584)
Prior to a day of mascot duties it is important to have a good breakfast. ![thumbnail_20181028_094933[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_0949331.jpg?w=584)
I had to be carried up the hill by my human as there was no way that my little legs could manage the climb. Here I am watching some of the young riders. Another spectator spoke to my human and said she had thought at first that I was a human baby being shaken about. I guess sometimes babies wear furry babygrows.![thumbnail_20181028_113828[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1138281.jpg?w=584)
As cyclists reached the finish line at the top of the hill they all looked very tired indeed. Fortunately there were people in yellow jackets catching them and helping them safely get off their bikes.![thumbnail_20181028_122527[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1225271.jpg?w=584)
The other spectators were all very friendly.![thumbnail_20181028_122657[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1226571.jpg?w=584)
I cheer and ring my bell for everyone as they are all amazing being able to cycle up steep hills. My human’s son gets and extra big cheer – here he is whizzing off into the distance.![thumbnail_20181028_133908[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1339081.jpg?w=584)
![thumbnail_20181028_140831[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1408311.jpg?w=584)
Due to humans with freezing hands we made our way down the hill, still ringing cowbells to support competitors on the way up. At the bottom we found a little tearoom, Samuel’s Kitchen, which was warm and dry. ![thumbnail_20181028_144017[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1440171.jpg?w=584)
The race headquarters was situated in the Trek shop; a huge shop full of shiny new bicycles. I tried out a few and thought this one would be good for bears if it came in a slightly smaller size.![thumbnail_20181027_160028[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181027_1600281.jpg?w=584)
I could see myself in the big silver trophy!![thumbnail_20181028_151432[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1514321.jpg?w=584)
All the riders names were displayed on big white boards and people were sticking their times next to them. They all looked to have done very well.![thumbnail_20181028_151502[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1515021.jpg?w=584)
Here are the three women that went up the hill fastest. The one in the middle got first prize and received a special jersey.![thumbnail_20181028_164229[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1642291.jpg?w=584)
After watching the presentations it was time for a curry with a group of cyclists from the Bristol Area. I discovered that bears like curry.![thumbnail_20181028_191104[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181028_1911041.jpg?w=584)
![thumbnail_20181029_000753[1]](https://horacethealresfordbear.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/thumbnail_20181029_0007531.jpg?w=584)
