I was recently given the opportunity to take part in a special tour of Fingle Woods with The Woodland Trust. After parking the car we made our way to the start point at The Fingle Bridge Inn. 
I got myself a nice mug of tea and a flapjack and went and sat by the river Teign while waiting for the other guests to arrive.
Once everyone had arrived we all walked across Fingle Bridge towards the minibuses that were waiting to take us around the woods. I paused for a while on the wall to look back at the view of Inn.
I had a quick look at the map; the woods cover quite a large area (335 hectares).
Once on the minibus I fastened my seatbelt. 
The bus travelled up a track past lots of conifers.
We finally reached a clearing where the buses parked. Everyone walked a little way to the remains of Wooston Hill Fort that was built 3000 years ago. We were given a talk about it and about Fingle Woods. Apparently the last owners of the woodland kept 60,000 pheasants on the land which was not good for all the creepy crawlies (invertebrates) that lived there as the pheasants ate far too many of them. 
The view is spectacular. The guide pointed out two other hill forts in the distance.
After getting back in the minibus and driving further through the woods everyone got out again to walk to an ancient charcoal burning platform.
Before the conifers were planted oak trees were grown here and coppiced in order for charcoal to be produced.
Conifers have been growing here for at least fifty years, but there are still some remains of charcoal to be found around the platforms where it was made.
On the way back to the bus I came across a huge mound. On inspection I discovered that it was full of ants and was in fact a giant ant hill. I didn’t hang around!
After another short bus journey going downhill we arrived at the bottom of the valley. There are 13 little streams that run down through the woods into the river Teign.
The next stop was at a clearing where 3 years ago a strip of the conifers at the edge of the path had been felled in order to start regenerating the natural woodland. The ground plants usually present in a broadleaf woodland were all starting to return. The ecologists explained that although the area under the conifers looks dead, the soil contains many dormant seeds (the ‘seedbank’). When conditions become favourable, the seeds germinate and everything becomes green again. Eventually, over a period of many many years, they are hoping to restore the whole of Fingle Wood to a broad leaf forest.
There were nesting boxes for birds, and dormice. I did see a few birds but I think the dormice were all asleep.
It is a relaxing experience just to sit and listen to the gurgling and bubbling of water.
On returning to The Fingle Bridge Inn it was time for lunch. There was a buffet provided for all the people (and bears) on the tour which was very yummy.
After eating I had a look at the butterfly chart and spotted a butterfly that I had seen fluttering around earlier; I think it was called a pearl bordered fritillary.
I also got to look at a couple a dormouse nests. 
The day finished with a chocolate brownie.
Fingle Wood is owned by a partnership of The Woodland Trust and The National Trust. It is a really lovely place to visit. The Fingle Inn is also a great place to have some refreshments in a beautiful setting.
For more information see the following:
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood/5663/fingle-woods/
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fingle-bridge/features/fingle-woods
http://www.finglebridgeinn.co.uk/
Horace the Alresford Bear 6/7/19
I have never seen such big prickly pear cacti; not even at botanical gardens. This one was in flower too.
The beach was fairly quiet with just a sprinkling of sun umbrellas.
I found the first day rather hot and wanted to cool off. I was very tempted to use the outdoor shower, then remember what happens to me when I get wet!
I climbed into the olive tree to shelter from the sun for a while.
The lounger was even better, a place to relax in comfort. I nodded off for a while.
Meal time I decided to cook some spaghetti in a tomato sauce.
Yum yum yum (even if I didn’t cook the spaghetti for quite long enough!)
The flowers on the coast were all in bloom and very pretty.
I wanted to climb up to the Nuragic monument but my little legs were too tired so I just sat on a rock and looked at it instead. There are lots of them in Sardinia; built over 3000 years ago.
On returning to the apartment I found a special bear-sized bath but didn’t stay for long in case someone turned on the tap.
A good thing to eat when in Sardinia is pizza. This one the first of many. Yum yum yum..
Here I am at another beach further along the coast; Maimoni. 
I thought about using the snorkelling mask but decided against it.
This is the best place for a bear…
There were beautiful sunsets at Porto Alabe due to facing west.
After a drive along the coast along through the mountains we reached Alghero. 
Alghero old town has lots of interesting narrow streets, and restaurants serving delicious food, such as this paella.
Boats go from Alghero port to visit caves inside cliffs, so I jumped in one for a ride as I have never been inside a cave with stalactites.
There was lots to see from the boat.
An enormous cruise liner was moored up in the bay.
The boats pull up at a jetty at the entrance to the cave, Neptune’s Grotto.
I purchased my ticket..
Inside the cave was quite amazing. 
After staying a week on the west of the island it was time to move to the south, which involved a drive across the island, though a tunnel and down a very long winding road to Cala Gonone.
There was a wonderful view of the sea from the balcony of Casa Anna.
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…..
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.
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….
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.