The entrance to the footpath to Glastonbury Tor is not designed for bears that like cake.
I just about managed to squeeze through.
Glastonbury Tor is a special place that many people visit for all sorts of reasons.
The climb up to the top can be quite challenging for some; it certainly is for bears with short legs.
There were lots of people sat all around the top looking at the splendid view.
Here I am in front of the tower which is all that is left of a church that was built here in the 14th Century (St Michaels Church).
There are some stone seats inside the tower. It is OK to shelter from the wind, but the tower doesn’t have a roof, so not so good if raining.
Here I am emerging from the back of the tower.
In the distance I could see the big stage in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, where the Extravaganza music festival was on later.
It seemed like a good place to eat my sausage roll that didn’t have any sausage in.
As we walked back down the other side of the Tor there were a group of people with a very tall fox holding some signs for a photograph. They were campaigning to stop foxes getting hunted on National Trust land. I am glad I am not a fox.
Outside The Abbey grounds there was a big sign stating that all the tickets were sold out for the Extravaganza. I hoped that my humans had remembered to get a ticket for me.
While walking down through the High Street I found a shop selling lots of hats and couldn’t resist trying them on…
At the entrance to The Abbey we joined the queue. The humans did indeed have a ticket for me.
There were quite a few people queuing in front of us but they had all ‘made themselves at home’ and were sat on chairs drinking and eating.
Time to eat the Eccles cake bought in the High Street earlier….
All of a sudden everyone started to pack up their chairs; the gates were open and it was time to go into The Abbey grounds. I had quite a good ride on the trolley!
We settled ourselves down just in front of the sound engineer’s tent where there was a good view of the stage.
I was jolly pleased to meet Michael Eavis, who is the organiser of Glastonbury Extravaganza, and also has been hosting the very popular Glastonbury festival at his nearby farm at Pilton since 1971.
I managed to get right to the front to see The Lighthouse Family. They were very good but the base notes from the drum were a little harsh for my small ears, so retreated a bit further away from the big speakers after a few minutes at the front.
There was time for a healthy snack before the next act.
I didn’t get so close to the stage for The Specials. I enjoyed seeing myself on the big screen when the camera scanned the crowd!
Lots of humans were taking selfies of themselves with the band behind. Here is one of me…
The Specials played until it got dark, then minutes after they had finished playing their encore the firework display started. It was a fantastic display but I did find some of the bangs a bit loud.
After all the fireworks had finished it was time to go home. I nearly dozed off on the trolley but was pleased the humans woke me up to see the flood lit abbey ruins.
Glastonbury is an interesting place to visit, and if you like music, the Extravaganza that takes place annually in the abbey grounds is well worth attending. I certainly had a lovely day out.
Horace the Alresford Bear 5/8/19
For more information see:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/glastonbury-tor
https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/the-specials-to-headline-2019-glastonbury-abbey-extravaganza/
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.
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….
