I felt like a very special bear indeed when given the opportunity to visit Greenway, a house where a very famous Author, Agatha Christie, used to live sometimes. As we went into the house I noticed a huge painting on the wall of Agatha when she was a little girl cuddling a doll.Further on in the drawing room someone had abandoned a game of dominoes…No one was playing the piano so I clambered up and gave a rendition of ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’.  Unfortunately that is the only tune I know how to play; I really should learn some more as I often seem to come across pianos.In the kitchen there was an old manual typewriter with an invitation to try it out.  I managed to type my name, though it is not as easy as using a computer keyboard.  Upstairs on the landing I spotted three Aspidistra plants (they take ages and ages to grow). They were sat on top of a very interesting bookcase which was made for Agatha Christie’s children, and it was full of books written by her.I am always very interested in toilets.  This mahogany seated one was inhabited by a little green frog, which was something of a surprise!The toilet roll had ‘government issue’ stamped on it, and it looked more like the paper Karen uses to line cake tins.I had a peep in Agatha’s dressing room…The view out of the window was beautiful, I could see the boats going up and down the River Dart.Behind glass there was a complete collection of all the first editions of the books written by Agatha Christie.  She must have been a very busy lady.The bear sat on the sofa in the library looked as though he needed some other bear company as he only had dolls to keep him company.  I said ‘hello’ to him and wished him well.There is graffiti on the walls of the library painted by an American Lieutenant during the 2nd World War. In the inner hall I found a really old Motorola mobile phone.  It was quite big and very heavy and was made in the mid 1980’s.After looking around the house I was a very hungry bear so had some lunch.  The baked potato was extremely yummy.I made sure that the door remained closed on the peach house to make sure that no naughty squirrels came in.I like terraccota flower pots!The cucumbers were all knobbly and didn’t look like the ones that Karen buys in the greengrocers shop.We went on to explore the fernery, which is an excellent place for bearsI climbed up to have a closer look at the broken pot, but only as far as the sign that said ‘no further please’.There were also some pet graves in the fernery.  I think the pets that lived at Greenway probably had very happy lives living in such a lovely place.I was delighted to come across a bear sized tractor.We walked through some woods until we arrived at an area known as ‘The Battery’.  I climbed up onto the wall and could see Dartmouth in the distance.I stopped and had a little rest against the wall and then wondered about the large iron thing with a hole in that was right in front of me.I had a look inside, though the humans told me that it wasn’t a wise thing to do!I realised then that it was an old cannon.  I felt safer at the other end.Just along a woodland path from The Battery we found The Boathouse.The Boathouse is a perfect place to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the view of the river.The lower floor of The Boathouse has a special plunge pool.  The plunge pool is being repaired and restored at the moment so we were unable to see it.  I am sure we will visit again when the work is finished.The house looked lovely in the sunshine as we walked back up the path…I stopped and had a rest for a while in one of the deckchairs……after which it was time to leave.  We will be back 🙂

To find out more about Greenway go to https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greenway

Horace the Alresford Bear 17/10/2016