Mosely Old Hall is near Wolverhampton, so the humans stopped there for some lunch on the way home from Manchester to Bristol. I was jolly pleased.

In the woods we found a campfire all ready for lighting; though the weather was so very hot I don’t think anyone would have needed warming by a fire!

Someone had been busy making a special bear shelter out of sticks.

On finding the tree hide I was a tad worried as the sign warned ‘There is peril!’

It didn’t seem too dangerous; I watched some small humans climb up and clambered up afterwards.

Here I am holding on tight at the top. A wonderful tree house.

Back in the meadow the bees were busy making honey.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I noticed the sign to the Mud Kitchen.

I found a wonderful place with lots of pots and pans for making mud pies and other muddy meals. Some small humans were enjoying themselves immensely on the other side of the table.

When the humans finally got me away from the mud kitchen (it was very good) we went inside the house. The house was built over 400 years ago in Tudor times, but it doesn’t look Tudor on the outside as the outside was bricked in 1870.

We went into the house through a side entrance and I had to climb the very old stairs.

Just inside this door is a priest hole that King Charles II hid in 1651 after The Battle of Worcester.  It was a very small space so he must have been quite a thin king.

In one of the rooms a lady was demonstrating embroidery.  I tried my paw at creating a pin cushion.

Further up the stairs there was a chapel with a lovely blue ceiling.

I found out some very interesting information about the ‘thresholds’ in door frames. The name threshold is because the frame was built up to contain the thresh left over from the harvest that were put on the floor of the room to act as a sort of carpet.

The bed was very old so I didn’t have a nap on it!

In Tudor times herbal remedies were used when people got ill.

I was especially interested in the Bay. We have two bay bushes in our garden so must be well protected from any witchcraft.

Back downstair I sat and pondered for a while at the dinner table and wondered what life was like for bears 400 years ago.

I spotted a very interesting tea cosy in a glass case. The humans laughed and said it was a priest’s hat.

The knotted garden outside is very beautiful.

On the lawn I tried out my quoits skills.  I am quite good for a small bear.

Regular readers of my blog know that I nearly always end my visits to National Trust properties with some cake.  In this case a tasty flapjack.

I really do recommend a visit to Mosely Old Hall.  There are lots of interesting things to look at and the mud kitchen could amuse small humans for ages!

For more information:  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/moseley-old-hall

Horace the Alresford Bear 10/7/2018