We were staying in a holiday cottage right next door to the Llanercheraen Estate (Pontbrenmydyr) so it was just a stroll along a footpath to get to the entrance.

We decided to have a look around the house first. It is Georgian villa, designed in 1790, complete with a walled garden, farmyard lake and wild parkland and has not changed very much for over 200 years. It was left to the National Trust in 1989.

Inside the dining table was set ready for dinner.

In the Drawing Room, we tried to play the piano! The word ‘Drawing Room’ isn’t somewhere that humans went to draw, but somewhere to ‘withdraw’ away from other members of the household, or to entertain guests.

We went upstairs where we looked at all the bedrooms but didn’t take any photos up there!

I found the courtyard the most interesting part of the house. Before vacuum cleaners and electrictiy carpets were taken outside and beaten to remove dust.

Two cats live in the house

We set off to look for them!

Growler found Eira, who was very friendly.

We later found Eira’s brother Tomas asleep on the bed in the maid’s bedroom.

The maid’s bedroom was above the laundry room, where I tried out the ironing board.

The irons used to be heated up using a coal fire, which Growler would not have sat on had it been in use!

Next to the dairy was an interesting contraption used for pressing cheese, which would have been placed underneath the weighted wooden boxes.

Llanerchaeron had its own brewery for making ale. Here we are next to two huge vats.

The ale was kept in barrels on a special wooden stand in the cellar.

There was a very nice volunteer in the kitchen making sweets. She explained that the fondant icing had been bought to make peppermint creams before Christmas, but Storm Darragh came along and the Estate had to close. The storm caused lots of trees to come down and the area was without electricity for nearly a week. She was making lemon and strawberry creams.

We had one each and enjoyed them!

We set off to explore the farm yard.

The pigs were very pink!

Growler said “Hello” to some lambs.

A very free-range turkey was wandering around.

There was a trail for young humans to follow, and at number 9 a pile of little bikes to scoot around the farmyard. The bike was nearly the right size for me, but didn’t have any pedals!

There is a collection of antique farm machinery inside a big shed. Growler was particularly interested in the steam roller.

Growler was starting to get tired, his legs don’t work well these days, so he climbed into the wheelchair that we had taken with us ‘just in case’ and we continued on through the walled garden.

Growler stayed in th wheelchair to be pushed back to our holiday cottage, which was about half a mile away.

We had buns and tea back at the cottage after a lovely couple of hours exploring Llanerchaeron.

Do visit Llanerchaeron if you are in the area, it is an interesting place to spend a few hours.

To see more about the National Trust cottage we staying in see: https://horacethealresfordbear.com/2025/05/03/pontbrenmydyr-cottage-in-west-wales/

More about Llanderchaeron: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/llanerchaeron

Horace the Alresford Bear 6/5/2025

Dyrham Park, which is owned by The National Trust has become famous for its spring display of beautiful tulips, they call it ‘Tulip Mania’. It is possible to have guided tours of the tulips, but we were happy just to wander around admiring them and posing for photographs.

The following photos were taken in the orchard, where the tulips have been planted in the grass amongst the pear trees.

We then moved on to the formal gardens directly in front of the house

We asked a volunteer gardener if we could borrow her wheelbarrow for a few minutes!

Another gardener was busy tending the parterre.

These tulips had all turned to face the sun.

We rather liked the wisteria in the courtyard, where we had a little rest before going back up the hill to the carpark.

I really recommend going to see the Dyrham Park tulips, they are a truly wonderful sight, especially those growing in the orchard. Do check the website before you go to check that they are still in flower!

Some information about the history of tulips:

For more information about Dyrham see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/bath-bristol/dyrham-park

Horace the Alresford Bear 22/4/2025

The first destination on the agenda was a visit to Eastern Hill Woods. The woods used to belong to my late grand humans who lived in Noss Mayo for a while in the 1950s; they bequeathed the woods to The Woodland Trust.

The woods are on a hill, so we set off up some steps past the church.

I stopped for little break at the top and admired the view of the estuary.

After going further uphill along a country lane we arrived at the gate to the woods.

The Brooking Down Wood Committee look after the woods very well and there are several paths to wander around on. I found a bear sized hidey hole in a tree!

We saw a deer running through the woods but it was too quick to be photographed!

At the bottom of the wood there is another welcome sign.

After walking just a short way along the road it is possible to go back into the woods again and climb back up to the top.

The sprinkling of bluebells everywhere added to the peaceful atmosphere.

After climbing back up to the top I needed a little rest so sat in the sunshine and ate my orange.

We then headed back down to the Noss Mayo creek to walk to the coast.

The tide was out so I was able to walk across the voss.

We then followed the path towards Cellar Beach.

Lots of boats were moored in the area of the Yealm Estuary known as Thorne Pool.

I had a rest next to the primroses and just looked at the view for a while.

After walking another half mile or so we finally reached the steps down to Cellar Beach.

There are quite a lot of steps there for a small bear.

Cellars Beach looked very inviting in the spring sunshine. I suddenly realised that I was missing my cap! I had dropped it further up the hill. I would have to keep a look out for it on the way back up to the path.

In the distance there is a small island which is called The Mewstone.

There was a little waterfall at the back of the beach which looks bigger next to me because I am very small!

I found a cave too, which looked just the right size for me to go in, so I went in with the human following behind.

It was a very small cave and very dark; my human took this photo using the flash on the camera.

After leaving the cave I climbed back up from the beach and sat on a well-placed bench to eat a bun in the sunshine.

At the top of the steps I was jolly pleased to find that someone had placed my cap on a post.

I think the cap looks better on my head!

The next destination on the walk was The Warren, so I kept following the humans. A little secret, sometimes I do climb into the backpack for a lift as it would just take me far too long to walk 6 miles without a bit of help!

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the area known at The Warren.

Another beautiful view across the estuary.

There is a very good path for walking along this section of coastal path, so we made quite speedy progress.

I took my hat off and gave it to a human for safe keeping just in case it blew off in the wind.

Gorse is a bit prickly but not too bad when wearing clothes and it has an added advantage of securing me so that I don’t blow away or fall over! Behind me is The Mewstone and Wembury.

There were some inquisitive lambs in the fields who came to the fence when they noticed me.

Finally we arrived at the path leading back to Noss Mayo. I was starting to feel a tad hungry.

Our car was parked in the tidal car park next to The Ship Inn. If humans don’t watch the tide times their cars can end up in water.  Fortunately high tide at the Creek wasn’t for a couple of hours so we had time to get a meal.

The coconut weather station brought a bigger smile to my face.

It wasn’t long before I was tucking into Cumberland bangers and mash with seasonal vegetables. It was very yummy.

I was so hungry I had dessert too, a yummy dark chocolate brownie with ice cream.

We had a long drive back to Bristol afterwards after a really lovely day out.

Horace the Alresford Bear 18/4/2025

While walking along a short stretch of Croyde Road to get to the coastpath on the other side of the road we came across a very sad looking bear wedged behind a post. We were a bit concerned that a human might be looking for the bear so we said goodbye and continued our walk with the thoughts that we would check on the way back to see if she was still there.

About 2 hours later the bear was still there, and looking even sadder. We asked her if she would like to come along with us, and she agreed as didn’t want to spend the night behind the post.

The dear lost bear couldn’t remember her name. She had been run over by a car and was rather traumatised. As we had found her near the seaside we decided to call her Sandy.

Sandy’s back was very dirty with tyre marks left from her accident. My human thought we could restore her with a bit of loving care and a good wash.

Sandy sat and watched the sunset with us before we took her back to our accomodation.

For the car journey home Sandy sat in the box with the walking shoes. She was a bit apprehensive about where she was going.

Here are photos of Sandy with me before she had a bath

As you can see, her back was ingrained in black dust from car tyres.

After rubbing some special bear friendly detergent (Aldi biological washing powder) into the badly stained areas Sandy sat in the bowl for a while to soak.

She then went into the bear jacuzzi (washing machine) on the mixed fabrics wash in a special delicates bag. My human fluffed up her fur with her fingers and dried her just a little with a hair dryer, then brushed her with a small hairbrush. She looked like a new bear.

All the black marks on her back disappeared.

Karen put the bow, which was sewn on to her, on some elastic to go around her neck so she can take it on and off.

It turns out that Sandy rather likes honey, so the next morning she enjoyed a bowl of hearty porridge with Exmoor honey.

Sandy also seems quite happy to just sit on the back of the sofa, and gets along well with old Growler.

We later found out from our post in ‘North Devon Lost & Found’ that a human had seen Sandy run over the day before we found her and had put her behind the post hoping someone might come back for her, so she had spent one night there. We were a bit worried that someone might be looking for her, but it seems not as no one had contacted us following the social media posts on various lost and found pages.

Sandy seems to be quite happy where she is now though!

Horace the Alresford Bear 14/4/2025

Bobbie and I stayed at the Croyde Bay Unison holiday resort, which is owned by the UK trade union Unison. My human is a member of Unison. Humans don’t have to be members of Unison to stay here but Unison members get a discount.

We stayed in a hotel room, which was very comfortable with a small kitchen area too (we forgot to photograph the kitchen)

Before setting off to explore the area we enjoyed buns on the little terrace outside the room.

We didn’t have to walk far to the beach. There was a gate leading from the holiday park to the sand dunes, and after a short walk we could see the sea.

After another short walk we were on the beach, which is sandy and quite large, especially when the tide is out.

The sun was going down making our shadows very long.

It is quite fun walking along coastpaths and Bobbie was keen to experience a coastal walk so we set off towards the next beach along, Saunton Sands.

The beautiful veiw of Saunton sands soon came into sight, so we stopped for a little while to admire it.

When we finally got there, after walking about 2 miles, we found some delightful brightly painted beach huts.

We liked this one best, it looks like it would be good for bears.

We didn’t stay long as needed to get back to Croyde before dark. We rescued a lost bear on the way back https://horacethealresfordbear.com/2025/04/14/rescuing-sandy-the-story-of-a-lost-bear/ and then stopped to watch the sunset, which was set right over Lundy Island. I visited Lundy last year on The Waverley, which I blogged about here: https://horacethealresfordbear.com/2024/06/11/paddle-steaming-to-lundy-island-on-ps-waverley

Before retiring to bed that evening my human created some interesting supper for us; crispbreads spread with nutella and topped with a malteser, with banana. Very yummy.

The following day we were up early to explore the beach and rock pools.

There are lifeguards on Croyde Beach in the main holiday season, which had just begun as it was the start of the Easter school holidays when we visited. Croyde Bay is excellent for surfing though the waves weren’t very big while we were there.

We set off to explore the rock pools…

Rock pools are fascinating as they contain sea creatures that get left behind when the tide goes out. The limpets, periwinkles, cockles and mussels that live on the rocks all shut themselves up tightly when the tide goes out to stop themselves drying out.

While peering into this pool to see a tiny fish we both fell in. My human rescued us quite quickly and we continued exploring with wet clothes for a short while.

The early spring sun felt pleasantly warm, so we sunbathed for just a short while to dry off.

That evening the humans cooked us a jolly good meal by using a pasta sauce and some pasta and rocket. Sometimes simple meals are the best.

It was only a short break that went by very quickly so the next morning it was time to go home. We had a ride on the trolley to the carpark.

I really enjoyed our break, and hope to visit again in the not too distant future.

Information about the holiday resort: https://www.croydeunison.co.uk/

Horace the Alresford Bear 13/4/2025

On our way home from North Devon we diverted a little to visit Selworthy in Somerset. The church dates back to the 15th Century making it nearly 1000 years old!

We walked down the valley towards Selworthy Green and the thatched cottages.

Bobbie took this photo of me outsife the Old Post Office.

Here we are with the National Trust shop behind us.

This cottage is the Primrose Tearooms, but we didn’t go in as it wasn’t the right time of day for tea and cakes.

We decided to have a look in the shop…

Exmoor honey, exactly what we wanted!

We don’t have bank accounts but my human was with us so we paid using her bank card.

Before leaving we sat on the wall of the church and looked at the wonderful view.

We stayed in the car while the humans did a walk to Selworthy Beacon, where they said there was a wonderful view of the sea.

Here is some more information about Selworthy: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/selworthy

Horace the Alresford Bear 14/4/2025

The sun came out on the last day of February so it was a great day to visit Castle Coombe, which is often has rather too many tourists there in the holiday season.   The walk started at the top carpark and after a downhill walk we reached the village.

I look very small sat next to The Market Cross, which was originally built over 1000 years ago.

You can see me and the bottom bit of the cross a bit clearer below…

We walked on down the road towards Byebrook Bridge.  I sat for a little while and looked at the beautiful scene in front of me.  

I walked on over the bridge…

…then stopped for a photo.

We walked on up the road following the Brook.

The hazel trees next to the Brook were covered in catkins.

The bridge that we had to cross over soon came into sight…

I posed for a photo on the bridge but I am rather teeny weeny!

We continued walking along a path which got further and further away from the Brook.  It was rather muddy in places.

I let the human lift me over all the muddy bits, which meant that she carried me quite a lot! 

There were a few styles and gates to negotiate.

This one had a big step for a small bear.

The walk continued through deciduous woods, the trees not yet in leaf.

My tummy was feeling hungry so I hoped that soon we would reach the Inn.

The water in the stream glistened in the sunlight.

I suddenly felt the urge to have a power nap and found an ideal spot on a log.

Revived from the nap off I went across another field.

I said Hello to one of the sheep

The humans were certain the Inn wasn’t far away…

After a short walk along a road the very welcome sight of The White Hart Inn.

I wasn’t sure about the hog on the wall…

A lifebuoy was ready just in case anyone fell in the Brook.

It was wonderful to be able to sit in the garden and eat my bowl of mushroom tagliatelle with seasonal vegetables.

We didn’t stop for long as there was another 3 miles to go…

Here I am going up quite a steep hill…

Someone had very kindly put a seat at the top for bears to rest on.

More muddy paths followed…

…and the sun continued to make the water look  fresh and twinkly.

Another bridge….

Another rest…

Finally we reached the golf course next to the village…

It was a wonderful walk but quite a long way for a bear of short stature.  The tea and cake at The Castle Inn was soon inside my tummy.

This is a lovely walk and I recommend it to anyone who is used to walking.

See the walk details here: https://explorethecotswolds.com/castle-combe-walk-cotswolds/

Horace the Alresford Bear 3/3/25