Newby Hall

"Hurray!" shouted Henry as they pulled in to the car park at Newby Hall in Yorkshire. "We're here at last!"

The other bears all rushed to get out of the car, and over to the entrance to pay for their tickets.

"What are we going to do first?" asked Vicky.

"Well," replied Scary, "there is loads here for us to do, but I think the very first thing that we will all like the most, is to visit the Newby Hall Teddy Bears!"

"Oooh!" said Vicky, "I like the sound of that. Where are they? And why do they live here?"

"They belong to the well-known TV presenter, Gyles Brandreth," explained Scary. "They live in a 'paw-pose' built house within the grounds. They pose in various scenarios so we can see what they have been up to."

"Sounds brilliant!" exclaimed Lizzie. "Let's start there!"

"OK," said Scary. "Follow me!" Scary led them through the main entrance and into the gardens and took them over to a large cabin-like structure. "They're in here!" he declared.

The teddy bears quietly entered the building and looked around. There seemed to be rooms leading off each other, with a guided walkway around them.

As they moved along, they came across lots of different scenes where the teddy bears were the centre of attention.

"There are some teddy bears in here enacting a wedding ceremony," called James. "They are all very dressed up in their finery."

The other bears crowded over to see. Then Richard called them over to another display. "Hey!" he said, "these look just like us getting ready for bed!" and all the other bears laughed when they saw the Newby Hall bears in their pyjamas and nightcaps looking out the window, and playing with their toys instead of getting straight into bed.

"Oh, gosh! Look at this!" beckoned Teddy. "We're in the presence of royalty!" he said in awe. And, sure enough, there were a group of teddies in their very best frocks and military dress uniforms, posed just as you would see the real Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace (or should I say Bearingham Palace!)

The teddy bears gazed at them for ages, soaking in all of the superb detail.

"Look!" Harry suddenly yelled. "That bear there winked at me!"

"I'm not sure that really happened," admonished Bubbles, "they're not supposed to move at all when people are here!"

"But we're not people!" argued Harry. "We're bears too!"

"In that case," replied Bubbles, "You could be absolutely right!"

By the time the bears had looked round all the displays and wandered out into the sunshine again, they decided that it was high time they had something to eat! Teddy bears are always hungry!

Luckily they had brought a huge picnic with them and they moved over to the picnic area and spread themselves around on the benches and tucked into their big lunch.

Afterwards, Scary explained what other things there were to see and do. There was the Hall itself to look round, beautiful gardens to explore, boat trips on the nearby river, an adventure playground, a doll's house exhibition, and a miniature railway!

They decided to split up into smaller groups and see how much they could get done during the rest of their visit. And for those who missed out on anything, then they would make sure that they came on another visit in the near future.

As a load of weary bears climbed into the car for the long journey home, there was lots of yawning and, just a few minutes later, lots of snoring!

The teddy bears declared Newby Hall a great day out. Maybe you could visit there one day as well. Take your teddy bear with you and maybe one of the Newby Hall teddies will wink at them too!

To find out more details about visiting Newby Hall and Gardens, click here.