iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

We have been busy Small Bears over the weekend, helping to look after Grizzly during a visit by his son, Mr George. On Saturday, Hanley Bear celebrated a famous victory for Stoke City against Sheffield United...

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I helped Polar do some work on our narrow boat yesterday, putting little brackets in place to secure the gas pipes, which Mr Rupert the boat safety inspector said we needed to do. And we unpacked the pretty storage tins we got in the Emma Bridgewater sale, and set up the damp traps.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We had a lovely day out on Sunday, when Polar took us all to the Churnet Valley Railway to watch the trains. And we had oatcakes and cayk! Grizzly did some more walking with his quad pod stick too.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Hanley Bear went to the match with Polar and Grizzly today and saw Stoke City beat Charlton Athletic by four goals to nil!

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Human Guardians Polar and Grizzly took Endon and Hanley Bear to Trentham Gardens yesterday. Although many of the plants had suffered in the drought, the Rudbeckia and Helenniums looked good.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Polar has spent the last week repairing one of our ponds that was leaking - with a little bit of help from Hanley Bear and lots of rainwater from the water butts, thanks to all the thunder storms

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I have been forgetting to post on here, so you might have missed the amazing story that, thanks to some very special hooms and @tourguideted.bsky.social, our human guardian Grizzly got to fly in a Spitfire earlier this month!

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

A marvellous boating day, travelling from Etruria Junction through Hanley Park (with Hanley Bear helping on the tiller), lunch at Emma Bridgewater and finally mooring just before the heavy rain started at our favourite spot outside Milton. #Staffordshire #StokeOnTrent

A teddy bear appearing to be steering a canal boat under an ornamental iron bridge in a park

A canal passing through Stoke on Trent, with a pottery works and a bottle kiln under a cloudy sky

Sunset behind a grassy field reflecting in a canal

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

We had the most marvellous weekend at the Etruria Canals Festival this last weekend. We came to the Festival on "Uppie", our narrowboat, and saw lots of historic boats and the Fund Britain's Waterways campaign cruise!

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

It's bath day, and we have all been washed in Polar's nice Herby shampoo...

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Huddlesford Bear and I joined our human guardians for our first trip of the year on Uppie (Uplander II) our narrowboat. We had a lovely day, and I had a little drink of Polar's shandy, while Huddles had some beer bubbles.

Small Bears Sonning and Huddlesford on the roof of a canal boat

Small Bears Sonning and Huddlesford and human guardian Grizzly on a canal boat in the sunshine

Two Small Bears drinking beer from tall pint glasses

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

One of our Best Bear Buddies, Little Brown Bear from @geckocomms.bsky.social is missing! Please look out for him if you are in North Devon. We hope he is found soon as he will be sad and scared without his Human Guardian and his Hug

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Hanley Bear thought it would be fun to send Vale-rie a #ValentinesDay card. We hope she liked it!

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Hanley Bear and I had a marvellous day out yesterday with @tourguideted.bsky.social and @geckocomms.bsky.social and other Stuffie chums watching the Stoke City v West Brom game. We had lovely noms first and met Baggie Bird the mascot. And the game was a draw so no-one was sad at the end.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Hanley Bear had a great evening with Polar on Tuesday seeing the "Light Up Hanley" (or "Light Up Me!" event, as he called it) put on by @appetitestoke.bsky.social We are going to share a few more clips of film from the evening...

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Hanley Bear's old "lucky jumper" stretched so much from being washed that it fits me now, so we both went to the match against Southampton yesterday. Hanley was very sad, because Stoke lost by two goals to nil, but Grizzly's son Mr George was pleased, as "Saints" are his team.

Sonning Bear and Hanley Bear wearing their red and white striped jumpers at Stoke City's stadium

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Human guardians took us to see the local starling murmuration again yesterday. I think there are even more of them now!

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Aunty Tina brought two tiny Bears to live with us yesterday. They were living in her loft but didn't have any friends up there. They seem to be tiny Paddingtons as they have a big jar of marmalade (although it's actually an old cotton reel) and a picture of Aunt Lucy!

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Inland Waterways Association @iwa-uk.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

January can feel a bit...January. A quiet walk beside the water can help more than you think. These peaceful areas are vital, but they're at risk from chronic underfunding and a changing climate. Propel IWA action forward and join us for as little as £4.50 a month. waterways.org.uk/support/ways...

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

My friend Hanley Bear has asked me to share this poem about his home city. He says it explains why he is sometimes a fierce Small Bear, but is very good at heart. Mr Nick Degg was poet laureate for Stoke-on-Trent's centenary last year. We like his poems.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

We Bears are thinking of using this as our main social media account this year, because X is being so horrible at the moment (not to us, but to some female humans and human cubs). I am also going to write more for my blog and share some of Polar's pictures. This one is of the "Wolf Moon".

Full moon rising at sunset behind the hills of North Staffordshire

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

I have been a very, very buy Small Bear today, and written another post for my blog. This one also stars Hanley Bear, going to Parliament to seek #VotesForSmallBears. bearonaboat.blogspot.com/2025/10/orde...

bearonaboat.blogspot.com

"Order! Order!" - A Small Bear Goes to Parliament

A child-friendly blog about a small bear who lives on a narrowboat.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

I have managed to get to Polar's laptop and do a little blog post about Hanley Bear's Stoke-on-Trent Centenary mission - to find all the Bottle Kilns in The Potteries and get a photograph of himself with them. This is the first part of the mission... bearonaboat.blogspot.com/2025/10/hanl...

bearonaboat.blogspot.com

Hanley Bear's Centenary Adventures - Part 1: A View to a Kiln

A child-friendly blog about a small bear who lives on a narrowboat.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

We had a lovely day at @nationaltrust.org.uk Quarry Bank Mill near Wilmslow yesterday. We explored the grounds, visited one of the workers' cottages and saw the machines that made the cloth for my best boating shirt (and Endon's) which we were wearing.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Hanley Bear helped Human Guardian Polar show human cubs how to make mini allotments for salad leaves in "Me Park" today, with the Friends of Hanley Park. But it started to rain so hard that everyone had to pack up after about 90 minutes.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I have (at last) written a blog post about our friend Tunstall and his journey around the world with little pal Amy. *Biggest hugs* to @hattieotter.bsky.social @oliverbear.bsky.social @millymammoth.bsky.social and @bearspipe.bsky.social. bearonaboat.blogspot.com/2025/09/tuns...

bearonaboat.blogspot.com

Tunstall's Travels

A child-friendly blog about a small bear who lives on a narrowboat.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Here's another one of my blog posts. This is an article I wrote about boating in Stoke-on-Trent because so many boaters go straight through our city without stopping, when there is a lot to see and enjoy. bearonaboat.blogspot.com/2025/08/boat...

bearonaboat.blogspot.com

Boating Bear Adventures

A child-friendly blog about a small bear who lives on a narrowboat.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Hanley Bear says I need to get back into writing my blog and sharing it on Bluesky, as we are having lots of #SmallBearAdventures. This post, which involves steam trains, is about how we celebrated Grizzly's birthday. bearonaboat.blogspot.com/2025/07/writ...

bearonaboat.blogspot.com

Writing Again!

A child-friendly blog about a small bear who lives on a narrowboat.

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

That this is presented by the media as “policy” is why we are in this mess. These are not serious people. These are monkey tennis ideas, as divorced from the reality of criminal justice as you might expect from a company fronted by multi-millionaire simpletons.

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Dr Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

There are no words to convey the horror of 21 children in Gaza starving to death in the last 72 hours. There are no words to convey the horror of nearly a million more children being at risk of the same fate. The UK cannot stay complicit in this atrocity. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

bbc.co.uk

Gaza hospital says 21 children dead from malnutrition in 72 hours as UN warns 'last lifelines collapsing'

The UN says Israel must allow aid into Gaza, as a hospital director says 900,000 children in Gaza are suffering from hunger.

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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

“We are modernising our approach to international development” claims Govt. No, you’re eviscerating it, with your own impact assessment showing most vulnerable communities hit hardest, increasing suffering & driving global insecurity. Ministers should hang their heads in shame @oxfamgb.bsky.social

theguardian.com

UK’s aid cuts ‘will hit children’s education and raise risk of death’

Cutting aid budget to 0.3% of national income will hurt many African countries, says FCDO impact assessment

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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 23/07/2025

"Disabled people are not feeling secure and supported..." @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social brings the voice of a carer to the House of Lords on the government's cruel proposed benefit cuts.

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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 23/07/2025

“Just outside Gaza, tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items & fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them," write 109 aid agencies today. Israel is committing Palestinian genocide and it is monstrous. Credit: Anatolu/Getty Images

A mother in a tent in Gaza clasping her starving child, who appears close to death.

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

So we're now at the point where Amnesty International are calling out the UK's social security system for its cruelties and inadequacy... www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2025-0...

amnesty.org.uk

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Sonning Bear @sonningbear.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

showyourstripes.info/l/europe/uni... Perhaps if more people were aware of this, certain cynical political parties wouldn't think arguing against Net Zero was a winning strategy?

showyourstripes.info

Show Your Stripes

Visualising how the climate has changed for every country across the globe

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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

We're not going to terraform Mars, but we're doing a good job of venusforming Earth.

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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 14/04/2025

📮 5pm today is the deadline to register to vote by post on 1 May. Don't lose your vote. Register now ⤵️ www.gov.uk/apply-postal...

LOCAL ELECTIONS 2025
For Real Hope and Real Change
Voting by post in the local elections?
APPLICATION DEADLINE 5PM TODAY
Green Party
Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of the Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 11/04/2025

NEW 🧵 The number of people travelling from Europe to the US in recent weeks has plummeted by as much as 35%, as travellers have cancelled plans in response to Trump’s policies and rhetoric, and horror stories from the border. Story: www.ft.com/content/6dc1...

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Uhm, I assume that Robert Colville has read the Telegraph articles which he is using as examples in his Times column, an interesting move for a columnist btw? The eye catching headlines aside, they are somewhat disingenuous in their arguments. 1/ www.thetimes.com/article/377c...

Activist judges are getting too big for their wigs

A catalogue of immigration cases has caused outcry - but don't expect Labour to wade in

Robert Colvile

Sunday April 13 2025, 12.01 am, The Sunday Times

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eek after week, the reports fill the papers. "Migrant avoids deportation because he lost his phone."

"Pakistani paedophile allowed to stay in UK because he is an alcoholic." "Rapist's criminal record is so bad he can't be deported." "Criminal's deportation case halted over son's dislike for chicken nuggets." "Afghan woman can't be deported because she has back pain."

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Carla Denyer @carladenyer.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

This January was the hottest on record and people across the globe are feeling the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. But the far-right, bankrolled by the ultra-wealthy, are organising to destroy climate action. Here's how we can stop them: www.independent.co.uk/voices/refor...

independent.co.uk

The global far-right are weaponising net zero – and we’ll all suffer

Climate disasters have become an opportunistic battleground for the likes of Nigel Farage's Reform, writes MP Carla Denyer. It’s time for the government to ward off both threats

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