Warwickshire teddy bear with more than 100 years of history

A TEDDY bear with more than a century of tales to tell has returned to his quiet life in Alcester after a spell in the spotlight.

Tommy was given as a present in 1912 and had a big day out to one of last month’s Stratford Literary Festival events.

That was the visit of Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch – The Teddy Bear Ladies from the hit television show, The Repair Shop.

They were in town to talk about their book, Bartie Bristle and Other Stories, and encouraged those attending to take along their favourite bear.

Carol Mann took Tommy, named after her father, Thomas Edward Clarke, who had been given the treasured teddy 112 years ago.

The celebrities asked Carol to tell them more about her family heirloom and to say what she thought her father’s beloved bear might be thinking.

She suggested he would be thinking what lovely company he was in and would probably enjoy a natter with Arthur, a bear a little younger than him but one of those that had travelled with Julie and Amanda.

Going back to the beginning of the story, Carol told the Herald her father was born in Ripley, in Derbyshire, in 1911 and, with money being scarce, the bear was a gift from his mum and dad and “probably his one and only present”.

But he became a lifelong companion as her father went on to forge a career in construction and engineering.

But that was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War: “He signed up for the RAF and gained the rank of corporal. He was out in Burma where he helped build runways.”

After the war he trained as a clerk of work for civil engineering projects which took him to Berkshire to work for the Atomic Energy Authority and later to a role with the then Redditch District Council, with the family settling in Studley.

Carol added: “He then retired to do his gardening and his prize chrysanthemums – his pride and joy.”

His childhood teddy remained part of the family through these various chapters and when her father died in 1985, the bear then passed to Carol, who gave him the uniform seen in the photos, in tribute to her father’s service.

“I knitted his littler trousers and top – and got the buttons with the RAF on.”

“He’s a well-worn teddy bear and he’s had a few repairs but he’s a treasured possession and loved by my children and grandchildren.”