Well, it all started with a bear called Tennyson, a warm honey coloured bear, a bit of an old fashioned sort of chap really.

The kind that looks at you with his little bear lost eyes, that say please take me home – you know what I mean!!

Of course he did find his home with us (Surprise, Surprise!!), alongside all his other little friends who came along to parties with me – in the hope that they too would find new homes – luckily they did too!! Out of all of this ‘Party Bears’ was born!

When my husband found this beautiful shop on Pulteney Bridge in Bath to sell his Antique Maps, the bears wanted to come too (you know how they don’t like to be left out!!). So we made space for them upstairs in the attic room, not that long ago - in August of 2004 in actual fact.

All the new bears that have come into the shop since their ancestors party day’s, seem to get on well together - but they don’t like to miss out on celebrations, and every August they have a Birthday Party when they are on their best behaviour in the hope that they will have more exciting adventures with a new family!

And – as for Tennyson well he looks after our youngest daughter Emily. Sorry to say, Emily lost her favourite bear – Savannah, at Heathrow Airport last year, but that’s another story ...