Betty in Man Chester to See Boris

Hello Betty Fans. Have I got news for you!
Although Mary needed a rest for her 65th Birthday, now she is very old, I nagged her to go to the Conservatory Party conference in Man Chester. I so wanted to go on the Badger shaped Virgin train again.

Mary moaned a lot because she had to get up at 3.30 but I am nocturnal so it wasn't a problem for me.  A nice Hungarian taxi driver drove us to the station and spoke about his anxieties over Brexit . He doesn't know what the future holds for him and his home and his cubs who go to school in the UK..

We got to Euston and I was so excited and asked Mary to keep me poking out of the Betty Bag so I could watch all the goings on.  In the picture you will see Mary's coffee cup, the only thing that helped her to be Human.

Mary was quite worried about Conservatory Members' reaction to Badgers so put me in the luggage rack out of harm's way.  

 
 Once we realised that I was safe, I enjoyed the journey in our reserved seat.

We arrived in Man Chester and here is a picture to prove we went.  

Man Chester is noisy and busy and I was scared...  especially of the big red metal boxes on wheels...

Man Chester has lots of interesting people and I met a Tree protesting against a train called HS2 and he was kind enough to let me sharpen my claws on him:

 I also met his friend the white elephant

The atmosphere was not as good as at previous Conferences; the police were tense and less chatty.   

The Hupeople protesting against something called Universal Credit were there and very angry.  One of them dressed up as Death with Boris Johnson's face:

We met a lovely Human called Mr Brock, although he didn't look like a Badger.  He brought along his own leaflets about the  Badger Kill-Cull and kept us company. 

The best thing about my day was when Mr Brock recited us a poem about Badgers by Mr Ted Hughes from a book for Cubs called called What is Truth which made Mary cry and me proud.  These are the words :

The Badger in the spinney is the true king of this land.
All creatures are his tenants, though not all understand.

Didicoi red and roe-deer, gypsy foxes, romany otters-
They squabble about their boundaries, but all of them are squatters.

Even the grandest farm-house, what is it but a camp
In the land where the singing Badger walks the woods with his hooded lamp?

A farmer’s but a blowing seed with a flower of crops and herds.
His tractors and his combines are as airy as his words.

But the Badger’s fort was dug when the whole land was one oak.
His face is his ancient coat of arms, and he wears the same grey cloak

As if time had not passed at all, as if there were no such thing,

As if there were only the one night-kingdom and its Badger King. 

It is the best poem I have ever heard and it is true.  We Badgers have roamed the earth since the Ice age and we haven't changed since then because we were made perfect...

We met some of the eccentric characters we have met in previous years such as the man with the dog.  This year the dog had a message about Brexit. 

I got quite bored and found a way of amusing myself.  There was a little box with a green and a red man in it which made a noise when I pressed it.  I had hours of fun until Mary shouted at me and said it was giving her a headache.  I think she was just dehydrated. 

We stood outside the conference centre for 9 hours and we were very very tired. But we think it was worth it. This year we had lot more support from the Conservatory Party members and several told us who to talk to in government to get our message across.  Mary had tweeted her MP grant Shapps ,as I told you last blog, and he tried to sneak past without us seeing him.  But we grabbed him. He didn't persuade Mrs Villiers to talk to us but me and Mary have a plan........

We also met an important person from the RSPCA, a Human from League against Cruel Sports and we met a big mate of Boris's dad and they all promised to speak to Mrs Villiers and/or Boris. We we left feeling slightly hopeful. 

We saw some of our Defra friends who were very surprised to see Betty so far from home.  They were very welcoming. I have made lots of friends in the last two years, but I would really like to stay at home snug and warm with my cubs but me and Mary can't do that until the Kill-Cull ends. , 

Unfortunately it began to rain very heavily and me and Mary got wet and miserable. Her bag was so very heavy with me in it as I double in weight when I am wet.

I got so wet that Mary dried us off at the station under a noisy heat machine designed for drying hands.  It worked a treat..

We went back on the Virgin First Class and here is the evidence:

The best thing about First Class is that they give you free food and drink.  So I helped myself to a couple of fizzy drinks that made me feel whoosy .  They were called Gin and Tonic and had bits of cold glass in them. 

It was a very long day and we were both exhausted.  It also cost Mary lots and lots of money to take the train but I said she should think of it as a birthday present to herself. She lost her pendant outside the conference.  That made her feel a bit sad as she wears it all the time, except when she is asleep because it is lethal and might pierce her windpipe.  . Someone in Man Chester will be enjoying it. 

On Tuesday I had a nice sleep while Mary got ready to give a talk to the local Badger Group.   It was called "The Adventures of Betty Badger" and was great because it had lots of pictures of me in it.

Then on Thursday we were back at Defra when we  saw lots of our fans. who said "Hello Betty".  And we had a big surprise when the lovely security man gave Mary a birthday card. Another lovely Human gave us a cup of tea because it was such a cold day.  I will want to be hibernating soon.

It is exactly two years since I first met Mary and started writing this blog.  We are now starting our third year together.  We have both become older and more tired, but we are not going anywhere until the Kill-Cull ends.  Please help to make it soon by talking to your MP and other Hupeople who have the power to make these decisions.

That's all for now as we need to catch up on our sleep after such an exciting week. 

Love and Night Night,

Betty 🐾🐾🐾