Haven Bears by Alison and Stephen Beal (UK)

Steve and I have been making bears now for over 9 years. For the first 4 years I was still working part time and Steve was running his own picture framing business, but gradually the bears took over and so we have been making the bears full time now for 5 years.

We have lived in a small village in the rural County of Cheshire in the North West of England for 24 years. We are surrounded by beautiful countryside and live on the edge of Delamere Forest which dates back to the Doomsday Book. Our bears range in size from 3 1/2" to 21". We make a mixture of quite traditional bears but in unusual colours and we also make lovely Panda Bears, Clowns and Harlequin bears. We travel all over the UK to bear fairs and we also trade at Toy Fairs and in the summer at some outdoor events.

As bear making is our living, we take part in as many fairs in the year as we can and have built up a loyal band of collectors in all areas of the UK. We also have a few collectors in America and Canada who have found us via the wonderful world of the internet! We also used to supply the Australian business Bears and Gifts when they had their shop in Albany Creek in Queensland.

Website:   http://www.havenbears.co.uk/