Aiden

We found Aiden in Shepperton about seven years. Golden fur, button eyes, and the kind of hard-nut expression that made us laugh out loud.

He’s a Bear Factory bear, the sort you’d stuff and name yourself at a shopping centre kiosk. Someone had done just that, years ago by the look of him. Well-loved, as the saying goes.

We gave him a proper kit. Denim dungarees and an England shirt, because a face like that deserved a bit of terrace swagger.

We took him to the Berkshire Christmas Fair in about seven years. He didn’t hang about. A family spotted him on the stall, laughed at his grumpy little mug, and took him home to Steventon that same afternoon.