It says in the Bear Times that Barley Hay has had an affinity with bears since he was a young boy. His childhood memories of bears go back to when his Grandmother acquired a white bear who lived in the front office of the family’s coal business, near London, England.
Many years later he would bring imagination to life when going searching for bears with his young daughter as they walked along tree-lined tracks in King’s Park.
In 1990 he re-discovered his love for bears in December, just before Christmas when searching for something special for his new found love. Over the years, he and his partner imagined the personalities and characters of the many bears who came into their lives.