Honiton, Nottingham, and Tiverton Bears

The Honiton, Nottingham, and Tiverton Bears are 14 inches tall, and wear flowing lace dresses that increase their length to 33 inches, (though Nottingham is only 26 inches long).   The lace for each dress has been made in the towns the respective bears have been named for.   (We are told that Honiton and Nottingham are sisters, and Tiverton is their cousin).

These bears were offered for sale in 1986, and were priced at £34.95, (which was expensive at the time)

 Athough we do not have any of these bears in our collection, we are indebted to collector Ernie B for reminding us that we had not yet catered for the army of Nisbet Bear lovers everywere, and for supplying the splendid pictures of Honiton and Nottingham that appear in the slideshow below.   (Unfortunately, Tiverton bear was not available for photographs - If you can help, please get in touch!)

 Ernie also kindly supplied a copy of the January 1984 House of Nisbet Teddy Bears catalogue, which is now available on the "Nisbet Catalogues" section of the Downloads page of this website

Feb 15 2014 update :

Thanks to Jamal M for supplying a picture of 5102 Tiverton, who is now included in this slide show, and is easily spotted, thanks to her blue dress!

News

21st September 2023

 

Important Announcement

 

My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.

 

Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.

 

We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.   

 

This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work.   After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support.   Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.

 

In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.

 

I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered.   Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.

 

As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.   

 

My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can.   In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.

 

From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).

 

My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support

 

Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)

 

Christine Poulten

25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021