From darkest Peru to Wales... the bear facts

Mar 1 2008 by Darren Devine, Western Mail

A PADDINGTON fan has spoken of how she stuck to the famous plea to “please look after this bear” when she found a special teddy left at a Welsh train station.

The iconic bear, dressed in his trademark duffel coat and clutching his beloved marmalade sandwiches, this year celebrates his 50th anniversary.

As part of the celebrations, Radio 4 left 50 Paddingtons at railway stations throughout the UK – including Cardiff and Swansea – together with a message urging finders to share their memories of the much-loved character.

And a special programme to be broadcast today, Please Look After This Bear, will recount what happened to the Cardiff bear, among others.

Retired hairdresser Jean Richards discovered hers after arranging to meet a friend at the station before going shopping. Mrs Richards, 68, from Pontypridd, is a Paddington fan who raised her daughter Helen on the stories written by Michael Bond.

She said, “We were Paddington fans when my daughter was small. We very much enjoyed all his adventures on children’s TV.”

Paddington now takes pride of place on a telephone table in Mrs Richards’s living room. She added, “When I told Helen that I’d found Paddington she couldn’t wait to get around here to see him for herself.”

The Radio 4 programme details how broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson was the unlikely recipient of the very first replica Paddington to be manufactured. His parents Shirley and Eddie Clarkson ran Gabrielle Designs in 1972, a small business which became the only factory licensed to make the bears.

Mr Bond wrote 11 Paddington books between 1958 and 1979.

In the tales, Paddington travelled from Peru with only a suitcase bearing the label “wanted on voyage” and a note reading, “Please look after this bear”.

Translated into 30 languages, the books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

The BBC TV series Paddington, produced by Mr Bond, was first broadcast in 1975 while the most recent episodes, made by Cinar Films, went on air in 1997.

For the first time in almost 30 years a new book is to be published this June – Paddington Here and Now.

Please Look After This Bear is broadcast today on Radio 4 at 10.30am