Pudsey bed visit is just Bear-fect!

Folk in Chorley turned out for the visit of BBC Radio Lancashire’s Graham Liver, who is dragging a specially designed bed along the highways and byways of the county for Children in Need.

The breakfast show presenter’s 100-mile challenge set off from Pudsey near Bradford, on Saturday and will finish at Bare in Morecambe.

Yesterday’s leg of the push took in Chorley, where he was met by the Mayor Doreen Dickinson, and the town’s Astley Park School and St Laurence’s CE Primary School.

Graham said: “It’s been brilliant, the people of Chorley have been brilliant. They realise Children in Need helps so many people. Little old ladies have stuffed twenty pound notes in our buckets, people have been generous across Lancashire.”

Graham said he was generally standing up to the strain of the push, but added that his knee was feeling a bit of pain.

“My knee’s knackered,” he said. “The Accrington Stanley physio worked on it yesterday. It’s just wear and tear, I’ve done no training for this.”

As the bed push rolled in the playground at St Laurence’s a throng of pupils were there chanting “Pudsey, Pudsey, Pudsey” as the whole school turned out for the exciting visit.

Graham said: “I knew schools were doing stuff, but I didn’t expect it to be as brilliant as this.

“So far Chorley has been the best by quite a way.

“The people are very funny and it just typifies everything what the people of Lancashire are. They’re just whimsical and take the mickey out of you.”

St Laurence’s pupils were delighted to see Pudsey.

Sophia Annett, who will be eight on Saturday, said: “He’s very nice. I like his bandage.”

Excited Eliot Fairweather, six, said: “It was good. He was cuddly.”

Max Winstanley, eight, said: “It was good. He was cuddly. We’re making a Pudsey head in school.”

Poppy Chandler, nine, said: “It was just really really fun because I’ve always wanted to see Pudsey and I’m really excited to see him.

“I’ve been telling everybody about it like my nanna and she’s been surprised as well.”