The owner of a beloved cocker spaniel who has made a bit of a name for herself – and Bridlington – from her visits to the resort says it is “heart-warming” to see people’s reactions to his pet. Hattie the cocker spaniel has been holidaying on the east coast for almost all of her 12 years and has won a huge following from locals and visitors alike who make a point of keeping an eye out for her.
Hattie even has a dedicated Hattie’s ‘Jolly Holibobs’ Facebook group documenting lots of her adventures in Brid, from surfing at Wilsthorpe to enjoying her favourite treat of a whipped ice cream cornet and forging friendships down at the harbour. Her travels on the land train up to Sewerby; her meetings with “Craig the beach tractor man” and stargazing on Bridlington’s south side with her owner Andrew Bacon, who is a keen astro photographer, all feature in her doggy diary of posts.
Over in her home town of Stretford, Greater Manchester, Hattie is something of a celebrity as well. The pet won the hearts of Manchester Evening News readers who voted her as the top hero dog of lockdown.
Hattie accompanied Andrew to work, assisting the facilities team at the Lancastrian Office Centre, at Old Trafford cricket ground, delivering the post to key workers who were still coming to their places of work, carrying tools (with hard hat and hi-vis vest, of course) and generally offering a helping paw against the backdrop of the pandemic.
People tuned in every day to Hattie’s live blog “from work” and it kept spirits up and it helped when many people were suffering with their mental health. “They looked forward to seeing her every day and what she was doing as my assistant,” Andrew said.
The Bridlington breaks began with Hattie’s predecessor, another cocker called Matilda, who Andrew sadly lost when she was 15. “I’d never been on holiday before and I said I was going to take her somewhere.
“We wanted somewhere dog-friendly, did a Google search and Brid came up. I’d never heard of Bridlington and I thought, it’s reachable by train.
“We went and the first time we stayed was at the San Marino holiday apartments in Windsor Crescent. We loved it.
“When Matilda passed away I got Hattie, after about two years, and I thought, let’s go to Brid; it’s such a lovely place. We’ve been coming to Bridlington now for ten years and Hattie has a big following there.
“On her page you can see her all around Bridlington – and people all around the world get to see Bridlington too. There are all the wonderful coast views and the harbourside.
“We’ve been up into the Old Town and done the Dad’s Army trail. Hattie’s known on the Yorkshire Belle and the crew and captain all know her – she’s there on her Holibobs page in her lifejacket.
“She loves riding the land train to Sewerby and we had a big birthday party for her at Richie’s [a seafront cafe-bar]. We took some lovely pictures this time from our Wilsthorpe chalet.”
Elsewhere, there is the Hattie ‘The Cocker Spaniel’ page, where Andrew captures his dog engaged in all kinds of activities, including rolling pastry for a baking session and watching football on TV. “People write to Hattie from all over,” said Andrew, who also creates a Hattie calendar each year featuring pictures of his pet.
“When we’re in Bridlington it’s heart-warming to see how people are with Hattie. She is such a lovely dog and people make a point of coming up to meet her – and people who know about her are genuinely delighted when they spot her.”
Unfortunately, Hattie has been “struggling a bit” with an eye condition, as a result of her diabetes, and Andrew has invested in a doggy pram – “the Hattiemobile” – to help her get around. He thinks they may have to cut their usual two visits to the East Yorkshire seaside to just one, going forwards.
“She had this eye issue all summer – we went to the vet’s at home and they gave her antibiotics but they haven’t helped so we have been referred to a clinic in Runcorn. A friend of Hattie is Lisa, who comes to see us in Brid, and she contacted me to say she had set up the crowdfunding page for Hattie’s treatment, which is potentially going to be quite expensive.
“Lisa has been so lovely and I am so grateful to her for what she’s doing for Hattie. And we’ve had people coming up to us around Bridlington harbour just giving us money for her treatment – it’s absolutely unbelievable.
“I feel so humbled because there are so many people who love her so much.” Lisa, from Middlesbrough, has seen her GoFundMe page total top the £3,000 mark to try to help with the costs of Hattie seeing the eye consultant.
Her page said: “My little friend Hattie the cocker spaniel is having trouble with her eyes now as she has got diabetes and is losing her sight. It will be very hard for her now.
“Her daddy has brought her a pram so she can go out and enjoy the sunshine – her daddy even took early retirement to look after her as he did not want her left on her own now.
“The diabetes is taking its toll on Hattie’s eyes and, to see the consultant, it will be very expensive. If we can help just a little bit it will be a great help to them both; every little penny will help.”
In an update since launching the appeal, Lisa said: “We are now at £3,100, which is amazing, but how great it would be if we can get more donations coming in. Please share this page or donate if you can… thank you all for the support so far but we are not stopping yet.
“Look at those beautiful eyes on Hattie, she so deserves all the help she can get to get them better.”
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here .