BEATRIX POTTER'S LAKE DISTRICT
Potter Touring Windermere to Ambleside
Once-upon-a
time-there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy,
Cotton-Tail
and Peter. “Peter Rabbit” first
made his appearance hopping down a bunny trail in the North England Lake
District in 1902. Not the first Beatrix Potter story, but the most recognized
of all her stories of furry, fuzzy and feathery farm creatures to be
found in the environs of her farm in the rolling hillsides of Cumbria.
The money Potter made from selling her book of Peter Rabbit and his
mischievous
siblings antics in the neighbors gardens
allowed the author to buy her farm called Hilltop a few miles from Lake
Windermere and later much of the land around it. It is due to Miss Potter,
made more familiar since the release of a movie made of her life
with Renee Zellweger that much of Cumbria’s Lake District remains
beautifully untouched and undeveloped. By her death she had acquired
over 4,000 acres
of land, most of which she gave to England’s National Trust in
1943. On a touring visit
to the Lake District fans of the some of the best known favorite children’s stories and of the movie of “Miss
Potter” can find a whole collection of historic sites, houses,
film locations and attractions related to Beatrix Potter and her created
characters for the family or literature buffs.
The World of Beatrix Potter
Beginning
in Bowness-on-Windermere a must stop for families with young fans of
the Potter stories, at
The World
of Beatrix Potter, you enter into
the imagination of the stories and characters. After a short movie about
Beatrix Potter and her creations, including the inspiration for the
drawings from which her stories began, you follow an indoor trail of
scenes and life-sized figures of the 
animal
characters of the Beatrix
Potter
books,
allowing kids a journey through Mr. McGregor’s Garden, Mrs. Tiggywinkle’s
Kitchen and Jemima Puddleduck’s streamland woods. The exhibits
also include an interactive virtual walk through the "Miss Potter" movie
scenes and the Lake District. Have a cup of tea in the Tailor of Gloucester
Tea Room, buy some collectibles in the shop, then head out into the real
land of Beatrix Potter, the Lake District. World
of Beatrix Potter
Hilltop Farm
Hilltop
which she named her farm was Beatrix Potter’s
house for most of her life. A few miles from Bowness-on-Windermere
by ferry across Lake Windermere,
Hilltop is a National Trust site, furnished with artifacts of Potter’s
life and writing. A fairly smallish house with a fine taste and a still
lived in feeling. The lush gardens are kept much as they were as the
authoress must have imagined 
her ducks and rabbits. The area around Hilltop
is
rolling green hills of sheep farms demarked by the
ubiquitous stone fences of the Cumbria Lake District. Hill Top can get
busy and tickets
are purchased at the small visitor center with an entry time. You can
stop for a pint near by at the historic Tower Bank Arms pub, sketched
by Potter in one of her Jemima Puddle-duck stories. There are bed & Breakfasts
near to Hill Top. The Buckle Yeat Guest House is a B&B in a farmhouse
a few doors down the lane where Beatrix Potter got inspiration for some
of
her stories.
Beatrix Potter Gallery Hawkshead
Hawkshead
is a small village about 2 miles from Hilltop where Beatrix Potter’s lawyer and
later, husband, William Heelis, had his practice. His law office in
a 17th Century cottage is now the Beatrix Potter Gallery.
The gallery is another National Trust site where Beatrix Potter’s
original drawings and papers can be viewed. One of the most striking
thing about the authors original work is that the drawing are quite small
and finely detailed. The docents on duty will gladly fill you in on the
details of Potter’s life and work. Despite the name it is a museum
and not a commercial gallery, though books for tourists can be purchased.
There are a number of stores and tourist stops in town where Potterania
merchandise can be had as well, or stop at the Red Lion Inn, an 18th
Century Coaching Inn, for a traditional meal of Fish & Chips and
Mushy Peas.
Also
in Hawkshead, not Potter related, but definitely worth a visit is the Hawkshead Grammar School where England's great
early novelist author with the most appropriate name William Wordsworth
spent his school days in the
1700’s. Wordsworth's family home is about 30 minutes away in the
naughty sounding but completey English, Cockermouth, but here in Hawkshead
one can still see his name carved in a desk and the school house remains
a
preserved
look
into
a
time when
English
schoolchildren
were
expected to drink beer "in moderation" and encouraged to smoke – for
their health.
Yew Tree Farm
Another
two miles to the west Yew Tree Farm in Coniston is a popular and unique
Bed & Breakfast
on a working farm that was once owned by Beatrix Potter and was used
in the movie of “Miss Potter” as
a double for Hilltop, which could not be used. Yew Tree is reputed to
be one of the most photographed farms in England for its Lakeland views
and mountain background. The bed & breakfast consists of four available
rooms in the historic farmhouse with hearty Cumbrian breakfast. If just
visiting on a Potter tour, you can have tea or lunch served in the tea
room that was personally furnished by Beatrix Potter. Yew
Tree Farm
Tarn Hows to Ambleside
A collection of props from the Miss Potter movie are on display at the Coniston tourism office. There are a number of movie locations and other Potter sites from Tarn Hows near Coniston to Ambleside where Beatrix Potter donated her collection of natural history and archeology drawings and watercolor illustrations to the Armitt Collection museum.
To explore the Beatrix Potter Lake District is easier with a car, but several sights and locations can be reached by bus or shuttle. For cycling and walking touring of the Lake District Potter sites the Cross Lakes Shuttle is a boat and bus service offered by Mountain Goat Tours.
A map of all the Potter tourism sites can be had from Cumbria Tourism and can usually be picked up from most any of these listed stops. © Bargain Travel Europe
Find the best travel deals in Cumbria Lake District on TripAdvisor
Web Info
Beatrix Potter Tourism
UK National Trust
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
See Also:
OLD
ENGLAND HOTEL BOWNESS-ON-WINDERMERE
LAKESIDE & HAVERTHWAITE STEAM RAIL RIDES
MUNCASTER CASTLE & COACHMAN'S QUARTERS
CARS
OF THE STARS MUSEUM KESWICK
DALEMAIN
MANOR HOUSE AND ENGLISH GARDENS
