Peter Rabbit and Friends.

Our Sunday was spent exploring The Lakes District with one of its most famous residents - Beatrix Potter!

First stop was the very cute Hill Top Farm in the tiny village of Sawrey. It was a place that inspired her stories, you can hold up illustrations from her books and match them exactly to various parts of the house! It was also a place that she loved very much and she continued to write and paint here even after she married and moved to the other side of the village (100 metres away!).

Hill Top Farm

Although Beatrix was born and raised in London she considered this area to be her home - often to the displeasure of her wealthy parents! She loved this part of the world so much that she used her success and wealth to preserve it, purchasing 14 more farms which she bequeathed to the National Trust upon her death.

Sawrey

Second stop was Hawkshead and the Beatrix Potter Gallery. The Gallery is housed in the former offices of Beatrix's husband, a local solicitor of whom her upper class parents disapproved! It is home to a large collection of original sketches and paintings that Beatrix left to the National Trust. The images are exhibited on a rotating basis (as there are so many) and this year it's Pigling Bland's turn as it's his 100th birthday! The gallery also houses the first drawing of Floppy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter who appeared in a letter Beatrix wrote to a friends child - very cute!!

The Lakes District is beautiful, it's easy to see why Beatrix loved it so much! It's filled with tiny villages, lovely places to stay and eat, narrow winding lanes, glistening lakes and gently rolling hills. We wish we could have stayed for longer as there is so much more to see.

Lake Windermere

After a traditional Sunday roast in a local pub we hit the road (and the car ferry across Lake Windermere!) to Liverpool to hang out with the Fab Four (we may have had their music blaring as we cruised down the motorway!).

 

Posted with Blogsy