Beatrix Potter

Beaumont B&B

We headed northwest next up into the Lake District for our next stop. Spending two nights in Windemere, our express purpose here was to see Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's farm, and to hike.

We hiked first up to Orrest View, a beautiful hike that allowed us to finally overlook Lake Windemere and much of the surrounding areas~




Lake Windemere~


After taking a ferry across the lake, we hiked up to Hill Top~


along with a fair share of hills, we also disturbed our fair share of sheep~

We passed many beautiful stone cottages, available to rent on a weekly basis~

When we arrived in the little town of Sawrey, we knew we were close to Hill Top, because we met "Mr. McGregor" at a local pub~


Picture of Hill Top~unfortunately the pictures don't do this place justice. The gardens were lovely and the house was very interesting~




a few Beatrix Potter tidbits~(given to us by the National Trust employees of the farm)

1. Beatrix became old and crotchety (like her mum, according to our guide) as she aged.


2. Few people in town knew who she was, because when she married William Heelis, she obviously changed her name and didn't make a big deal of her writing~



3. She only invited Americans in for tea (in general) because so many of her British fans came to see her she wouldn't have had time for them all, besides the Americans tended to be educators, and she wanted to expand her reading audience.

Beatrix with her brother

4. The people in town are all very much indebted to Beatrix, she did much to save many, many farms for the Lake District, keeping farmers employed. (She ended up buying 4,000 acres en total.)

I would love to come back here, there was so much to see, and so many wonderful hikes that we weren't able to do! I encourage you, if you are ever in this area, to take full advantage of this beautiful place.

It rains, on average, 250 days a year in the Lake District, and we had a beautiful weekend! We were so thankful~