On Wednesday July 18, I and fellow classmate Mary set out with Dr. Welsh and Ms. Wright to the Lake District for a tour to Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm. We had to meet the tour guide in Euston Station at 6:15, ugh. It made for a long day but well worth the time and effort. The Lake District is picture postcard beautiful. I'm writing my research paper on Beatrix Potter so that made the trip all that more meaningful. We visited Hill Top farm and Hawkshead as well. The Lake District was a special retreat for Miss Potter or Mrs. Heelis as she was known in the area.
Beatrix Potter purchased Hill Top in 1905 with the money she made from her book "The Tales of Peter Rabbit". Beatrix had visited the Lake District often with her family during summer vacations. Hill Top is a small 17th house which still contains many of Miss Potter's furnishings. When she died she left Hill Top to the National Trust which now runs it as a museum open to the public. She stipulated however that Hill Top should not be sold and remain much the same as it was when she lived there. The house is furnished much like it would have been and Beatrix Potter's china, furniture and drawings are all on display. The house is very quaint and the surrounding garden is just beautiful. It's quite impressive to see that not much has changed since she lived there and to have see her personal drawings and belongings was quite special.
We also visited Hawkshead the hometown of Miss Potter's husband William Heelis. It's a 17th century village with small winding cobblestone roads which reminded more of a small Swiss or Bavarian village than English. The poet William Wordsworth was also educated at the Hawkshead grammar school which now operates as a museum. Unfortunately, we were not able to tour the school because a private tour was taking place. I enjoyed an ice cream instead and walked up the winding road and found a small store dedicated to all the is "Beatrix Potter". Lots of lovely trinkets but only so much room in the suitcase so I only looked, sigh.
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