Looking for Peter Rabbit in England’s Lake District

by Michael Algar, Toronto, ON

Long ago and far away, my mother used to read me stories from Beatrix Potter’s little white books. Those tales and their magical illustrations had me wanting to explore the make-believe world of Peter Rabbit and friends. Little did I know then that 50 years later I would do so, during my first visit to England’s Lake District.

Miss Potter wrote and illustrated her books at her 17th-century home in a hamlet known as Near Sawrey, using the proceeds to preserve the countryside all around her.

A tale is born

Born in London to a prosperous merchant family in l866, Beatrix Potter was educated at home by a series of governesses. In this restricted Victorian society, she turned to her pets, which included a rabbit and a hedgehog, for company.

While on long summer holidays with her family, she became fascinated with the wildlife inhabiting local ponds and fields and would spend hours on end sketching them. A favorite vacation destination they returned to often was the Lake District, which Beatrix loved so much that she chose it as her permanent home once her writing brought independence.

The first of her “picture letters” was written to her former governess’ 5-year-old son, who was ill. “My dear Noel,” she began, “I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names are Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.…” She illustrated it with endearing drawings of the foursome. A century later, the book that evolved from this letter has sold 80 million copies in 20 languages.

At age 27, and against her parents’ wishes, Beatrix became engaged to her publisher’s son Norman Warne. Sadly, he died before they could marry, but she went ahead with plans to move to the Lake District anyway. In a courageous move for one who had led such a sheltered life, she used her earnings to buy Hill Top Farm at Near Sawrey.

Some 60 years after her death, Potter’s fanciful animal stories and the sites associated with them are as popular as ever. And perhaps more important to this region is that she purchased a number of local farms to ensure their preservation forever.

Searching for sites

The author wrote seven of her early books at Hill Top, now a National Trust property open to the public. When at age 47 she married William Heelis, a local lawyer who had assisted with her real estate dealings, the couple moved to Castle Farm, but she continued to use neighboring Hill Top as her study for writing and as a place to entertain her publishing friends.

In our quest for Peter Rabbit and friends, the first stop was Bowness, where we spent an enjoyable time at the recently refurbished World of Beatrix Potter with its displays of well-crafted models representing scenes from the children’s stories. They are all here: Jeremy Fisher, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, the mischievous Peter with Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, and many others.

From there, we caught the ferry across Lake Windermere and drove on to Near Sawrey’s Ees Wyke Country House Hotel. (Under another name, this was Potter’s home during family holidays and again while Hill Top was being renovated.)

A short walk from our hotel, Hill Top Farm is pretty much as Potter left it, so it isn’t difficult to imagine her sitting at her desk writing about the animals inhabiting the countryside all around. Parts of the house and its furnishings are easily recognizable from descriptions in the stories, so we half expected to see her animal characters dressed as humans going about their human chores.

One of her later books, “The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse,” is clearly set in the historic village of Hawkshead, where William Heelis had his law office. This building has become the Beatrix Potter Gallery, housing original manuscripts and drawings as well as a copy of that first letter to the ailing five year old. Other displays show the author in the roles of Mrs. Heelis, sheep farmer and champion of the environment.

Lake District National Park

All of the couple’s properties were willed to the National Trust and became the nucleus of the Lake District National Park. As with other such national preserves, this one remains inhabited, albeit under strict rules to protect both the environment and character.

Embracing 885 square miles of fells and moors, valleys and lakes, this is England’s largest national park. It is also one of the country’s most enchanting areas, with sightseeing boats and ferries carrying visitors to comfortable hotels in historic communities as they did when young Beatrix and her family vacationed here.

Our next two nights were at Borrowdale Gates Hotel, just south of Derwentwater and three miles from the ever-popular market town of Keswick in the Derwent Valley. Surely one of the loveliest valleys in all of England, it is surrounded by a panorama of peaks. At 3,000 feet, the slopes of Skiddaw make for easy fell-walking, but more challenging climbs are here for those who want them.

All around us was the idyllic scenery which we have come to know as the playground of Peter Rabbit and pals. Now I look forward to seeing this beautiful scenery once more in the upcoming movie about Potter and her animal friends, with Renee Zellweger in the title role and Ewan McGregor as her short-lived fiancé, Norman.

In all, we drove only 50 miles during our 4-day tour of the Lake District. However, readers preferring not to drive can easily travel by rail to Windermere, then use local buses and ferries. Details are available from the tourist board.

For information on the Lake District, contact the Cumbria Tourist Board (phone 015394 44444 or visit www.golakes.co.uk).

Essential Info

The World of Beatrix Potter (Bowness-on-Windermere; phone 015394 88444 or visit www.hop-skip-jump.com) is open all year. Adult admission, £6.

Hill Top Farm (Near Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria; phone 015394 36269) is open March to October, with limited hours in the shoulder season. It’s best to phone ahead for opening times. £5 adult.

Beatrix Potter Gallery (Main Street, Hawkshead; phone 015394 36355) — £3.50 adult.

Ees Wyke Country House Hotel (Near Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria; phone 015394 36393, www.ees.wyke.co.uk) is open all year. A room with breakfast costs about £60 ($105) per person, double occupancy.

Borrowdale Gates Hotel (Grange-in-Borrowdale; phone 017687 77204, www.borrowdale-gates.com) — a room with breakfast is about £65 per person, double occupancy.