Susan Branch Picnic at Castle Cottage

♫Perfect Day♫

I'd come to England to attend Susan Branch's Bring-Your-Own Picnic Basket event which was to be held on the grounds of Castle Cottage, Beatrix Potter's home from 1913 to 1943.  Ken and I were staying at the Tower Bank Arms just across the way from Castle Cottage.  Here is the view from our window that morning. . . .

Castle Cottage is the white cottage in the distance on the right

After breakfast we headed for Moss Eccles Tarn passing Susan and Joe with Mandy Marshall (the current tenant of Castle Cottage) coming down Stones Lane.  I waited till they passed to snap this photo because I am not so bold (brazen?) as to interrupt them for a posed photo.  I even passed up getting a photo of them eating dinner the night before at the table next to us at Tower Bank Arms! 😞 ←(disappointed)  You can see Tower Bank Arms in the distance.  Our room was the window upstairs to the left of the entrance. . . .

We were the only walkers on the path to the Tarn. . . .

It was so peaceful.  Beatrix and her husband would come up here often to row their boat and fish. . . .

Later, just before it was time to walk over to the picnic, I couldn't help myself when I spied them out my window.  There were Susan and Joe with Siobhan and Stuart from Oxford with Jack. . . .

This was another chance.....I figured since people were queuing up for the Picnic I was no longer invading her private space.  We hurried down to get a photo before they left. . . .

Stuart--CarrieinOxford's husband for those who follow Carrie on Twitter--was holding the famous Jack.  He was waiting for Carrie to finish the tour of Hill Top.  He told me he'd just learned dogs were not allowed at the picnic.  I offered our room to Jack, but since it was cool that day he was going to leave Jack in his car since Jack would be more comfortable in a familiar space.  Parking is very limited in Near Sawrey so he'd parked across the road in the very small Hill Top parking area designated for tour buses.  Hill Top is closed on Fridays so he hoped it was OK.  This worried me so I checked with the proprietor of Tower Bank Arms, asked if we could give a friend our parking spot since we came by bus and weren't using it, and he said "sure" because tour buses WOULD be using that lot that day for private tours.  So I held on to Jack while Stuart moved his car.  I was missing my fur baby so this was a bonus for me. . . .

Then we headed for Castle Cottage. . . .

The garden was beautiful and the views of the surrounding area were stunning.  The white dots on the hill are sheep❣️ . . .

That's Mandy in pink greeting people as they arrived. . . .

The white building in the distance is Tower Bank Arms.  Hill Top, the first property Beatrix bought in the Lake District in 1905,  is behind the trees to the left of Tower Bank Arms. . . .

Mandy had set up a Tea Room in an outbuilding where for a donation for cancer research you could get a cup of tea and cake. . . .

....down at the other end of the property to the left. . . .

You could also purchase books and cards and other items there. . . .

Looking back from the tea room. . . .

Here are several panoramic shots that Ken took that will give you an overview of the picnic. . . .

We were very fortunate to have no rain (and no hot sun) but the wind made it chilly so people put their blankets and chairs along the perimeter next to the walls that enclosed the garden. . . .

Susan spent most of the time greeting people and signing books. . . .

One of the lovely picnic lunches people brought. . . .

Susan called for our attention and greeted us all expressing her gratitude to Mandy for opening her home and thanking us all for coming. . . .

We then all gathered together so the photographer from Victoria magazine could take our photo.  The picnic will be featured in the September issue. . . .

Susan and Joe posed for photos. . . .

Then she was out and about again visiting. . . .

Finally she got to sit down and eat her picnic lunch with Siobhan and Rachel, who'd surprised Susan by her unplanned arrival during the picnic. . . .

We hung out with the nicest couple from a village near Manchester, Andi and Rick.  Here is Andi getting her books signed by Susan. . . .

Towards the end Stuart brought Jack over. . . .

Mandy went down to tell him Jack could come in now that her two puppies were back in the house. . . .

Jack was very eager to be with his mummy again. . . .

We left the picnic at 3:30 to change and go out for another walk.  We headed up Stones Lane again--this time for the path to Far Sawrey.  As we passed behind Castle Cottage we saw that Susan was still there with a few of their friends. . . .

On the path to Far Sawrey we could look back and see Near Sawrey off in the distance. . . .

There was one section where we walked on a farm road with the sheep and lambs❣️. . . .

                

In Far Sawrey we dined at the Cuckoo Brow Inn and guess who walked in! This time I snuck a photo. . . .

As we left the Inn the rain that had threatened all afternoon started drizzling.  Our walk back to Near Sawrey along the narrow road was delightful.  I turned around to get this photo of the Far Sawrey sign. . . .

When we got to the footpath we saw that several sheep had escaped the pasture. . . .

The one on the right leapt over the stream, and headed back through the space in between the fence boards while the other two followed.  Naughty, naughty.  She knew she'd been caught!

You can enlarge these photos and view them as a slide show by clicking on the first one.

Susan has done posts about their walk to Moss Eccles Tarn and Castle Cottage HERE and HERE, and a post about Hill Top and the picnic HERE.

Soon I will post more of our time in the Lake District.  Stay tuned!

You may also like:

Video about Mandy Marshall's handbags made from Herdwick Wool

Mandy's Website

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