Beatrix Potter's Birthday

“I am aware these little books don't last long even if they are a success.”

― Beatrix Potter

Several of Beatrix's characters have gathered to wish her a ♫Happy Birthday♫

Grasmere - Dove Cottage

In April 1885 nineteen-year-old Beatrix returned to the Lake District with her family for a short stay in Ambleside with a Mrs. Clark at Laurel Villa, now Lakes Lodge.  She mentions in her journal that she drove up Langdale Valley and "Saw also the attempted revival of linen hand-weaving at St. Martin's College, Elterwater, under the superintendence of old Ruskin...."  I mention this to show the contemporary connections of the people whose homes we visited while in the Lake District.  She goes on to write...

"The mother of Mrs. Clark, of this lodging, had the farm at Rydal, and was very familiar with the Wordsworths, particularly the old lady [Wordsworth's sister].  Wordsworth is always referred to as the poet in these parts, and local tradition says Dorothy Wordsworth was the greater poet of the two.  For some years before her death she was subject to fits of madness, which her brother could generally control.  During these, though a pious and sensible lady, she used to swear like a dragoon.  She had a craze for putting her clothes on the fire, and they at least got a fender up to the ceiling.  She left a great many of Wordsworth's furniture and odds and ends, such as a large clothes horse, to Mrs. Clark's mother." 

Besides being mentioned in Beatrix's journal, her connection to William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was through both their desire to preserve the Lake District.  Wordsworth was instrumental in helping to stop the railroad from going any further than Windermere and Beatrix would later work to stop an aeroplane factory from being built at Bowness-on-Windermere where the plan was to use the lake to test hydroplanes.  Grasmere, where Wordsworth would live the last 51 years of his life, would be our base for the next two nights from which to explore the landscape that Wordsworth wrote about. 

Even with that to look forward to I awoke Monday morning at 5:30 with mixed feelings about moving on.  I spent the early hours of last morning in Near Sawery basking in what I saw out my window. . . .

Beatrix Potter Nature Walk

When I left you in my last post we'd just walked the two miles from Hawkshead back to Tower Bank Arms in Near Sawrey.  After freshening up we went down to "our" table for supper.  Tonight they had a lit candle on our table!  Was it because it was Mother's Day or because it was our last night there. . . .

A Day Away - Hawkshead and Ambleside

Saturday, May 12, 5:54 a.m.  Woke to fog blanketing Near Sawrey. . . . .

Beatrix Potter - Hill Top Farm

♫Perfect Day♫

The first sentence in a story is like a gate because it will either draw the reader in or send them away.  I hope to draw you into Beatrix Potter's world just a little bit through this post and future ones about our time in the Lake District.  If you've read anything of Beatrix's life you will know she grew up in London but she grew deeper, more her true self, in the Lake District. 

The white gate below was the original entrance to Hill Top Farm--Beatrix Potter's beloved country retreat.   She purchased Hill Top after her fiancée Norman Warne, died suddenly, a month after their engagement in 1905.  The green gate to the right leads to the garden of Tower Bank Arms where we were staying.  We'd just arrived in Near Sawrey earlier that day, Thursday. . . .

Near Sawrey - Tower Bank Arms

♫Cobblestone Village♫

It was just a 7-minute drive in the van/bus from the ferry to Near Sawrey.  We disembarked in front of Tower Bank Arms* where we were staying.  Tower Bank Arms started as an Ale House in the 1600s.  Beatrix Potter featured it in "The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck".  . . .

*Just a note:  Photos are not necessarily taken at the time they are inserted into the story.

Dreams Can Come True

♫A Hard Day's Night♫

In February 1964, when I was 13 and in love with the Beatles, going to England was what I dreamed of.  I adopted a British accent mingled with my Southern and Mid-western accent, grew my hair long with bangs, straightened it with an iron (yes, a real iron--those were the days before flat irons made just for the hair!), and saw "A Hard Day's Night" at least a half a dozen times.  Fast forward to 2012 when I "followed" Susan Branch to England on Twitter.  She wrote about the trip in her book, "A Fine Romance - Falling in love with the English Countryside," stirring up that long ago desire to go to England.

Then last summer Susan invited us all to attend her Bring-Your-Own Picnic Basket in May 2018 at Castle Cottage, the home of Beatrix Potter in Near Sawrey.  This is just what I needed--two women who have inspired me coming together to spur me on to fulfill that lifelong dream.  My husband and I decided this would be our gift to each other to celebrate our upcoming 50th anniversary in February 2019.  We'd met and fell in love through our love of the music of the Beatles.  It was only fitting we should celebrate immersed in all things British.

We arrived at Heathrow airport in London the morning of the 9th. . . .

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

The Tailor of Gloucester

♫Sussex Carol♫

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - December

We are back in Near Sawrey this month as we wrap up our year-long tour of Beatrix Potter's Lake District with Jemima Puddle-duck.  Jemima really wanted to take you shopping at Ginger & Pickles, the shop run by her friends Ginger the cat and Pickles the terrier.  But, alas, she has a tale of woe to tell us instead. . . . .

From: The History of the Writings of Beatrix Potter

QUACK!  I was all set to take you shopping for Christmas gifts but instead I have a very sad tale to tell you  QUACK!  Here is a map that shows the shop of Ginger & Pickles. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - November

I hope you haven't minded having to stay at Derwentwater since October because I only realized later that I had not told you that Jemima would be staying on until this month!  If you did not want to stay you would have had to find your own way back to Near Sawrey, so I apologize profusely if that was, indeed, what you had to do!  Today Jemima will be taking us on a tour of Cat Bells.  You can see it on the map (lower left corner) just south of Lingholm and west of Owl (St. Herbert's) Island where we were last month with Squirrel Nutkin. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - October

Between 1885 and 1907 the Potters spent nine summers at Lingholm along Derwentwater.  Beatrix was free to wander in the woods.  Here she could let her imagination play.  It was the summer of 1901 that she first did the sketches for today's story.  In this photo from the movie "Miss Potter" you can see St. Herbert's Island, which became Owl Island in Beatrix's story. . . .

credit:  Momentum Pictures

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - September

Today Jemima will lead the way around Esthwaite Water to the west and head north to Hawkshead as she tells us the Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse.  You will recognize the archway below in Hawkshead from Beatrix's drawing in today's story.  The interior drawings were of Dr. and Mrs. Bolton's house.  Dr. Bolton played golf with Mr. Heelis on a course they had built in Sawrey for their own use, and Mrs. Bolton received vegetables from Sawrey each week and sent back laundry.  That is a bag of golf clubs Johnny Town-Mouse is carrying on the book's cover photo.  The house-maid who discovers Timmy Willie in the basket is Mrs. Rogerson who worked for the Potter family when they stayed at Ees Wyke. . . .

credit:  Waymarking.com

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - August

I hope you are having a pleasant summer!  It is beautiful here in the Lake District.  Jemima is going to continue on the south road around Esthwaite Water that Pig Blanding took at the signpost. . . . 

photo credit: Nigel Whitehouse/Guzelian

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - July

Hello, Everyone.  It's a beautiful day in the Lake District.  I see Jemima Puddle-duck over there chatting with Pigling Bland. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - June

Welcome back!  Last month we followed Jemima up to Oatmeal Crag where Tommy Brock and Mr. Tod had it out when Tommy Brock had the audacity to break into Mr. Tod's house and sleep in his bed!  This month's walk should prove to be a little less "exciting," but it does have its moments.  We'll begin this month's walk again at Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey. . . .

We will be passing Buckle Yeat where Ribby the cat lives.   Jemima has a tale to tell us about a most unfortunate outcome to a tea party. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - May

Folks, you'll be glad to know Jemima has hatched her four ducklings and is ready to begin our tour of the Lake District.

I've provided our map once again just in case Jemima gets sidetracked, as she so often does.  She'll be taking us down the path from Hill Top, turning left onto to the main road, then a right up Stones Lane past Belle Green and Castle Cottage to Oatmeal Crag. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - April

If you are a first-time visitor to this monthly Beatrix Potter & Friends post, you may want to view the earlier posts first:  January   February   March

It has come to my attention that our guide, Miss Jemima Puddle-Duck is otherwise occupied with nest sitting.  I am told that Mrs. Cannon, the caretaker's wife, has agreed to let Jemima hatch her own eggs after her earlier near-disastrous attempt.  So, we must content ourselves with a story about two bad mice in the meantime.

Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca were Beatrix's pet mice.  She'd rescued them from a cage trap at her cousin Caroline's in 1903 and wrote a story about them while there during a week of relentless rain.  Later, Norman Warne would provide her a photograph of the doll house he was building his niece, Winifred.  Beatrix's mother would not allow her to visit Warne's brother's home to see it for herself.  One commentator on the story felt, "The tale's themes of rebellion, insurrection, and individualism reflect not only Potter's desire to free herself of her domineering parents and build a home of her own, but her fears about independence and her frustrations with Victorian domesticity."  You can read Beatrix's letters, below, concerning the ordeal. . . .

A Year With Beatrix Potter & Friends - March

Jemima Puddle-duck, when we last saw her, was waddling down the lane wearing Tom Kitten's hat. . . .

A Year with Beatrix Potter & Friends - February

As you may recall last month Jemima Puddle-Duck agreed to be our guide for our walks in the Lake District. . . .