Beatrix Potter, Near Sawrey
‘ONCE UPON A time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were – Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.’ How many of us know those words from childhood? At least 45 million, judging from sales figures for The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but what’s less well-known is that the landscapes in Beatrix Potter’s gorgeous illustrations often depicted the Lake District. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle washes clothes in the Newlands Valley near Keswick; Squirrel Nutkin sails his raft across Derwent Water; and Potter’s home at Hilltop Farm in Near Sawrey features in the tales of Pigling Bland, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Tom Kitten and Samuel Whiskers.
A three-mile walk from this little hamlet near Hawskhead takes you to many places Potter knew and loved: she would paint watercolours of the view over Esthwaite; she would search for fungi in the hummocky little hills of Claife Heights (she was a talented mycologist); and Moss Eccles Tarn was ‘her favouritest place’ and is thought to be the setting for The Tale of Jeremy Fisher.
This beloved children’s author not only shared Lakeland’s beauty, but preserved it too. Potter was good friends with Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley – one of the founders of the National Trust – and she gifted over 4000 acres to the charity. She also campaigned via the Footpath Association for walkers to have access to the fells, persuading farmers with the argument it was where ‘they are least in the way’.
Millions more will have roamed through the Lake District in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows & Amazons books – Wild Cat Island is thought to be Peel Island on Coniston Water and the story’s Kanchenjunga is based on the Old Man of Coniston. And John Cunliffe modelled Postman Pat’s Greendale on Longsleddale, a gorgeous – and little trodden – dale tucked in the southeast of the national park near Kendal.
WALK HERE: Find Near Sawrey, Coniston and Longsleddale routes at lfto.com/bonusroutes