All aboard for a novel day out
IF YOU are looking for a great day out this summer, why not walk in the footsteps of our leading literary ladies by celebrating Beatrix Potter’s birthday aboard a steam train, or stepping back to the 1920s to snoop around Agatha Christie’s holiday home, says KATIE ROWE…
LAKE DISTRICT
THIS year sees the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth and there will be plenty of enchanting events to celebrate at locations across the Lake District. Start at Hill Top, tucked away in the village of Near Sawrey, where Potter dreamed up many of her famous characters. Bring a picnic on July 28, Beatrix Potter’s birthday, and celebrate in style with family activities, music and lots of cake. The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway is also throwing a Railway Tea Party on the same day, with a special appearance from Peter Rabbit.
LYME REGIS
THE scenic resort in Dorset was a favourite of Jane Austen, who set Persuasion, her final novel, in the town. Today Lyme Regis continues to
be famous for its fossil-studded beach, a tangle of streets filled with independent shops, and the 14th Century Cobb Harbour, where one of the main characters in Persuasion takes a fall.
Perch on the Cobb and feast on fish and chips while gazing out to sea before combing the Undercliffs National Nature Reserve for fossils.
Away from the beach, join an Austen tour that takes in sites associated with the author. Round off your trip by seeing a new musical adaptation of Persuasion at the town’s Marine Theatre on July 29 and 30.
THE ENGLISH RIVIERA
PEEK inside Greenway, the Devon holiday retreat of Agatha Christie, and admire the elegant rooms and lush gardens beside the River Dart. In nearby Torquay, follow the Agatha Christie Trail around prominent landmarks such as The Grand Hotel, where Christie spent her honeymoon. From September 19, the town will become a 1920s time-capsule for the International Agatha Christie Festival. Don your pearls or fedoras as you celebrate all things Agatha at literary talks, theatre performances, film screenings and a birthday party held in honour of the queen of crime fiction.
BRONTE COUNTRY
FOLLOW the Bronte Way through the brooding Yorkshire and Lancashire landscape to Top Withens, believed to have been the inspiration for Emily’s Wuthering Heights. In the village of Haworth, visit the Bronte Parsonage Museum, in the building where Emily and her sisters Charlotte and Anne once lived. Visit on July 30 and join a special walk to heather-clad Penistone Hill to commemorate Emily’s birthday.
SOUTH CORNWALL
VISIT the idyllic coastal sites that inspired Daphne du Maurier. The celebrated author lived in Fowey and wrote about this beautiful part of Cornwall in her novels Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. There’s no better way to see Cornwall through her eyes than by strolling along the South West Coast Path to Gribben Head, passing the coves of Ready money and Polridmouth where du Maurier once lived.