Yew Tree Farm.
Beatrix Potter is best known for the rabbit in the blue jacket: Peter Rabbit. Before we traveled to the Lakes District and visited her cute Hill Top farm, we watched Miss Potter, a beautiful movie about her life featuring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix. I won’t tell her whole life story here, just watch it.
What I can tell you is that as a child she used to spend her holidays in the Lake District, where she started drawing. Mostly her favourite pets and animals she spotted in the garden: Rabbits, chickens and pigs. When she wrote the bestselling Tales of Peter Rabbit she gained enough money to buy a little farm in Near Sawrey. To preserve the land and protect her beloved Lake District from big developers she bought more and more land and farms. When she passed she left all her properties to the National Trust.
Visiting Hill Top is a must if you’re a fan. Most of the rooms are still original and it’s very special to take a peek in her drawing room. Watching out the window you’ll see what inspired her and you can even spot the winding, sandy road that was used in one of her drawings. In summer the vegetable garden is beautiful too.
From Near Sawrey it’s a short drive into Hawkshead, the nearest village, with cute little pubs, chutney shops and Beatrix Potter souvenirs. opposite the supermarket you’ll find the Beatrix Potter gallery in an original 17th century house, run by the National Trust.
P.S. If you want to visit the Hill Top farm that was used in the movie, go to Yew Tree Farm. Check the website to see what they changed and how they decorated the facade for the movie. Not only a beautiful and picturesque farm, a perfect spot to start a Lake District hike too.
Beatrix Potter’s drawing desk.
Potter souvenirs in Hawkshead.
Hawkshead
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