Buttermere

Tuesday
We were blessed with a beautiful day today. We first visited Hill Top Farm, once the home of childrens book illustrator and author, Beatrix Potter. Potter bought the house and its 34-acre (14 ha) working farm in July 1906 as her home away from London and her artistic retreat. She left the house to the National Trust. It is shown just as it was when she was living there. Apparently she specified she wanted vistors to feel as if she had just stepped out for a walk! The house, farm, and nearby buildings, (including the guest house we are staying in and the pub next door) feature in Potter's books. Then we drove into the nearby charming village of Hawkshead, probably the prettiest village in the Lake District. It has a beautiful parish church, built on a hill, commanding a wonderful view over the village and the surrounding fells. It was originally built in the 13th c. and rebuilt in the 17th c. We had a cup of coffee in a cafe, but having had a cooked breakfast at our guest house, had to use every bit of will power to resist having a piece of one of the huge delicious-looking cakes in the window! We visited the Beatrix Potter Gallery, which was the office of Potter's husband, William Heelis, and is now used to show more about Beatrix as a farmer and early supporter of the National Trust, and they put on changing exhibitions of Beatrix Potter's original watercolors and paintings - this year they are showing her original pen and ink drawings for Peter Rabbit. When we had finished exploring the village, we bought ourselves a few things for a simple picnic lunch, then continued on our way. We were heading over to Buttermere, one of the smaller lakes, for the afternoon. We found a nice spot by the river to enjoy our picnic, then enjoyed the rest of the journey, culminating in the Honister Pass and the descent to Buttermere. We had a glorious walk all around the lake. I took so many photos, it was so hard to just pick one, but I finally went with this one from the far end of the lake, with the sheep grazing by the stream. We then continued driving along the shores of Crummock Water, and returned to Keswick across the Whinlatter Pass.

One year ago: Entertainer