125-648: Braithwaite / ˈ b r ɛ θ ɪ t / is a village in the northern Lake District , in Cumbria , England. Historically in Cumberland , it lies just to the west of Keswick and to the east of the Grisedale Pike ridge. It forms part of the civil parish of Above Derwent . The eastern end of the Whinlatter Pass road is in the village. The A66 road bypasses Braithwaite, but does not enter
250-486: A barrister in London. Rupert practiced law, specialising in equity law and conveyancing . He married Helen Leech (1839–1932) on 8 August 1863 at Hyde Unitarian Chapel, Gee Cross . Helen was the daughter of Jane Ashton (1806–1884) and John Leech, a wealthy cotton merchant and shipbuilder from Stalybridge . Helen's first cousins were siblings Harriet Lupton ( née Ashton) and Thomas Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde . It
375-738: A 70-years-after-death limit. Hill Top Farm was opened to the public by the National Trust in 1946; her artwork was displayed there until 1985 when it was moved to William Heelis's former law offices in Hawkshead , also owned by the National Trust as the Beatrix Potter Gallery . Potter gave her folios of mycological drawings to the Armitt Library and Museum in Ambleside before her death. The Tale of Peter Rabbit
500-646: A Victorian Genius (2008). In 1971, a ballet film was released, The Tales of Beatrix Potter , directed by Reginald Mills, set to music by John Lanchbery with choreography by Frederick Ashton , and performed in character costume by members of the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera House orchestra. The ballet of the same name has been performed by other dance companies around the world. In 1992, Potter's children's book The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
625-596: A book. In 1997, the Linnean Society issued a posthumous apology to Potter for the sexism displayed in its handling of her research. Potter's artistic and literary interests were deeply influenced by fairy tales and fantasy. She was a student of the classic fairy tales of Western Europe as well as stories from the Old Testament , John Bunyan 's The Pilgrim's Progress and Harriet Beecher Stowe 's Uncle Tom's Cabin . She grew up with Aesop's Fables ,
750-759: A box of trunk routes and major A roads. It is flanked to the east by the A6 road , which runs from Kendal to Penrith (though the National Park extension approved in 2015 is east of the A6); across its southern fringes by the A590 , which connects the M6 to Barrow-in-Furness, and the A5092 , and across its northern edge by the A66 trunk road between Penrith and Workington . The A595 (linking
875-436: A further 200 days with some rain, and 145 completely dry days. Hill fog is common at any time of year, and the fells average only around 2.5 hours of sunshine per day, increasing to around 4.1 hours per day on the coastal plains. The Lake District is home to a great variety of wildlife, because of its varied topography, lakes, and forests. It provides a home for the red squirrel and colonies of sundew and butterwort , two of
1000-468: A general " right to roam " in open country, which includes approximately 50% of the national park. Many of these tracks arose centuries ago and were used either as ridge highways (such as along High Street ) or as passes for travelling across the ridges between settlements in the valleys. Historically these paths were not planned for reaching summits, but more recently they are used by fell walkers for that purpose. The Coast to Coast Walk , which crosses
1125-519: A length of 11 miles (18 km) and an area of 5.69 square miles (14.73 km ) is the longest and largest lake in England, and Wast Water , which at 79 metres (259 ft) is the deepest lake in England. The Lake District National Park was established in 1951, and covers an area of 2,362 km (912 square miles), the bulk of the region. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017. The Lake District National Park includes all of
1250-841: A more independent process of reproduction. Rebuffed by William Thiselton-Dyer , the Director at Kew, because of her sex and amateur status, Potter wrote up her conclusions and submitted a paper, On the Germination of the Spores of the Agaricineae , to the Linnean Society in 1897. It was introduced by Massee because, as a woman, Potter could not attend proceedings nor read her paper. She subsequently withdrew it, realising that some of her samples were contaminated, but continued her microscopic studies for several more years. Her work
1375-542: A nursing trust for local villages and served on various committees and councils responsible for footpaths and other rural issues. Soon after acquiring Hill Top Farm, Potter became keenly interested in the breeding and raising of Herdwick sheep , the indigenous fell sheep. In 1923 she bought a large sheep farm in the Troutbeck Valley called Troutbeck Park Farm , formerly a deer park, restoring its land with thousands of Herdwick sheep. This established her as one of
SECTION 10
#17327726546631500-677: A pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy , making him the oldest licensed character . Born into an upper-middle-class household, Potter was educated by governesses and grew up isolated from other children. She had numerous pets and spent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District , developing a love of landscape, flora and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted. Potter's study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in
1625-482: A pleasant intelligent race, but I should think awkward to live with... the language is past description." Potter had been a disciple of the land conservation and preservation ideals of her long-time friend and mentor, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley , the first secretary and founding member of the National Trust . According to the National Trust, "she supported the efforts of the National Trust to preserve not just
1750-525: A revered naturalist and amateur mycologist, during a summer holiday in Dunkeld in Perthshire in 1892. He helped improve the accuracy of her illustrations, taught her taxonomy , and supplied her with live specimens to paint during the winter. Curious as to how fungi reproduced, Potter began microscopic drawings of fungus spores (the agarics ) and in 1895 developed a theory of their germination . Through
1875-430: A system of permits operates on Gatescarth Pass . Most of the land within the national park is in private ownership, with about 55% registered as agricultural land. Landowners include: The Lake District is a roughly circular upland massif , deeply dissected by a broadly radial pattern of major valleys which are largely the result of repeated glaciations over the last 2 million years. The apparent radial pattern
2000-575: A village in the Lake District. Over the following decades, she purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape. In 1913, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis (1871–1945), a respected local solicitor with an office in Hawkshead . Potter was also a prize-winning breeder of Herdwick sheep and a prosperous farmer keenly interested in land preservation. She continued to write, illustrate, and design merchandise based on her children's books for British publisher Warne until
2125-456: A way to earn money in the 1890s, Potter printed Christmas cards of her own design, as well as cards for special occasions. These were her first commercially successful works as an illustrator. Mice and rabbits were the most frequent subject of her fantasy paintings. In 1890, the firm of Hildesheimer and Faulkner bought several of the drawings of her rabbit Benjamin Bunny to illustrate verses by Frederic Weatherly titled A Happy Pair . In 1893,
2250-433: Is England's deepest lake. The Central Fells are lower in elevation than surrounding areas of fell, peaking at 762 m (2,500 ft) at High Raise . They take the form of a ridge running between Derwent Water in the west and Thirlmere in the east, from Keswick in the north to Langdale Pikes in the south. A spur extends southeast to Loughrigg Fell above Ambleside. The central ridge running north over High Seat
2375-493: Is an invaluable source for understanding a vibrant part of British society in the late 19th century. It describes Potter's maturing artistic and intellectual interests, her often amusing insights into the places she visited, and her unusual ability to observe nature and to describe it. Started in 1881, her journal ends in 1897 when her artistic and intellectual energies were absorbed in scientific study and in efforts to publish her drawings. Precocious but reserved and often bored, she
2500-519: Is called by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake . All the others such as Windermere , Coniston Water , Ullswater and Buttermere are meres, tarns and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common. The major lakes and reservoirs in the National Park are given below. Below the tree line are wooded areas, including British and European native oak woodlands and introduced softwood plantations. The woodlands provide habitats for native English wildlife. The native red squirrel
2625-528: Is exceptionally boggy. The Eastern Fells consist of a long north-to-south ridge , the Helvellyn range , running from Clough Head to Seat Sandal with the 950 m (3,118 ft) Helvellyn at its highest point. The western slopes of these summits tend to be grassy, with rocky corries and crags on the eastern side. The Fairfield group lies to the south of the range and forms a similar pattern with towering rock faces and hidden valleys spilling into
SECTION 20
#17327726546632750-468: Is found in the Lake District and a few other parts of England. In parts of the Lake District, the rainfall is higher than in any other part of England. This gives Atlantic mosses , ferns , lichen , and liverworts the chance to grow. There is some ancient woodland in the National Park. Management of the woodlands varies: some are coppiced , some pollarded , some left to grow naturally, and some provide grazing and shelter. The Lake District extends to
2875-550: Is near to the Whinlatter Forest which has many walking trails of varying length. Braithwaite Farm hosts a small business hub which includes Keswick Groomers, The Flight Park, Milican, Alpacaly Ever After (offices) and KCS - IT Support & Web Design. [REDACTED] Media related to Braithwaite at Wikimedia Commons This Cumbria location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lake District The Lake District , also known as
3000-577: Is not from a central dome, but from an axial watershed extending from St Bees Head in the west to Shap in the east. Most of these valleys display the U-shaped cross-section characteristic of glacial origin and often contain long narrow lakes in bedrock hollows, with tracts of relatively flat ground at their infilled heads, or where they are divided by lateral tributaries (Buttermere-Crummock Water; Derwent Water-Bassenthwaite Lake). Smaller lakes known as tarns occupy glacial cirques at higher elevations. It
3125-546: Is now the Scottish border during the Caledonian orogeny . The northern central peaks, such as Great Rigg, were produced by considerable lava flows. These lava eruptions were followed by a series of pyroclastic eruptions which produced a series of calderas, one of which includes present-day Scafell Pike. These pyroclastic rocks give rise to the craggy landscapes typical of the central fells. The southeastern band comprises
3250-803: Is only now being properly evaluated. Potter later gave her other mycological and scientific drawings to the Armitt Museum and Library in Ambleside, where mycologists still refer to them to identify fungi. There is also a collection of her fungus paintings at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery in Perth, Scotland, donated by Charles McIntosh. In 1967, the mycologist W. P. K. Findlay included many of Potter's beautifully accurate fungus drawings in his Wayside & Woodland Fungi , thereby fulfilling her desire to one day have her fungus drawings published in
3375-624: Is owned by Warne , The Tailor of Gloucester by the Tate Gallery , and The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by the British Museum . Beatrix Potter was the first to recognise that content—as we now call the stuff that makes up a book or a film—was only the beginning. In 1903, Peter hopped outside his pages to become a patented soft toy, which gave him the distinction of being not only Mr. McGregor‘s mortal enemy, but also becoming
3500-510: Is the abundance of both which has led to the area becoming known as the Lake District. Many of the higher fells are rocky, while moorland predominates lower down. Vegetation cover in better-drained areas includes bracken and heather , although much of the land is boggy , due to the high rainfall. Deciduous native woodland occurs on many of the steeper slopes below the tree line , but with native oak supplemented by extensive conifer plantations in many areas, particularly Grizedale Forest in
3625-577: Is worth $ 500 million today. In the process, she created a system that continues to benefit all licensed characters, from Mickey Mouse to Harry Potter." The largest public collection of her letters and drawings is the Leslie Linder Bequest and Leslie Linder Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (Linder was the collector who—after five years of work—finally transcribed Potter's early journal, originally written in code.) In
3750-672: The Archdiocese of Great Britain through the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople . The Church is an old Methodist Church and was purchased from them in 2017. The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway , now closed, called at a station in Braithwaite . Braithwaite is situated next to the fell called Barrow . A small mountain in the Newlands region which is a short walk from Braithwaite. Braithwaite
3875-677: The B5343 . Other valleys such as Little Langdale , Eskdale and Dunnerdale are served by minor roads. The last of these is connected with the first two by the Wrynose and Hardknott passes respectively; both of these passes are known for their steep gradients and are together one of the most popular climbs in the United Kingdom for cycling enthusiasts. A minor road through the Newlands Valley connects via Newlands Hause with
Braithwaite - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-569: The Furness Fells or Coniston Fells, have as their northern boundary the steep and narrow Hardknott and Wrynose passes. The highest are Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How which slightly exceed 800 m (2,600 ft). The third group to the west of the Duddon includes Harter Fell and the long ridge leading over Whitfell to Black Combe and the sea. The south of this region consists of lower forests and knolls, with Kirkby Moor on
4125-577: The Kirkstone Pass . Some valleys which are not penetrated by A roads are served by B roads . The B5289 serves Lorton Vale and Buttermere and links via the Honister Pass with Borrowdale . The B5292 ascends the Whinlatter Pass from Lorton Vale before dropping down to Braithwaite near Keswick. The B5322 serves the valley of St John's in the Vale whilst Great Langdale is served by
4250-582: The Leven Estuary , and the western banks and tidal flats of the Kent Estuary . These areas are each characterised by sand and mudflats of scenic and wildlife interest. The coast is backed by extensive flats of raised marine deposits left when the relative sea level was higher. The Lake District's geology is very complex but well-studied. A granite batholith beneath the area is responsible for this upland massif, its relatively low density causing
4375-675: The Lune Valley . The national park received 18.14 million tourist visitors in 2022. This equates to 29.15 million tourist days, counting visits of greater than three hours. It is the largest of the thirteen national parks in England and Wales and the second largest in the UK after the Cairngorms National Park . Its aim is to protect the landscape by restricting unwelcome change by industry or commerce. The area of
4500-598: The Patterdale valley. It culminates in the height of Red Screes overlooking the Kirkstone Pass . The Far Eastern Fells refers to all of the Lakeland fells to the east of Ullswater and the A592 road running south to Windermere. At 828 m (2,717 ft), the peak known as High Street is the highest point on a complex ridge that runs broadly north-south and overlooks the hidden valley of Haweswater to its east. In
4625-490: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs . The precise extent of the Lake District is undefined, but it is sometimes considered to be slightly larger than that of the National Park, whose total area is about 2,362 square kilometres (912 sq mi). The park extends just over 51 kilometres (32 mi) from east to west and nearly 64 kilometres (40 mi) from north to south, with areas such as
4750-623: The Skiddaw Group and include the rocks traditionally known as the Skiddaw Slates . Their friability generally leads to mountains with relatively smooth slopes such as Skiddaw itself. The central band is a mix of volcanic and sedimentary rocks of mid-to-late Ordovician age comprising the lavas and tuffs of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group , erupted as the former Iapetus Ocean was subducted beneath what
4875-526: The "Cumbrian Mountains", "Cumbrian Fells" or "Lakeland Fells". The four highest fells exceed 3,000 feet (914 m). These are: The Northern Fells are a clearly defined range of hills contained within a 13 km (8 mi) diameter circle between Keswick in the southwest and Caldbeck in the northeast. They culminate in the 931 m (3,054 ft) peak of Skiddaw . Other notable peaks are Blencathra (also known as Saddleback) (868 m (2,848 ft)) and Carrock Fell . Bassenthwaite Lake occupies
5000-470: The 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth by showing that she was "far more than a 19th-century weekend painter. She was an artist of astonishing range." In December 2017, the asteroid 13975 Beatrixpotter , discovered by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst in 1992, was renamed in her memory. In 2022, an exhibition, Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature , was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Research for
5125-584: The 20 acres (8.1 ha) Castle Farm across the road from Hill Top Farm. She visited Hill Top at every opportunity, and her books written during this period (such as The Tale of Ginger and Pickles , about the local shop in Near Sawrey and The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse , a wood mouse) reflect her increasing participation in village life and her delight in country living. "Hill Top is to be presented to my visitors as if I had just gone out and they had just missed me." —Statement by Potter in her will to
Braithwaite - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-683: The A66 with the A5092) forms the park boundary from Calder Bridge to Holmrook, then crosses the coastal plain of the park until turning inland at the Whicham Valley, forming much of the park boundary again until joining the A5092 at Grizebeck. Besides these, a few A roads penetrate the area itself, notably the A591 which runs north-westwards from Kendal to Windermere and then on to Keswick. It continues up
5375-490: The A66. It has a campsite with a caravan park, B + Bs, pubs and guest houses. It has a wide range of sports including sailing, climbing, abseiling , canoeing, hang-gliding , parasailing , orienteering , bird watching (For ospreys in the nearby lakes), photography and virtually any other outdoor pursuit all within four miles of the village. Nearby is the Hope Memorial Camp, a residential centre used throughout
5500-589: The B5289 at Buttermere. Wasdale is served by a cul-de-sac minor road, as is Longsleddale and the valleys at Haweswater and Kentmere . There are networks of minor roads in the lower-lying southern part of the area, connecting numerous communities between Kendal, Windermere, and Coniston. The West Coast Main Line skirts the eastern edge of the Lake District and the Cumbrian Coast Line passes through
5625-699: The Lake District Peninsulas to the south lying outside the National Park. There are only a few major settlements within this mountainous area: the towns of Keswick ; Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere (which are contiguous); and Ambleside, are the three largest. The economies of all these are heavily dependent on tourism. Significant settlements close to the boundary of the national park include Carlisle , Barrow-in-Furness , Kendal , Ulverston , Dalton-in-Furness , Whitehaven , Workington , Cockermouth , Penrith , Millom and Grange-over-Sands ; each of these has important economic links with
5750-520: The Lake District is generally very windy: the coastal areas have 20 days of gales, and the fell tops around 100 days of gales per year. The maritime climate means that the Lake District has relatively moderate temperature variations throughout the year. The mean temperature in the valleys ranges from about 3 °C (37 °F) in January to around 15 °C (59 °F) in July. (By comparison, Moscow , at
5875-440: The Lake District. They can be regarded as comprising a northern grouping between Wasdale, Eskdale, and the two Langdale valleys, a southeastern group east of Dunnerdale and south of Little Langdale, and a southwestern group bounded by Eskdale to the north and Dunnerdale to the east. The first group includes England's highest mountains: Scafell Pike in the centre, at 978 m (3,209 ft) and Scafell one mile (1.6 km) to
6000-734: The Lakes or Lakeland , is a mountainous region and national park in Cumbria , North West England . It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and the Cumbrian mountains , and for its literary associations with Beatrix Potter , John Ruskin , and the Lake Poets . The Cumbrian mountains, or fells , include England's highest : Scafell Pike (978 m; 3,209 ft), Helvellyn (950 m; 3,120 ft) and Skiddaw (931 m; 3,054 ft). The region also contains sixteen major lakes. They include Windermere , which with
6125-660: The National Trust, including over 4,000 acres (16 km ) of land, sixteen farms, cottages and herds of cattle and Herdwick sheep. Hers was the largest gift at that time to the National Trust, and it enabled the preservation of the land now included in the Lake District National Park and the continuation of fell farming. The central office of the National Trust in Swindon was named "Heelis" in 2005 in her memory. William Heelis continued his stewardship of their properties and of her literary and artistic work for
6250-566: The National Trust. Owning and managing these working farms required routine collaboration with the widely respected William Heelis. By the summer of 1912, Heelis had proposed marriage and Potter had accepted; although she did not immediately tell her parents, who once again disapproved because Heelis was only a country solicitor. Potter and Heelis were married on 15 October 1913 in London at St Mary Abbots in Kensington . The couple moved immediately to Near Sawrey , residing at Castle Cottage,
6375-455: The Trust for seven years until the National Trust could afford to repurchase most of the property from her. Potter's stewardship of these farms earned her full regard, but she was not without her critics, not the least of which were her contemporaries who felt she used her wealth and the position of her husband to acquire properties in advance of their being made public. She was notable in observing
SECTION 50
#17327726546636500-827: The United States, the largest public collections are those in the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia , and the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton University . In 2015, a manuscript for an unpublished book was discovered by Jo Hanks, a publisher at Penguin Random House Children's Books, in the Victoria and Albert Museum archive. The book The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots , with illustrations by Quentin Blake ,
6625-488: The area to be "buoyed up". The granite can be seen at the surface as the Ennerdale, Skiddaw, Carrock Fell, Eskdale, and Shap granites. Broadly speaking the area can be divided into three bands, divisions which run southwest to the northeast. Generally speaking, the rocks become younger from the northwest to the southeast. The northwestern band is composed of early to mid- Ordovician sedimentary rocks , largely mudstones and siltstones of marine origin. Together they comprise
6750-400: The area, which consists of the High Stile ridge north of Ennerdale, the Loweswater Fells in the far northwest, the Pillar group in the southwest, and Great Gable (899 m (2,949 ft)) near Sty Head. Other tops include Seatallan , Haystacks and Kirk Fell . This area is craggy and steep, with the impressive pinnacle of Pillar Rock its showpiece. Wastwater , located in this part,
6875-410: The area. Other villages are Coniston , Threlkeld , Glenridding , Pooley Bridge , Broughton-in-Furness , Grasmere , Newby Bridge , Staveley , Lindale , Gosforth and Hawkshead . Beyond these are a scattering of hamlets and many isolated farmsteads, some of which are still tied to agriculture; others now function as part of the tourist economy. The Lake District is very nearly contained within
7000-399: The basis of Potter's future career as a writer-artist-storyteller. In 1900, Potter revised her tale about the four little rabbits, and fashioned a dummy book of it – it has been suggested, in imitation of Helen Bannerman 's 1899 bestseller The Story of Little Black Sambo . Unable to find a buyer for the work, she published it for family and friends at her own expense in December 1901. It
7125-485: The boundaries of the national park (and additionally Drigg , about a third of a mile from the park boundary). The line gives railway enthusiasts and others a flavour of a pre- Beeching railway line, with features like manually operated level crossing gates, as well as giving a good connection to the steam railway into Eskdale and providing access for cyclists and serious walkers to the Western Fells. The narrow gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway runs from Ravenglass on
7250-470: The central Lake District, though the town of Kendal , some coastal areas and the Cartmel and Furness peninsulas are outside the park boundary. The area was designated a national park on 9 May 1951, a month after the Peak District , the first UK national park. It retained its original boundaries until 2016, when it was extended by 3% to the east, in the direction of the Yorkshire Dales National Park , to incorporate areas land of high landscape value around
7375-417: The children of her former governess Annie Carter Moore, particularly to Moore's eldest son Noel, who was often ill. In September 1893, Potter was on holiday at Eastwood in Dunkeld , Perthshire. She had run out of things to say to Noel, and so she told him a story about "four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter". It became one of the most famous children's letters ever written and
7500-412: The coast of the Irish Sea from Drigg in the north to Silecroft in the south, encompassing the estuaries of the Esk and its tributaries, the Irt and the Mite . The intertidal zone of the combined estuaries includes sand, shingle and mudflats, and saltmarsh . The dune systems on either side of the estuary are protected as nature reserves; Drigg Dunes and Gullery to the north and Eskmeals Dunes to
7625-414: The connections of her uncle Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe , a chemist and vice-chancellor of the University of London , she consulted with botanists at Kew Gardens , convincing George Massee of her ability to germinate spores and her theory of hybridisation . She did not believe in the theory of symbiosis proposed by Simon Schwendener , the German mycologist, as previously thought; instead, she proposed
SECTION 60
#17327726546637750-402: The country, and both children became adept students of natural history . In 1882, when Dalguise was no longer available, the Potters took their first summer holiday in the Lake District , at Wray Castle near Lake Windermere . Here Potter met Hardwicke Rawnsley , vicar of Wray and later the founding secretary of the National Trust , whose interest in the countryside and country life inspired
7875-437: The countryside. As children, Potter and Bertram had numerous small animals as pets which they observed closely and drew endlessly. In their schoolroom, Potter and Bertram kept a variety of small pets—mice, rabbits, a hedgehog and some bats, along with collections of butterflies and other insects—which they drew and studied. Potter was devoted to the care of her small animals, often taking them with her on long holidays. In most of
8000-409: The duties of land management and her diminishing eyesight made it difficult to continue. Potter died of pneumonia and heart disease on 22 December 1943 at her home in Near Sawrey at the age of 77, leaving almost all her property to the National Trust . She is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park . Potter's books continue to sell throughout
8125-416: The east side of Bassenthwaite Lake . "The A591, Grasmere, Lake District" was short-listed in the 2011 Google Street View awards in the Most Romantic Street category. The A593 and A5084 link the Ambleside and Coniston areas with the A590 to the south whilst the A592 and A5074 similarly link Windermere with the A590. The A592 also continues northwards from Windermere to Ullswater and Penrith by way of
8250-534: The edges of these Ordovician and Silurian rocks on the northern, eastern, and southern fringes of the area is a semi-continuous outcrop of Carboniferous Limestone seen most spectacularly at places like Whitbarrow Scar and Scout Scar . The Lake District's location on the northwest coast of England, coupled with its mountainous geography, makes it the wettest part of England. The UK Met Office reports average annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm (80 in), but with considerable local variation. Although
8375-452: The entire region receives above-average rainfall, there is a wide disparity between the amounts of rainfall in the western and eastern lakes, as the Lake District experiences relief rainfall . Seathwaite, Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited place in England with an average of 3,300 mm (130 in) of rain a year, while nearby Sprinkling Tarn is even wetter, recording over 5,000 mm (200 in) per year; by contrast, Keswick, at
8500-472: The exhibition identified the man's court waistcoat c. 1780s, which inspired Potter's sketch in The Tailor of Gloucester . There are many interpretations of Potter's literary work, the sources of her art, and her life and times. These include critical evaluations of her corpus of children's literature and Modernist interpretations of Humphrey Carpenter and Katherine Chandler. Judy Taylor, That Naughty Rabbit: Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit (rev. 2002) tells
8625-494: The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen , Charles Kingsley 's The Water Babies , the folk tales and mythology of Scotland , the German Romantics , Shakespeare , and the romances of Sir Walter Scott . As a young child, before the age of eight, Edward Lear 's A Book of Nonsense , including the much-loved The Owl and the Pussycat , and Lewis Carroll 's Alice in Wonderland had made their impression, although she later said of Alice that she
8750-431: The farm for her while she made physical improvements and learned the techniques of fell farming and of raising livestock, including pigs, cows and chickens; the following year she added sheep. Realising she needed to protect her boundaries, she sought advice from W.H. Heelis & Son, a local firm of solicitors with offices in nearby Hawkshead . With William Heelis acting for her, she bought contiguous pasture, and in 1909
8875-489: The few carnivorous plants native to Britain. The Lake District is a major sanctuary for the red squirrel and has the largest population in England (out of the estimated 140,000 red squirrels in the United Kingdom, compared with about 2.5 million grey squirrels ). Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis ( née Potter ; 28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( / ˈ b iː ə t r ɪ k s / BEE -ə-triks ),
9000-484: The field of mycology . In her thirties, Potter self-published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit . Following this, Potter began writing and illustrating children's books full-time. Potter wrote over sixty books, with the best known being her twenty-three children's tales . In 1905, using the proceeds from her books and a legacy from an aunt, Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey ,
9125-492: The first fifteen years of her life, Potter spent summer holidays at Dalguise , an estate on the River Tay in Perthshire, Scotland . There she sketched and explored an area that nourished her imagination and her observation. Her first sketchbook from those holidays, kept at age 8 and dated 1875, is held at and has been digitised by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London . Potter and her brother were allowed great freedom in
9250-679: The first licensed character. In 1903, Potter created the first Peter Rabbit soft toy and registered him at the Patent Office in London, making Peter the oldest licensed fictional character. Merchandise of Peter and other Potter characters have been sold at Harrods department store in London since at least 1910 when the range first appeared in their catalogues. Along with her writing Potter would continue to oversee merchandising and licensing opportunities for her characters. On her legacy, Nicholas Tucker in The Guardian writes, "she
9375-716: The generally lower southern part of the area. The Lake District extends to the sea to the west and south. The highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike (978 m or 3209 feet), has a far-reaching view on a clear day, ranging from the Galloway Hills of Scotland, the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Snowdonia in Wales. The mountains (or ' fells ') of the Lake District are known as
9500-537: The head of Windermere - Grasmere, Great Langdale and Little Langdale, and the Coniston Water valley. The valleys break the mountains up into blocks, which have been described by various authors in different ways. The most frequently encountered approach is that made popular by Alfred Wainwright who published seven separate area guides to the Lakeland Fells. Only one of the lakes in the Lake District
9625-558: The last an illustrator whose work was later collected by her father, was a great influence. Her earliest illustrations focused on traditional rhymes and stories like Cinderella , Sleeping Beauty , Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , Puss in Boots , and Little Red Riding Hood . However, most often her illustrations were fantasies featuring her own pets: mice, rabbits, kittens, and guinea pigs. In her teenage years, Potter
9750-615: The last of whom was Annie Moore ( née Carter), just three years older than Potter, who tutored Potter in German as well as acting as lady's companion . She and Potter remained friends throughout their lives, and Annie's eight children were the recipients of many of Potter's picture letters. It was Annie who later suggested that these letters might make good children's books. She and her younger brother Walter Bertram (1872–1918) grew up with few friends outside their large extended family. Her parents were artistic, interested in nature, and enjoyed
9875-568: The local agricultural shows, where Potter was often asked to serve as a judge. In 1942 she became President-elect of the Herdwick Sheepbreeders' Association, the first time a woman had been elected, but died before taking office. In one of her diary entries whilst travelling through Wales, Potter complained about the Welsh language . She wrote " Machynlleth , wretched town, hardly a person could speak English", continuing "Welsh seem
10000-465: The lower end of Borrowdale , receives 1,470 mm (58 in) every year, and Penrith (just outside the Lake District) only 870 mm (34 in). March to June tend to be the driest months, with October to January the wettest, but at low levels, there is relatively little difference between months. Although there are gales in the sheltered valleys on only five days a year on average,
10125-435: The major Herdwick sheep farmers in the county. She was admired by her shepherds and farm managers for her willingness to experiment with the latest biological remedies for the common diseases of sheep, and for her employment of the best shepherds, sheep breeders, and farm managers. By the late 1920s, Potter and her Hill Top farm manager Tom Storey had made a name for their prize-winning Herdwick flock, which took many prizes at
10250-736: The match because Warne was "in trade" and thus not socially suitable. The engagement lasted only one month—Warne died of pernicious anaemia at age 37. That same year, Potter used some of her income and a small inheritance from an aunt to buy Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey , located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District . Potter and Warne may have hoped that Hill Top Farm would be their holiday home, but after Warne's death, Potter went ahead with its purchase as she had always wanted to own that farm and live in "that charming village". The tenant farmer John Cannon and his family agreed to stay on to manage
10375-564: The mudstones and wackes of the Windermere Supergroup and which includes (successively) the rocks of the Dent, Stockdale, Tranearth, Coniston, and Kendal groups. These are generally a little less resistant to erosion than the sequence of the rock to the north and underlie much of the lower landscapes around Coniston and Windermere. Later intrusions have formed individual outcrops of igneous rock in each of these groups. Around
10500-756: The national park, with the exception of the 2016 extension, was designated a World Heritage Site in 2017 as a cultural landscape . This was the fourth attempt to list the park, after two attempts in the 1980s and one in 2012 failed. The park is governed by the Lake District National Park Authority, which is based at offices in Kendal . It runs a visitor centre on Windermere at a former country house called Brockhole , Coniston Boating Centre, and information centres. The park authority has 20 members: six appointed by Westmorland and Furness Council, four by Cumberland Council, and ten by
10625-540: The new Hentschel three-colour process to reproduce her watercolours. On 2 October 1902, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published and became an immediate success. It was followed the next year by The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester , which had also first been written as picture letters to the Moore children. Working with Norman Warne as her editor, Potter published two or three little books each year: 23 books in all. The last book in this format
10750-560: The north of England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, traverses the national park from west to east. Bridleways are intended for horse riding and walkers, with cyclists also permitted to use them. Cyclists must give way to all other bridleway users. Motor vehicles are only allowed on "byways open to all traffic" ( green lanes ) but in practice Traffic Regulation Orders have been brought in on several prohibiting motor traffic, although
10875-457: The north of this region are the lower fells of Martindale Common and Bampton Common whilst in the south are the fells overlooking the Kentmere valley. Further to the east, beyond Mardale and Longsleddale is Shap Fell, an extensive area consisting of high moorland , more rolling and Pennine in nature than the mountains to the west. The Southern Fells occupy the southwestern quarter of
11000-589: The oneness of God and that rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. Potter's paternal grandfather, Edmund Potter , from Glossop in Derbyshire , owned what was then the largest calico printing works in England, and later served as a Member of Parliament. Potter's father, Rupert William Potter (1832–1914), was educated at Manchester College by the Unitarian philosopher James Martineau . He then trained as
11125-616: The outbreak of World War I , Potter persuaded her mother to move to the Lake District, renting her a property in Sawrey. Finding life in Sawrey dull, Helen Potter soon moved to Lindeth Howe (now a 34-bedroomed hotel), a large house the Potters had previously rented for the summer in Bowness , on the other side of Lake Windermere. Potter continued to write stories for Frederick Warne & Co and fully participated in country life. She established
11250-407: The places of extraordinary beauty but also those heads of valleys and low grazing lands that would be irreparably ruined by development." Potter was also an authority on the traditional Lakeland crafts and period furniture, as well as local stonework. She restored and preserved the farms that she bought or managed, making sure that each farm house had in it a piece of antique Lakeland furniture. Potter
11375-399: The problems of afforestation , preserving the intact grazing lands, and husbanding the quarries and timber on these farms. All her farms were stocked with Herdwick sheep and frequently with Galloway cattle . Potter continued to write stories and to draw, although mostly for her own pleasure. In 1922, Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes , a collection of traditional English nursery rhymes ,
11500-399: The public has a right of way , all of which are signposted at their origin on public roads and at some other points. Within the area of the National Park in 2012 there were 2,159 km (1,342 mi) of public footpaths , 875 km (544 mi) of public bridleways , 15 km (9 mi) of restricted byways and 30 km (19 mi) of byways open to all traffic . There is also
11625-403: The range at 852 m (2,795 ft), Grisedale Pike and the hills around the valley of Coledale , and in the far northwest is Thornthwaite Forest and Lord's Seat . The fells in this area are rounded Skiddaw slate , with few tarns and relatively few rock faces. The Western Fells lie between Buttermere and Wasdale , with Sty Head forming the apex of a large triangle. Ennerdale bisects
11750-654: The renovated farmhouse on Castle Farm, which was 34 acres (14 ha) large. Hill Top remained a working farm but was now remodelled to allow for the tenant family and Potter's private studio and workshop. At last her own woman, Potter settled into the partnerships that shaped the rest of her life: her country solicitor husband and his large family, her farms, the Sawrey community and the predictable rounds of country life. The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten are representative of Hill Top Farm and her farming life and reflect her happiness with her country life. Her father, Rupert Potter, died in 1914, and with
11875-633: The same in Potter and who was to have a lasting impact on her life. At about the age of 14, Potter began to keep a diary, written in a simple substitution cipher of her own devising. Her Journal was important to the development of her creativity, serving as both sketchbook and literary experiment. In tiny handwriting, she reported on society, recorded her impressions of art and artists, recounted stories and observed life around her. The Journal , deciphered and transcribed by Leslie Linder in 1958, does not provide an intimate record of her personal life, but it
12000-414: The same latitude, ranges from −10 to 19 °C (14 to 66 °F).) The relatively low height of most of the fells means that, while snow is expected during the winter, they can be free of snow at any time of the year. Normally, significant snowfall only occurs between November and April. On average, snow falls on Helvellyn 67 days per year. Snow typically falls on 20 days of the year in the valleys, with
12125-545: The same printer bought several more drawings for Weatherly's Our Dear Relations , another book of rhymes, and the following year Potter sold a series of frog illustrations and verses for Changing Pictures , a popular annual offered by the art publisher Ernest Nister. Potter was pleased by this success and determined to publish her own illustrated stories. Whenever Potter went on holiday to the Lake District or Scotland , she sent letters to young friends, illustrating them with quick sketches. Many of these letters were written to
12250-529: The south. South of the estuary, the coast is formed in low cliffs of glacial till , sands, and gravels. The district also extends to the tidal waters of Morecambe Bay and several of its estuaries alongside the Furness and Cartmel Peninsulas , designated on M6 motorway signposts as the "Lake District Peninsulas", and the southern portions of which lie outside the park. These are the Duddon Estuary ,
12375-548: The southern and western fringes of the area. A single railway line, the Windermere Branch Line , penetrates from Kendal to Windermere via Staveley. Railways once served Broughton-in-Furness and Coniston (closed to passengers in 1958) and another ran from Penrith to Cockermouth via Keswick (closed west of Keswick in 1966 and completely in 1972). Part of the track of the latter is used by the improved A66 trunk road. The Cumbrian Coast line has three stations within
12500-567: The southern boundary. The southwestern Lake District ends near the Furness peninsula and Barrow-in-Furness, a town which many Lake District residents rely on for basic amenities. The southeastern area is the territory between Coniston Water and Windermere and east of Windermere towards Kendal and south to Lindale. There are no high summits in this area which are mainly low hills, knolls and limestone cuestas such as Gummer's How and Whitbarrow . Indeed, it rises only as high as 333 m (1,093 ft) at Top o' Selside east of Coniston Water;
12625-598: The southwest. Though it is slightly lower, Scafell has a 700 ft (210 m) rockface, Scafell Crag, on its northern side. This group also includes the Wastwater Screes overlooking Wasdale, the Glaramara ridge overlooking Borrowdale, the three tops of Crinkle Crags , Bowfell and Esk Pike . The core of the area is drained by the infant River Esk . Collectively these are some of the Lake District's most rugged hillsides. The second group, otherwise known as
12750-751: The story of the first publication and many editions. Potter's country life, her farming and role as a landscape preservationist are discussed in the work of Matthew Kelly, The Women Who Saved the English Countryside (2022). See also Susan Denyer and authors in the publications of The National Trust , such as Beatrix Potter at Home in the Lake District (2004). Potter's work as a scientific illustrator and her work in mycology are discussed in Linda Lear 's books Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature (2006) and Beatrix Potter: The Extraordinary Life of
12875-579: The twenty months he survived her. When he died in August 1945, he left the remainder to the National Trust. Potter left almost all the original illustrations for her books to the National Trust. The copyright to her stories and merchandise was then given to her publisher Frederick Warne & Co, now a division of the Penguin Group . On 1 January 2014, the copyright expired in the UK and other countries with
13000-546: The valley between this massif and the North Western Fells. The North Western Fells lie between Borrowdale and Bassenthwaite Lake to the east and Buttermere and Lorton Vale to the west. Their southernmost point is at Honister Pass . This area includes the Derwent Fells above the Newlands Valley and hills to the north amongst which are Dale Head , Robinson . To the north stand Grasmoor , highest in
13125-405: The valuable experience of camping and living at close quarters with others.' With the aid of The Roan Foundation, the original green and white painted wooden structures were replaced in 1989 by more substantial ones using modern building materials. There is an Orthodox Church in Braithwaite, dedicated to a few British Saints: Saints Bega , Mungo and Herbert . They are under the jurisdiction of
13250-690: The village. Braithwaite is situated around Coledale Beck , a brook which joins Newlands Beck shortly after passing through the village. Newlands Beck (coming from the Newlands Valley ) then flows north towards Bassenthwaite Lake . Braithwaite has a Village Shop by the Low Bridge, several pubs, including the Coledale Inn, the Royal Oak and the Middle Ruddings Hotel. Braithwaite is easily accessible due to its close proximity to
13375-641: The west coast up Eskdale as far as Dalegarth Station near the hamlet of Boot, catering for tourists. Another heritage railway , the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway , runs between Lake Windermere and Haverthwaite , and tourists can connect at Lakeside with the boats up the lake to Bowness. A vehicle-carrying cable ferry , the Windermere Ferry , runs frequent services across Windermere. There are also seasonal passenger boats on Coniston Water, Derwent Water, and Ullswater. There are many paths over which
13500-558: The wide expanse of Grizedale Forest stands between the two lakes. Kendal and Morecambe Bay stand at the eastern and southern edges of the area. The main radial valleys are (clockwise from the south) Dunnerdale , Eskdale , Wasdale , Ennerdale , the Vale of Lorton, and Buttermere valley, the Derwent Valley and Borrowdale , the Ullswater valley, Haweswater valley, Longsleddale , the Kentmere valley, those converging on
13625-468: The world in many languages with her stories being retold in songs, films, ballet, and animations, and her life is depicted in two films – The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1983) and Miss Potter (2006). Potter's family on both sides were from the Manchester area. They were English Unitarians , associated with dissenting Protestant congregations, influential in 19th-century Britain, that affirmed
13750-419: The year by youth groups from all over the country. The camp was the brain-child of Mr A H Hope, Headmaster of The Roan School, Greenwich (now The John Roan School ) from 1916 to 1930. In 1923, with his own money, Hope bought forty acres of land to the north-west of the village and built four huts on it, to provide his South London grammar school boys with 'an opportunity of seeing mountains and lakes and of having
13875-480: Was Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes in 1922, a collection of favourite rhymes. Although The Tale of Little Pig Robinson was not published until 1930, it had been written much earlier. Potter continued creating her little books until after the First World War when her energies were increasingly directed toward her farming, sheep-breeding, and land conservation. The immense popularity of Potter's books
14000-517: Was a regular visitor to the art galleries of London, particularly enjoying the summer and winter exhibitions at the Royal Academy in London. Her Journal reveals her growing sophistication as a critic as well as the influence of her father's friend, the artist Sir John Everett Millais , who recognised Potter's talent of observation. Although Potter was aware of art and artistic trends, her drawing and her prose style were uniquely her own. As
14125-399: Was an English writer, illustrator , natural scientist , and conservationist . She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit , which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck and The Tale of Tom Kitten , have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was
14250-684: Was based on the lively quality of her illustrations, the non-didactic nature of her stories, the depiction of the rural countryside, and the imaginative qualities she lent to her animal characters. Potter was also a canny businesswoman. As early as 1903, she made and patented a Peter Rabbit doll. It was followed by other merchandise over the years, including painting books, board games, wall-paper, figurines, baby blankets and china tea-sets. All were licensed by Frederick Warne & Co and earned Potter an independent income, as well as immense profits for her publisher. In 1905, Potter and Norman Warne became unofficially engaged. Potter's parents objected to
14375-464: Was destroyed in the Blitz . Bousfield Primary School now stands where the house once was. A blue plaque on the school building testifies to the former site of the Potter home. Both parents were artistically talented, and Rupert was an adept amateur photographer. Rupert had invested in the stock market, and by the early 1890s, he was extremely wealthy. Beatrix Potter was educated by three governesses,
14500-617: Was drawn in black and white with a coloured frontispiece. Rawnsley had great faith in Potter's tale, recast it in didactic verse, and made the rounds of the London publishing houses. Frederick Warne & Co had previously rejected the tale but, eager to compete in the booming small format children's book market, reconsidered and accepted the "bunny book" (as the firm called it) following the recommendation of their prominent children's book artist L. Leslie Brooke . The firm declined Rawnsley's verse in favour of Potter's original prose, and Potter agreed to colour her pen and ink illustrations, choosing
14625-581: Was interested in every branch of natural science except astronomy . Botany was a passion for most Victorians , and nature study was a popular enthusiasm. She collected fossils, studied archaeological artefacts from London excavations, and was interested in entomology . In all these areas, she drew and painted her specimens with increasing skill. By the 1890s, her scientific interests centred on mycology . First drawn to fungi because of their colours and evanescence in nature and her delight in painting them, her interest deepened after meeting Charles McIntosh,
14750-577: Was interested in preserving not only the Herdwick sheep but also the way of life of fell farming. In 1930 the Heelises became partners with the National Trust in buying and managing the fell farms included in the large Monk Coniston Estate. The estate was composed of many farms spread over a wide area of north-western Lancashire, including the Tarn Hows . Potter was the de facto estate manager for
14875-468: Was more interested in Tenniel 's illustrations than what they were about. The Brer Rabbit stories of Joel Chandler Harris had been family favourites, and she later studied his Uncle Remus stories and illustrated them. She studied book illustration from a young age and developed her own tastes, but the work of the picture book triumvirate Walter Crane , Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott ,
15000-517: Was published 1 September 2016, to mark the 150th anniversary of Potter's birth. Also in 2016, Peter Rabbit was depicted on the reverse of a British fifty pence coin , and Peter along with other Potter characters featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail . In 2017, The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations by Emily Zach was published after San Francisco publisher Chronicle Books decided to mark
15125-966: Was published posthumously by The Horn Book Magazine in 1944. Potter was a generous patron of the Girl Guides , whose troops she allowed to make their summer encampments on her land, and whose company she enjoyed as an older woman. Potter and William Heelis enjoyed a happy marriage of thirty years, continuing their farming and preservation efforts throughout the hard days of World War II . Although they were childless, Potter played an important role in William's large family, particularly enjoying her relationship with several nieces whom she helped educate, and giving comfort and aid to her husband's brothers and sisters. Potter died of complications from pneumonia and heart disease on 22 December 1943 at Castle Cottage, and her remains were cremated at Carleton Crematorium , Blackpool. She left nearly all her property to
15250-460: Was published. Her books in the late 1920s included the semi-autobiographical The Fairy Caravan , a fanciful tale set in her beloved Troutbeck fells . It was published only in the US during Potter's lifetime, and not until 1952 in the UK. Sister Anne , Potter's version of the story of Bluebeard , was written for her American readers, but illustrated by Katharine Sturges. A final folktale, Wag by Wall ,
15375-431: Was reported in July 2014 that Potter had personally given a number of her own original hand-painted illustrations to the two daughters of Arthur and Harriet Lupton, who were cousins to both Beatrix Potter and Catherine, Princess of Wales . Potter's parents lived comfortably at 2 Bolton Gardens, West Brompton , London, where Helen Beatrix was born on 28 July 1866 and her brother Walter Bertram on 14 March 1872. The house
15500-587: Was searching for more independent activities and wished to earn some money of her own while dutifully taking care of her parents, dealing with her especially demanding mother, and managing their various households. In the Victorian era , women of her class were privately educated and rarely went to university. Potter's parents encouraged her higher education, but the social norms of the time limited her academic career within Britain's institutions. Beatrix Potter
15625-466: Was the first author to license fictional characters to a range of toys and household objects still on sale today". In an article by the Smithsonian magazine titled, How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising , Joy Lanzendorfer writes, "Potter was also an entrepreneur and a pioneer in licensing and merchandising literary characters. Potter built a retail empire out of her “bunny book” that
#662337