Travel Report: The World of Beatrix Potter.

The World of Beatrix Potter, Bowness-on-Windermere, England.

May 2019.

There is a host of brilliant English children’s authors who inspired my love for literature as a kid. A.A. Milne… Roger Hargreaves… Roald Dahl… Robin Jarvis… to name but a few. Growing up, I was also aware of Beatrix Potter, though for reasons that escape me I only actually read her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Over the years, I caught more of Potter’s stories through various animated film adaptations. I remember feeling charmed about the fantastical world she created and her rich and varied cast of talking countryside animals.

And yet, somehow, I never did get around to reading those other tales. What can I say, with all the books, movies and records I was into, I never seemed to have enough time.

Later, as an adult, I saw the 2006 biographical movie Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger as the iconic writer and illustrator. I found Potter’s life story utterly absorbing, albeit mawkishly told in the film.

Thus I was delighted to come across a building dedicated to her work during my visit to The Lake District in 2019. Which brings me to The World of Beatrix Potter, an attraction located in the picturesque town of Bowness-on-Windermere.

The World of Beatrix Potter.

Initially, I found myself wondering if this was an attraction purely aimed at kids. But then I thought what the heck, when in Rome and all that. After all, The Lake District is where Potter settled following the success of her tales.

It’s also the land that inspired many more of her stories and characters. The region that saw her branch out, with great success, as a conservationist and animal breeder. Hence I went inside, paid the £8 entrance fee and headed through the doors into a darkened underground grotto.

Immediately, I found myself transported into Potter’s magical world. All around me were handcrafted scenes from her stories. Bewitching patches of the pastoral Lake District countryside inhabited by Potter’s lovable characters.

To my left, I spied a straw house set among the tall grass and deep purple woodland sage. Nearby stood Peter Rabbit in his signature blue jacket, nibbling greedily on some radishes from Mr. McGregor’s garden. Oh dear, he was about to get into big trouble. Meanwhile, a goose flapped overhead to the lilting sound of traditional English folk music.

Exploring The Lake District.

In fact, there are lovingly created dioramas dedicated to all 23 of Beatrix Potter’s tales. A perfect opportunity, then, for me to walk through her famous series of children’s books and remind myself what I’ve been missing all these years.

Although Potter had always had confidence in her writing and illustrating, the success of The Tale of Peter Rabbit came as a huge surprise. After its release to the masses in 1902, she became one of Britain’s first writers to aggressively commercialise her stories and characters. As a result, she set to work on themed wallpaper, a stuffed Peter toy and a board game.

Moreover, she began writing her second story, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, published in 1903. Much like Peter, Nutkin was a naughty and insolent character that delighted children and led adults to draw comparisons to the rebellious working class of the day.

The Squirrel Nutkin display also features Old Brown, the (supposed) villain of the piece. He lives on Owl Island, where the squirrels go to collect nuts. At first Old Brown is happy to let them go about their business, especially as they offer him various gifts for the privilege. But Nutkin’s constant taunting of the old owl eventually leads to consequences…

The World of Beatrix Potter.

From there the dioramas come thick and fast, from Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Jeremy Fisher, to Miss Moppet, Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck.

All characters that were familiar to me by name, but whose storylines I hadn’t been aware of. Jeremy Fisher, for example, a mishap-prone frog, was inspired by the pet frogs Beatrix kept as a young girl. And by her father Rupert, who was a keen fisherman.

This giant shopfront represents the charming store owned by Ginger the tomcat and Pickles the terrier in Potter’s 1909 adventure The Tale of Ginger and Pickles.

They sell all kinds of stuff, including “red spotty handkerchiefs, sugar, snuff and galoshes”. Unfortunately, their poor business practices (they offer free unlimited credit to everyone) result in them going out of business. And from there the story unfolds…

Potter drew on details from a shop in her local village of Sawrey for Ginger & Pickles. She dedicated the book to a dear friend, a blacksmith by the name of John Taylor suffering from longterm illness. Furthermore, she modelled one of the book’s characters, John Dormouse, on him. But sadly Mr. Taylor never lived to see the book released.

I liked how each diorama comes with a touchscreen panel. This is where you can get some background info on each book and maybe even read a few key passages. There’s also educational stuff, such as how foxes hunt in the wild and the intelligence of pigs. The info is available in seven languages.

Exploring The Lake District.

About halfway, I broke up my journey through the tales by ducking outside into the Peter Rabbit Garden. It’s a modest space, but carefully maintained with a lot of love from its team of gardeners.

Packed full of colourful plants and bushes, it was designed to recreate the style of garden seen in many of Potter’s books. And if you know the tales well, you’ll catch all kinds of cool details. Like the cos lettuces, gooseberry bush and watering can, which all feature in that first Peter Rabbit story.

However, there’s nothing discreet about the garden’s stunning centrepiece. Towering high above most of the greenery, even some of the trees, stands The Enchanting World of Beatrix Potter Sculpture. Made by the artist Anthony Bennett, this bronze creation shows three gleeful children releasing Jemima Puddle-Duck into the air.

But Jemima certainly isn’t the only character to feature. The sculpture actually depicts characters from all 23 tales. Some sit snugly at the feet of the children, others inhabit the base of the piece. It’s fun doing a 360 of the sculpture and tracking them all down.

It was none other than Renee Zellweger who unveiled the artwork on the 23rd of April 2006. On a nearby bench, surrounded by greenery and a pretty potted plant, one can also check out Bennett’s original sketches and notes. A cool insight into what he was thinking during the creation process.

The Peter Rabbit Garden.

After passing the last of the dioramas, I entered a small exhibition on Beatrix’s life. There’s a lot of juicy stuff here, from the fractured relationship with her controlling mother, to the untimely death of her fiancé Norman Warne, who as Potter’s publisher played a key role in her success.

Naturally there’s also a focus on her love of The Lake District. There are models of the Potter family’s many houses, including Hilltop Farm in Sawrey where Beatrix predominantly lived for the last 38 years of her life. It is now open to the public as a museum, I’d definitely like to go and visit one day.

And of course the exhibit celebrates the fact that Beatrix left nearly all of her properties and land to The National Trust. That’s over 4000 acres of countryside, home to 16 working farms and untold herds of animals including her precious, prize-winning Herdwick sheep.

Finally, of course, one can pick up just about any Beatrix Potter gift imaginable in the shop. Yes sir, from magnets, key rings, t-shirts and coasters, to postcards, posters, soft toys and the books themselves.

The World of Beatrix Potter.

Overall, I think The World of Beatrix Potter is a decent attraction for both kids and adults. I’d say it’s a perfect introduction to the author and her work and a good warmup for visiting the museums that now stand in her former homes.

Happily, working on this article gave me the kick up the bum I needed to… at long last… read through Potter’s famous tales one by one. Indeed Sladja and I started just a few days ago and are already three stories into the journey. So far, it’s been a blast.

Like this? Maybe take a look at my many travel articles from all around England.

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