Beatrix Potter

[Rob Houghton]

Glad you enjoyed your trip, Courtenay.

I remember that you either has the Fairy Caravan or has read it but not owned it, Rob. I forgot which.

I do have a copy of The Fairy Caravan - its a hardback with a dust wrapper from the early 1970's. I have to admit I've never read it, as I just couldn't seem to get into it.

I also have to admit that I've never been a massive fan of Beatrix Potter. I like her books, but I haven't read them all, and I find her style a bit 'clunky' in many ways. I like her painting and illustrating more than her prose!

As a child I'd only read two of her books - the Tailor of Gloucester (still my favourite of her books) and the Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (another favourite). I was much, much more into the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley - I borrowed them from the library and I have since bought quite a collection of them. I love their old-fashioned style and the illustrations by Margaret Tempest.

[number 6]

Delighted that you really enjoyed your hols, Courtenay! It sounds like you've been quite busy on the shopping front, too!

[sixret]

Too many books too little time, Rob.

[Courtenay]

The Lake District is a beautiful part of our country but the weather can be so unpredictable. You were no doubt lucky with the weather as many will have been in recent weeks and it’s not really the peak holiday season until the schools finish in the next week so the visitor numbers will be even greater then.

Well, lucky in the sense that it was wall-to-wall sunshine most of the time, but you could see the hills and fields were almost as brown as they are here in the south and the locals were saying the lakes are at the lowest they've seen them for years — this genuinely is a drought and it's taking its toll. I wouldn't have minded if it had rained every day — the whole reason that part of the world is normally so green and vibrant is that it usually rains a lot, and now we're desperate for it! But there was quite a downpour in the late afternoon of my last day, so that's a start.

One book - The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies - has a special meaning to me, as it is (very loosely!) set around the manor house Gwaenynog Hall in North Wales, owned by Beatrix Potter's uncle Captain Fred Burton. Captain Burton also owned Broadleys Farm, which was where my dad's grandparents first lived when they came from Lancashire to North Wales - in fact Captain Burton built Broadleys for them to farm. So in a way we have a very tenuous link to Beatrix Potter (she visited Gwaenynog many times between 1895 and 1913) and many of the illustrations in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies show parts of Gwaenynog Hall and gardens.

That's fascinating — another place I'll have to put on my list for when I do a trip to Wales (as I'm hoping to when I have the time, though that doesn't look likely in the near future)!

[Courtenay]

I do have a copy of The Fairy Caravan - its a hardback with a dust wrapper from the early 1970's. I have to admit I've never read it, as I just couldn't seem to get into it.

It is definitely a bit slow-moving and not as sharp and well-paced as most of her short stories, I agree — I guess Beatrix wasn't really used to writing novel-length books. But having got a fair way into it, I'm enjoying the gentle pace of it and Beatrix's love of the countryside, which shines through as always. At the moment I'm into a long section where the circus creatures are resting in a field with a flock of sheep and the sheep are sharing their own reminiscences and musings, which gives Beatrix a chance to show off her own understanding of the ways of sheep and shepherding and how different breeds behave. One of the ewes, musing on how Cotswold sheep follow a bellwether, even wonders "Why has Mistress Heelis never given us bells?" — that's Beatrix cheekily name-dropping herself, as of course Heelis was her married name and she was a breeder of champion Herdwick sheep!

I also have to admit that I've never been a massive fan of Beatrix Potter. I like her books, but I haven't read them all, and I find her style a bit 'clunky' in many ways. I like her painting and illustrating more than her prose!

Sacrilege!! I mostly love her style, but having read all the books, I would say that there are a number where the plot is a bit thin and the appeal is mostly in the beauty of the illustrations and the general charm of the characters and settings, rather than in what happens in the story. Actually, I'd put Squirrel Nutkin in that category — there's almost no plot other than the cheeky squirrel repeatedly teasing the old owl until he finally pays for his foolishness, but the way the story is told keeps you reading and the illustrations are just exquisite. And it really does help to have them in their original "little book" format — I've owned a couple of compilations where there are several of the illustrations and their accompanying text on each large page, but the stories don't work as well that way. The original format, with just one picture and a bit of text at a time, sustains the suspense of the stories much better and keeps you turning the pages!

It sounds like you've been quite busy on the shopping front, too!

Well, most of the souvenirs I bought (except the full set of the books) were from National Trust shops, so I figured it wasn't just shopping, it was supporting a good cause.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm glad you had such a wonderful time, Courtenay. I have some very happy memories of trips to the Lake District - it's a beautiful place.

[Rob Houghton]

I would say that there are a number where the plot is a bit thin and the appeal is mostly in the beauty of the illustrations and the general charm of the characters and settings, rather than in what happens in the story. Actually, I'd put Squirrel Nutkin in that category — there's almost no plot other than the cheeky squirrel repeatedly teasing the old owl until he finally pays for his foolishness, but the way the story is told keeps you reading and the illustrations are just exquisite.

Yes, I think it was the illustrations I enjoyed most, even as a child. I did like the fact they sailed across the lake using their tails for sails (if I'm remembering right - its a while since I read it!)

I agree the little books, with a picture on each page, are the best ways to read the stories. I've seen those compilations, but never owned one, as all ours were the original versions. I think our first two we had as children (Tailor of Gloucester and Squirrel Nutkin' ) were also printed on 'art paper' - thick and slightly shiny and smooth, which also added to the feel of the books. Not sure if modern versions are printed on this paper these days - probably not.

[Courtenay]

Well, mine that I've just bought do seem to be printed on high quality paper — "thick and slightly shiny and smooth" would fit it as a description — but I don't know if it's any different from what was used in earlier editions. We had a few older copies when I was little, but I can't remember what the paper was like and I don't have them with me to compare.

I did like the fact they sailed across the lake using their tails for sails (if I'm remembering right - its a while since I read it!)

They did!



According to the biography I've just read (The Story of Beatrix Potter by Sarah Gristwood), Beatrix spent her summer holiday in 1897 at Lingholm, near Keswick in the northern Lake District, and she wrote afterwards — annoyingly, the biography doesn't give a reference, so I don't know if this is from her journal or a letter to a friend:

"There is a lady who lives on an island in the lake who told me some curious things about animals swimming... Also when her nuts are ripe, squirrels appear on the island, but she has not seen them coming. There is an American story that squirrels go down the rivers on little rafts, using their tails for sails, but I think the Keswick squirrels must swim."

So Beatrix a few years later took those elements — including the squirrels sailing on rafts! — and invented the story of Squirrel Nutkin. The lake near Keswick is Derwent Water, which we're told she depicted very accurately in her illustrations for the book, but I didn't get that far north this time, so I haven't seen it for myself.

Incidentally, I remember reading that The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin was also C.S. Lewis's favourite when he was a child (he was born in 1898 and it was published in 1902, so these books were brand new when he was reading them!). That and other Beatrix Potter stories must definitely have had some influence on his own imaginings of animals that can talk like humans yet retain their essential animal characteristics as well.

[Daisy]

We have camped by Derwentwater twice... it is beautiful there and we had a boat trip round the lake. I can just imagine those squirrels crossing to the island! We went for a week during the three weeks of the Keswick Convention about ten years ago.

[Courtenay]

Yes, I'll have to go there another time — I didn't get that far north this time and the only lakes I saw were Windermere, Esthwaite (near Beatrix's house) and Coniston. Incidentally, during a Coniston steam yacht tour the guide pointed out that Peel Island, which we passed, was the major inspiration for Wild Cat Island in Swallows and Amazons!

I just loved the Lake District and wish I could still be there, but I'm already vaguely planning another trip — probably in late autumn (this year if it happens to fit in, but more likely next year), when there'll be fewer tourists everywhere. I'd particularly love to see Hill Top again without feeling like every room was getting crowded with people — I totally understand the popularity, but it spoiled the special atmosphere a bit!

Now that I know it's quite easy to get around on public transport up there, I will almost certainly leave the car at home and take the bus or the train up, which means a lot less effort in getting there and back (it was an 8-hour solo drive back the other day, counting about four good rest stops). Of course the weather probably won't be so pleasant late in the year, but I don't mind the rain — we need it now and I hope it starts coming again soon! I want to see those magnificent hills and fells looking green again as they should be, not patchy green and brown.

And in the meantime, I can keep stitching my Beatrix Potter cross stitch pieces (I've already started the one of Peter Rabbit squeezing under the gate) and dream on!

[Courtenay]

Now that I'm back from Australia and have unexpectedly managed to secure a week off in September, I'm planning another Lake District holiday, as I've been hoping to for a while! This time I'll be staying in the lovely village of Hawkshead, very near to Beatrix Potter's home — her solicitor husband had his office there, which is now a gallery owned by the National Trust.

I will definitely be visiting Hill Top again — there's now a walking path between there and Hawkshead, which I will use if I can (I'll have my car, but I'm aware there's not much parking near Hill Top and I want to be environmentally friendly anyway). Just found out, too, that the NT will be running a special "behind the scenes" tour of Hill Top on one of the days when I'll be in the area, so I will be booking a place on that!

I'm also hoping to get to some of the other places (Beatrix-related and otherwise) that I didn't have time to see on my shorter trip there last year, including Derwentwater and the Ravenglass & Eskdale steam railway (which plays a role in The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams!). Really looking forward to this!

[Rob Houghton]

Enviable, Courtenay! Although I've been to most of the places you mention, and I've been to 'The Lakes' several times, it really is one of my favourite places in Britain - probably made even better by the fact that on every occasion I've holidayed in The Lake District we've had stunningly beautiful weather!

[Anita Bensoussane]

The Lake District is one of my favourite places too - I've been on day trips, hikes and short breaks there. Your planned holiday sounds fantastic, Courtenay, and I hope you get good weather.

[Katharine]

Today I read the story of the Flopsy bunnies. I think it was a copy I bought from a charity shop, and had no idea how old it was, other than the D/W wasn't price clipped, so the 5/- price dated it pre decimalisation.

I didn't think there would be any way of finding the date or printing, but thought I'd try Google and was pleased to find a webpage that showed that a number on one of the first pages, contains the date of printing - my copy is from August 1966, so slightly older than me.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Sounds good, Katharine. Funnily enough, just yesterday I visited a quaint little Beatrix Potter Shop in Gloucester. Beatrix Potter used that building as the inspiration for the shop in The Tailor of Gloucester and it now has displays of furniture and models resembling the book illustrations.