HISTORIC HOUSES
52 BRITAIN HISTORIC HOUSES www.britain-magazine.com PHOTOS: © SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON (KELMSCOTT MANOR)/CHRIS CHALLIS PHOTOGRAPHER/ABCBRITAIN/ALAMY
HISTORIC HOUSES Clockwise from left: daughters continued the tenancy. May Morris died in The Tapestry Room with Spring by 1938, and bequeathed the house to Oxford University on Breughel above the fireplace, which the condition that the contents were preserved, and the belonged to Rossetti; Kelmscott public were granted access. The university passed the on the frontispiece of Morris's News house to the Society of Antiquaries, London in 1962. From Nowhere; Morris's quill pen is Under May’s strict orders, the house is preserved as it on display at the manor; Kelmscott would have been in Morris’s day, and visitors can walk Manor dates back to the 17th century through the rooms he worked in and experience the inspiration he felt when he lived there. From the idyllic views of cows grazing in the nearby meadows to the gardens in full bloom and the sense of history that pervades the house, it’s hard not to feel similarly inspired. With so many wonderfully decorated rooms, it’s not easy to pick a favourite. Kelmscott’s Curator, Dr Kathy Haslam, likes Morris’s bedroom best: “The room says Dr Haslam. “It still feels remote, still retains its features new hand-blocked wallpaper in the colourway he rural landscape context and the sense of fragile would have known, and the reinstatement of some of the ancientness Morris was so deeply attuned to.’’ items precious to him… It has Morris was eager to rent the Walking through the house, become a space where objects secluded manor away from visitors will also notice the meaningful to Morris have paintings, photographs, and a come together again, and handful of possessions, of Dante express his energy and the city – and prying eyes Gabriel Rossetti, Morris’s friend enthusiasm as antiquary, and co-tenant. Adorning the scholar and collector.” walls and complementing After the renovation, the house evokes the life and Morris’s beautiful motifs, many of these paintings and character of its one-time owner more than ever. “Visitors photographs are of Morris’s daughters, and even more are can now enjoy the manor through the prism of Morris,” of his wife, Jane. Though there’s evident harmony between the artwork, the house and Morris’s interiors, digging a little deeper reveals a sadder story. There was another reason Morris was so eager to rent the secluded manor, away from the hustle and bustle of the city – and prying eyes. Around 1865, six years before Morris discovered Kelmscott, his wife Jane began an affair with Rossetti, for whom she modelled. Their affair became the subject of much public attention, with the satirical magazine Punch even publishing an unfortunate cartoon of an adoring Rossetti feeding Jane strawberries. Rossetti’s paintings of Jane reveal an obvious obsession with her, and although the relationship was extremely painful for Morris, it was his belief that as an autonomous individual, Jane should have the freedom www.britain-magazine.com BRITAIN 53
to explore her emotional life. Morris was still in love with nursed William through his final illness and was left Above: The panelled White Room with his wife, and with her (and, by default, his) reputation on white-haired from the trauma of it. Although Jane later Blue Silk Dress by Rossetti, perhaps his the line in London, looking for somewhere where she admitted that she had never truly loved William, it seems most iconic portrait of Jane Morris could be with Rossetti in private was critical; and so that their life, works and children together were enough to appears Kelmscott Manor. keep her in the marriage. It is believed that Morris’s pain and emotional isolation Jane continued the tenancy after William’s death, during their affair contributed to his decision to travel to eventually buying the house in 1913, before dying a year Iceland in 1871, almost immediately after he had signed later. Whether it was the beauty of the house, the memories Kelmscott’s lease. For him, an of her relationship with Rossetti, PHOTO: © SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES LONDON (KELMSCOTT MANOR)/CHRIS CHALLIS PHOTO-GRAPHER adventure in Iceland was an For Morris, an adventure in immortalised in the art on the escape from his crumbling walls, or a dedication to her marriage and broken heart. Iceland was an escape from husband and his work, something Jane ended her affair with kept her there. Rossetti in 1876, due to a his crumbling marriage When asked about William dramatic decline in his mental and broken heart Morris’s most important legacy, health: he was experiencing Dr Kathy Haslam believes it is schizophrenic-like episodes and ‘‘encapsulated in his epithet ‘To was addicted to chloral and whiskey. After his death, Jane grumble and not to act – that is throwing away one’s life.’ admitted that she had loved him, but had fallen out of love He was a doer, channelling his enormous energies in so with him when he began destroying himself. They did, many ways – through study, creativity and activism – and however, remain friends until Rossetti’s death in 1882, refusing to be daunted by the challenges of life.’’ with Jane continuing to model for him on occasion. After Kelmscott Manor is an everlasting example of this his death, Jane embarked on another affair, this time with attitude. Faced with a failing marriage and a broken poet and political activist Wilfred Scawen Blunt, which heart, yet refusing to complain, Morris created his own continued until 1894. ‘heaven on earth’, whose beauty endures to this day. Despite the enormous public rift in their marriage, Jane Kelmscott Manor is open from April to October, Thursday and William were married for the rest of their lives. She to Saturday. www.sal.org.uk/kelmscott-manor 54 BRITAIN www.britain-magazine.com
KELMSCOTT MANOR The inspirational home of William Morris VISIT THE COTSWOLDS RETREAT OF VICTORIAN DESIGNER WILLIAM MORRIS VISITING HOURS (APRIL - OCTOBER) Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 10.30am to 5pm After two years conservation and improvement works, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and others, the Manor is open to visitors once again. Explore William Morris’s “Heaven on Earth” and view the iconic collection of artwork and objects owned and designed by the Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Discover why the Cotswold home became an inspiration for him and his family and explore the gardens, enjoy homemade food from our licensed tearoom and visit our gift shop. One of the 100 Irreplaceable sites A History of England in 100 Places (Historic England) For more information and to buy tickets online visit WWW.KELMSCOTTMANOR.ORG.UK Kelmscott Manor is owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London (registered charity 207237). Address: Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott, Lechlade GL7 3HJ | Tel: 01367 252486 | Email: [email protected] Follow us on Facebook: @KelmscottManorCotswolds, Instagram or Twitter: @kelmscottmanor
Paws for thought An orphan arrives from Darkest Peru with just the bear necessities, wins over hearts and minds, and then crowns 64 years of success by taking tea with the Queen. So what is the secret of Paddington’s perennial appeal? WORDS ROSE SHEPHERD O n Christmas Eve 1956, with the glassy eye of the teddy bear, who was PHOTOS: © BUCKINGHAM PALACE/STUDIO CANAL/BBC STUDIOS/HEYDAY FILMS/PA MEDIA/GEOFF PUGH/SHUTTERSTOCK/PA ARCHIVE/PA IMAGES snow falling, a young BBC giving him a “hard stare” from the cameraman named mantelpiece, and thought “What if…?” Michael Bond entered What if a real, live bear found the marble halls of a splendid himself on Paddington station? He Edwardian Beaux-Arts department would be a refugee from a far country, store on London’s Oxford Street wearing a government surplus duffel and headed for the toy department. coat and a bush hat. “Mr and Mrs Brown first met Paddington on a This was Selfridges, always railway platform,” he jotted down – spellbinding at Christmas, but what and, within those ten days, he had happened that day had a very special finished his first Paddington book, magic. Alone on a shelf sat a teddy featuring one of the most beloved, bear, looking “rather forlorn”, Bond would later recall. Feeling sorry for it, he enduring and empathetic characters in bought it as a gift for his wife, Brenda. children’s literature. “Had there been two bears I might have given A Bear Called Paddington tells how the them a passing glance, but I could hardly ignore Browns came upon an orphaned bear from “Darkest one bear all by itself, with Christmas coming on.” Peru”, sitting on a suitcase, wearing a battered hat, a gift from his Uncle Pastuzo, with a label round his neck penned by his If Michael and Brenda sat down the following day to listen to the Aunt Lucy at her retirement home in Lima, ‘Please look after this young Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message, broadcast from the bear. Thank you.’ study at Sandringham, they would have heard her plea on behalf of “I came in a lifeboat and ate marmalade sandwiches. Bears like people driven from their homes by war or violence. “We call them marmalade,” the bear confides to the Browns, who take him home ‘refugees’; let us give them a true refuge; let us see that for them and to live with them at 32 Windsor Gardens, and, in a very British way, their children there is room at the inn.” decide to call him Paddington because they simply cannot get their tongues around his Peruvian name. As a teenager growing up in Reading, Michael had stood on the Always polite, courtly of speech, if hapless, Paddington creates station as trains clattered through, bound for the West Country, chaos around him, but, as children’s writer Michael Morpurgo bearing child evacuees from the Blitz. He had watched harrowing wrote, “he’s not just a charming bear… he reflects the best of us… newsreels of Jewish child refugees, rescued by the Kindertransport, through his innocence and kindness he relates to everyone – adults each clutching “a little case or package containing all their treasured as well as children”. He is also touchingly optimistic, “a hopeful possessions”, and each with a label round their neck. “There’s no bear at heart”. sadder sight than refugees,” he once said. Among a cast of other engaging characters, Samuel Gruber, an elderly Hungarian with an antique shop on Portobello Road, is His day job with the BBC kept aspiring writer Michael busy, but he Paddington’s friend and ally. He was apparently based on had had a little publishing success with his short stories and was sitting at his typewriter on ten days’ leave, a blank sheet of paper before him, as he cast around for inspiration. In an instant he caught 56 BRITAIN www.britain-magazine.com
HERITAGE www.britain-magazine.com Clockwise from far left: The first Paddington film was released in 2014, and was nominated for two BAFTAs; the Queen's afternoon tea with Paddington Bear was kept as a surprise for everyone, including her family; the first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was released in 1958; Michael Bond created his beloved character from a lonely-looking teddy bear he'd bought in Selfridges BRITAIN 57
Michael Bond’s literary agent, Harvey Unna, a German Jew who fled In 2000 a lifesize bronze statue was unveiled on Paddington the Nazis, arriving in England with just a suitcase and £25. Michael Station, which, on the death of Michael Bond in 2017, aged 91, had originally intended Paddington to have travelled from Africa, became a shrine to the author, where Londoners left jars of until Harvey pointed out that there are no bears – or barely a bear – marmalade and other touching tributes. there, so instead he became a Peruvian spectacled bear. Paddington is the face of Robertson’s Marmalade; he has Paddington made his publishing debut in October 1958, earning appeared on a 50p coin and a postage stamp. More than 20 Bond a princely £75 advance, and, in those less rapacious times, it Paddington books have been published, in 30 different languages, would be 14 years before anyone thought to capitalise on his image. including the Latin Ursus Nomine Paddington. For Christmas 1972, Shirley and Eddie Clarkson designed a The movie Paddington, released in 2014, was followed by prototype soft toy and gave one each Paddington 2, in 2017, when the to their daughter, Joanna, and son Michael had intended Paddington original starry cast, which included Jeremy (the writer and broadcaster Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, best known for presenting the BBC’s to have travelled from Africa, but as Julie Walters, Sally Hawkins, Jim Top Gear). there are no bears there, he became Broadbent, Peter Capaldi and Imelda PHOTOS: © CHRIS DORNEY/BBA TRAVEL/DYLAN GARCIA/UKARTPICS/CHRIS HARRIS/ALAMY The Wellington boots were the Staunton, were joined by Hugh Grant. Clarksons’ innovation, allowing the a Peruvian spectacled bear Paddington 3 is expected to be bear to stand. Michael Bond granted released next year. them global licensing rights to On his passing, Michael Bond left us manufacture Paddington toys, a holy grail. one last precious gift, Paddington’s Finest Hour, completed just Already published in Swedish, Danish, Dutch and Japanese, before he died and published posthumously in 2018 on the 60th Paddington was set to take the world by storm. Today Paddington anniversary of A Bear Called Paddington. paraphernalia includes purses, pencil cases and pyjamas, coasters But a finer hour was yet to be. In June 2022, Paddington was and colouring books, backpacks, T-shirts, jigsaws, skittles… There honoured to join the Queen for afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace have been Paddington musicals, stage shows, ice shows, puppet to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. As delirious crowds on the Mall shows and TV adaptations. whooped and waved their flags, Paddington stood on his chair to In 1985, Paddington was the subject of a Sunday Times Magazine deliver a message for all of us. “Happy Jubilee, Ma’am, and thank “Life in the Day” column. A year later he joined Richard Branson in you… for everything.” his attempt to beat the Atlantic Blue Riband speed record and “That’s very kind,” said Her Majesty, and here is the essence of the attended the Conservative party conference with Margaret Thatcher. Paddington story, its perennial appeal, why it warms the hearts of His official autobiography, The Life and Times of Paddington Bear, young and old. Born of an impulse purchase, because a soft-hearted by Russell Ash and Michael Bond, was published in 1988. man felt sorry for a stuffed toy, it’s about kindness. 58 BRITAIN www.britain-magazine.com
www.britain-magazine.com HERITAGE Clockwise from far left: A sculpture of the bear at Paddington Station; Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill was used as the street where the Brown family live in the films; a rare first edition of the novel shows Bond's annotations; Alice's Antiques Shop in Portobello plays a starring role in the second film; fans paid tribute to Bond on his death in 2017 BRITAIN 59
One Day & Multi-Day Tailor Made Private Tours for the Discerning 60 BRITAIN www.bhctours.co.uk | [email protected] | +44 (0)1303 258193 www.britain-magazine.com
WEEKENDER PHOTO: © IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY S t Ives is as pretty as a picture. Its ST IVES plaster casts just as she left them. tangle of ancient alleys opens out to You could spend a leisurely afternoon reveal a harbour whose clear, Artists have long been drawn to lagoon-like waters mix shades of blue that this breathtaking harbour town weaving through St Ives’ network of ancient you’ll find in no artist’s palette – though lanes, known as the ‘Down-a-long’. The countless artists have tried to recreate it over in West Cornwall curious street names here (Mount Zion, the years. Chy-An-Chy, Wheal Dream) might have WORDS NATASHA FOGES you wondering as to their origins, while Many painters set up their easels on ‘The rows of quaint cottages and courtyards Island’ – actually a headland, dividing the settled with their children in the area at the vibrant with flowers conjure an almost Porthmeor area to the north-west from outbreak of war in 1939. Hepworth’s Mediterranean feel. Among the shops and Porthminster to the east and south – which distinctive sculptures in bronze, stone and bakeries wafting the irresistible scent of has spectacular views of the town and wood are still on display in the jungly, Cornish pasties are numerous artists’ harbour. The little Chapel of St Nicholas flower-filled garden where the sculptor studios and galleries. The two-week St Ives here was once used as a place of worship for herself placed them, now the Barbara September Festival – a celebration of the sailors, and later by customs officers to look Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. Arts and music – sees open studios, out for smugglers along the coast. Far Her studio, where she worked until her painting workshops and more. below, the harbour bobs with colourful death in 1975, has been atmospherically fishing boats. preserved, with her overalls, tools and The art trail continues at Tate St Ives. This world-renowned gallery, set in a Even though this scenic fishing village has Above: The view over St Ives’ picturesque harbour former gasworks overlooking the Atlantic, drawn artists since the start of the 19th towards ‘The Island’ Next page, from left: St Michael’s makes the most of the special quality of century, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century light for which the town is famous. Vast that St Ives became the centre of an art Mount; Tate St Ives; the town’s pretty cobbled windows and curved walls frame the movement: the St Ives School. streets have attracted artists since the 19th century glorious sea views, vying for your attention with the impressive collection of modern The artists that really put St Ives on the European art, with works by Matisse, map were Ben Nicholson and his then wife, Rothko and Picasso. the sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth, who www.britain-magazine.com BRITAIN 61
WEEKENDER Conclude your art tour with a visit to the A 20-minute drive south is magical St TRAVEL ESSENTIALS PHOTOS: © MKGOLDER/GEORGE STANDEN/ISTOCK/LUKE HAYES/TSI century-old Leach Pottery on the edge of Michael’s Mount, a castle-crowned island town, often considered the home of British that’s connected to the town of Marazion at GETTING THERE studio pottery. Established by the potter low tide by a cobbled causeway in the Trains from London Paddington to St Ives Bernard Leach, it’s now dedicated to his summer months (in winter access is by boat take around 6 hours; or there’s an overnight sleeper work, as well as being a working studio that only). Originally a Benedictine monastery, it service. Newquay Airport, with flights from Gatwick, trains the next generation of St Ives studio has also been a castle and a prison at Manchester and Edinburgh, is a 50-min drive from potters. You can even book a taster session different points in its history. St Michael’s St Ives. www.gwr.com; cornwallairportnewquay.com on the potter’s wheel. has been the home of the St Aubyn family since the mid-17th century, though the abbey WHERE TO STAY If St Ives has inspired you to pick up a is run by the National Trust. The Pedn Olva, perched on granite rocks paintbrush, there are more luminous skies above the sparkling waters of St Ives Bay, is a lovely and shifting seascapes to be found in the Ghostly tales and legends swirl around place to stay. The simple but stylishly decorated surrounding area, as well as some intriguing this ancient site, from the giant Cormoran rooms enjoy wonderful sea views, and there’s a myths and legends. who is said to have built the mount (and convivial bar and restaurant to enjoy, as well as an was finally slain by a local boy) to the outdoor heated pool. pednolva.co.uk A 10-minute drive away is the mining spectral Lady in Grey, who is believed to village of Zennor, in a landscape that’s have been the nanny of the St Aubyn family WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK scattered with mysterious prehistoric sites. in the 1750s. Tables at the Porthminster Beach Café are The village is famous for the medieval highly sought after for the sea views and delicious carving of a mermaid holding a comb and The Mount was famously painted by freshly grilled lobster. Tucked away in the old fishing looking glass inside the 12th-century church Turner, during a tour of Cornwall that is quarter, The Mermaid also has a tempting array of of St Senara. As legend has it, a local man thought to have influenced the artist’s later seafood, served up amid an atmospheric jumble of named Matthew Trewella had a beautiful experiments with colour and light. “I have nautical decor. www.porthminstercafe.co.uk; singing voice and always sang the closing never seen so many natural beauties in such www.mermaidstives.co.uk hymn in church services. His voice carried a limited spot as I have seen here,” he to a nearby cove, where a mermaid was wrote. In broad brushstrokes, it’s what still FURTHER INFORMATION entranced by it and lured Matthew to the draws so many artists to this bewitching www.stives-cornwall.co.uk sea, never to be seen again. The mermaid part of Cornwall to this day. motif also appears on the bronze dial on the church’s clock tower, with an inscription For more on what to see and do in Cornwall, dated 1737. see www.britain-magazine.com 62 BRITAIN www.britain-magazine.com
to saveLoavsterye3ar00wcehhuerlcpheeds It survived the Middle Ages, Henry VIII and two world wars Now time is running out for hundreds of historic churches We keep these wonderful buildings open and thriving for today, and tomorrow. You can help us by becoming a Friend of the National Churches Trust now. PLEASE JOIN TODAY for just £40 per year by Direct Debit at Registered Charity Number: 1119845 www.nationalchurchestrust.org/friends2022, or send a cheque for £45 by completing the coupon and returning it to the National Churches Trust, 7 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QB (please affix a stamp). FREE BOOK. New Friends receive a free copy of ‘The Treasures of English Churches’, RRP £20, a delightful and luxuriously illustrated hardback book of photographs by Dr Matthew Byrne, with a Foreword by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, a must for everyone who appreciates churches, art and heritage. Title Forename Surname Address Postcode Email Your information will be treated as private and kept securely, we will never make public, swap or sell your details: www.nationalchurchestrust.org/privacy-policy. As a Friend we will write to you around four times a year with newsletters, our Annual Review and invitations to events. If you would rather NOT hear from us by post please tick this box. www.nationalchurchestrust.org/friends2022 BM - 9-22
THE LAKE DISTRICT
THE LAKE DISTRICT T here’s something about the Lake District – lake to admire the scenery. This excursion is now provided Previous page: something that sparks the imagination and by Windermere Lake Cruises, whose steamer-style vessels Grasmere is one of soothes the soul. A picture-perfect expanse of and modern launches glide up and down the lake. the smallest lakes, rugged peaks, placid waters and rolling and is set in a farmland, neatly divided by dry-stone walls and dotted From the deck you can spot the mock-Gothic Wray beautiful landscape with stone-built villages, north- Castle on the western shore, where Beatrix Potter and her Opposite: Wray west England's Lake District has Castle, which sits on the double accolade of being family spent their first summer the western shore of both a UNESCO World in the Lake District in 1882. A Lake Windermere, is Heritage Site and a National new exhibition at the castle where Beatrix Potter Park. Walkers wax lyrical about displays the photographs of and her family its famous fells (as the hills and Rupert Potter, Beatrix’s father, holidayed in 1882 mountains are called here), but which reveal a passion for the it’s just as rewarding to explore local nature that he passed onto ILLUSTRATION: LAURA HALLET. PHOTOS: © NADIA ISAKOVA/AWL IMAGES/NATIONAL TRUST it in a more leisurely way – his daughter. Beatrix spent her perhaps following the trail of days sketching the mountains, two literary lights who found woodlands and flowers: the inspiration here a century apart. first glimmer of a love for the landscape that would last for One of the area’s most famous the rest of her life. devotees was Beatrix Potter, the much-loved children’s author Many happy summers who escaped the constraints of followed, and Beatrix’s holiday Kensington and found peace in sketches evolved into picture a cottage above Windermere. A stories for her family and century earlier, the Romantic friends. The tales featured a poet William Wordsworth spent mischievous rabbit named his most prolific years in Peter, a hedgehog named Mrs Grasmere. The lakes of Tiggy-Winkle and many other Windermere and Grasmere are lovable creatures. The Tale of just three miles from each other, Peter Rabbit was published in connected by regular buses, so 1901, and with the proceeds it’s easy to plot a route through Beatrix bought herself a holiday the romantic landscapes that home above Windermere. Hill inspired these great writers, Top, a small working farm with and visit their wonderfully a rambling cottage garden in evocative homes. the village of Near Sawrey, provided inspiration for many Our tour begins around of her famous stories. Windermere, the biggest of the area’s 16 lakes, at over ten miles Step into the simple long. It has long been the most farmhouse and it is as if its popular of the Lakes, ever since one-time owner has just left the the arrival of the Kendal and room: a fire crackles in the Windermere rail line in 1847. grate and Beatrix’s clogs sit Wealthy families built holiday neatly under a chair. All of the homes overlooking the water furniture is hers, from the and took steamers across the willow-pattern plates displayed on the scrubbed oak dresser to 66 BRITAIN the grandfather clock ticking www.britain-magazine.com
THE LAKE DISTRICT Top: Hill Top, where cosily in the corner. The parlour is a surprising contrast, THE MYTHICAL TIZZIE-WHIZIE PHOTOS: © STEVE VIDLER/AWL IMAGES/NATIONAL TRUST/ALAN COPSON/AWL IMAGES Beatrix Potter wrote with its elegant furniture and marble mantlepiece: a and illustrated many reminder that, while Beatrix immersed herself in country When tourists first began to arrive in the Lake District at the end of of her famous tales, life, her background was in the wealthy middle classes. the 19th century, the boatmen of Bowness-in-Windermere, the main was left to the town on the lake, spotted an opportunity. They informed tourists that National Trust The informal cottage garden is a delight, immediately a creature called the ‘Tizzie-Whizie’ could be seen around the lake, Above left and right: recognisable from Beatrix’s famous illustrations. You can encouraging them to pay for boat rides to spot it. The creature was shy Visitors to the imagine Peter Rabbit hopping up the flagstone path in and water-loving, they said, with the body of a hedgehog, the antennae farmhouse can see search of cabbages, and Jemima Puddle-Duck laying her of a bee and a fluffy tail like a squirrel. how the author lived eggs in the rhubarb patch. and worked To silence any doubters, they produced a ‘genuine photograph’ Opposite: Take a lake In 1913 Beatrix married local solicitor William Heelis of the mysterious creature, which had supposedly been lured to the ferry across and moved to nearby Castle Cottage, but she kept Hill Top photographer’s studio with ginger biscuits. Thousands of postcards of Windermere from as a place to work, entertain and display her collections. the image were printed and sold by the Bowness boatmen on their the Waterhead Pier Beatrix left Hill Top to the National Trust on her death, popular Tizzie-Whizie hunts: the tourists’ only real chance of seeing the in Ambleside stipulating that it was to be preserved as she left it – a large elusive creature. part of its charm. www.britain-magazine.com At the Beatrix Potter Gallery in the pretty village of Hawskhead, you can get up close to illustrations of her 68 BRITAIN
Grasmere is best known for its association with Wordsworth, who declared it ‘the loveliest spot that man hath ever found’ Left to right: Dove beloved characters, and follow the story of Beatrix’s PHOTOS: © STEVE TAYLOR ARPS/ALAMY/COLIN PALMER PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY/WINDERMERE JETTY MUSEUM Cottage was the evolution from children’s author to passionate Wordsworth conservationist: upon her death, Beatrix left 4,000 acres of siblings' first home in land in the Lake District to the National Trust in order to Grasmere; the poet's save it from development. final resting place is the graveyard of the Before leaving the lake, stop off at the wonderful village's St Oswald's Windermere Jetty Museum, which celebrates the rich Church; the Lake history of the Lakes with a world-class collection of boats. District's rich boating You’ll find an array of special vessels here, from Beatrix history is celebrated Potter’s ramshackle rowing boat, made of old floorboards, at Windermere to record-breaking speed boats and the collection’s Jetty Museum flagship, the dazzling steam launch Branksome, built in 1896. Fitted out with walnut panelling, velvet upholstery and a silver tea service, it’s one of the finest Victorian steam launches in the world, meticulously restored in the on-site conservation workshop. You can even join a cruise on one of the museum’s gleaming Edwardian launches too. From Windermere, travel winding lakeside roads to beautiful Grasmere, the lake best known for its association with the poet William Wordsworth, who famously declared it ‘the loveliest spot that man hath ever found’. Recently opened after a £6.5m reimagining, Wordsworth Grasmere incorporates Dove Cottage, where the poet moved in 1799 with his sister Dorothy. Wordsworth was inspired to write many of his best works here, while Dorothy penned her Grasmere Journal, a vivid chronicle of their daily life. The cosy cottage, with its stone floors, dark-panelled rooms and glowing fires, transports you back to the time when it was a bustling family home, 70 BRITAIN
THE LAKE DISTRICT while you can explore handwritten manuscripts, journals and letters in the excellent museum next door. En route to the Wordsworth family’s next home, Allan Bank, follow your nose to the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, where the spicy-sweet treat was invented in 1854; the store has barely changed in the years since. Before establishing as a shop, the building housed the village school, where Wordsworth once taught. It was at Allan Bank, a handsome Georgian villa with views over Grasmere, that Wordsworth began his Guide to the Lakes (1810), in which he first mooted the idea of ‘a sort of national property’ that everybody ‘had the right to enjoy’, long before the existence of national parks. It was well over a century before the Lake District eventually became one, thanks to the efforts of a later resident of the same house, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. One of the three founding members of the National Trust and a passionate campaigner for conservation, Rawnsley – aided by his great friend, Beatrix Potter – was instrumental in preserving the Lake District. Allan Bank was left to the National Trust in 1951. When a terrible fire ravaged the interior in 2011, rather than restoring it, the Trust left its walls bare and its rooms empty. It’s now a historic house with a difference, with comfy chairs in which to sit and take in the views with a cup of tea – something of which Wordsworth would approve: he spent a small fortune shipping chests of BRITAIN 71
THE LAKE DISTRICT THE PLANNER Above: As well as inspiring William GETTING THERE Wordsworth, Great Western Railway runs direct services to Grasmere is where Oxenholme Lake District from London Euston (2hr 40min). gingerbread was From here, you can catch a train to Windermere (20min). invented in 1854 Stagecoach runs a regular bus service in the area, while Left: You can cruise Windermere Lake Cruises offers boat trips. www.gwr.com; across Lake www.stagecoachbus.com; www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk Windermere in style aboard a classic WHERE TO STAY steamer-style boat Rothay Manor is ideally sited between Windermere and Twinings tea from London. Grasmere in the pretty town of Ambleside. Plump for one of PHOTOS: © ANDREW ROLAND/ALAMY/WINDERMERE LAKE CRUISES Just three short years later the Wordsworth family the eight suites in the new Pavilion, which are spacious and stylish, with generous bathrooms. www.rothaymanor.co.uk moved again, this time to Rydal Mount, another picture- perfect house in a delightful garden. Set above Rydal WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK Water, a slip of a lake between Grasmere and Windermere, Rothay Manor has two restaurants: a fine-dining option the house was Wordsworth’s home for 37 years until his with a refined eight-course tasting menu, and an informal death in 1850. Wordsworth wrote the immortal lines ‘I bistro, with local produce such as Cumbrian lamb and cured wandered lonely as a cloud’ here (Daffodils, 1815) and chalk stream trout on the menu. Destination restaurant The landscaped the wonderful Romantic-style garden. Still Forest Side grows many of its own ingredients and is known crammed with his furniture and possessions, from his for unusual flavour combinations. The Cuckoo Brow Inn is an inkstand and quill to the picnic box he took on rambles, unpretentious pub near Hill Top, while the cosy Hole in t’ Wall Rydal Mount embodies the spirit of the poet. in Bowness dates back to 1612. www.theforestside.com; www.cuckoobrow.co.uk; holeintwall.co.uk ‘I often ask myself what will become of Rydal Mount after our day’, mused Wordsworth in 1840. He might, FURTHER INFORMATION indeed, have also wondered about the fate of the wider Visit the Lakes’ visitor centre, Brockhole, for more on Lakeland landscapes that he so loved. Thanks to his early the area’s history, activities and events. www.brockhole.co.uk; campaigning, the pioneering work of Beatrix Potter and www.visitlakedistrict.com the efforts of the National Trust, the Lake District is wonderfully unchanged – and is still inspiring poets, www.britain-magazine.com ramblers and dreamers alike all these years later. 72 BRITAIN
UK’s Most Popular Published Artist 2022 Lucy’s love for the Lakes started at a young age and it is one of her favourite places. From regular holidays as a child, she now visits with her own family choosing to spend time at their caravan in Keswick, exploring some of the best scenery you can find. It is this longstanding love affair with the lakes and her time spent in Keswick that has inspired new works of art in a dedicated collection showcasing this wonderful region through the seasons. Well known across Yorkshire, the North-East and beyond for art galleries and a successful e-commerce website serving “I hope my c ecti s spire her naïve and imaginative art, Lucy has one goal; create art customers around the world offering stunning original works y to sî the s e beauty that makes you smile, and her signature sheep art is some of of art, Giclee prints and striking canvases as well as ceramics, tha I do d tha br gs a her most recognisable work. Lucy uses soft pastels on board to textiles, and stationery; making beautiful gifts or additions to sm e to those who view .” create bright and uplifting artwork. Each piece has a real-life any home. story behind it inspired by the sights, sounds and events in her own life including family, surroundings and those closest to her. Lucy’s full body of work can be viewed online at www. lucypittaway.co.uk or in one of her galleries where her As the ‘UK’s Most Popular Published Artist 2022’ awarded signature sheep art plus other wonderful collections are by the Fine Art Trade Guild, Lucy is a multi-award winning available including the Lakes Collection, Staycation and artist, proudly running a family-owned business with beautiful the highly successful Cycling collections. ORDER ONLINE AT WWW.LUCYPITTAWAY.CO.UK ORDER BY PHONE 01748 810965 GALLERIES AT BROMPTON-ON-SWALE | RICHMOND | YARM | KESWICK Follow us on @lucypittawayart
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