Celebrating Beatrix Potter video

Let's talk about: Miss Potter and Yew Tree Farm

I mentioned Yew Tree Farm in Monday's post and said I would be talking more about it today. 

Yew Tree Farm is in Coniston in the Lake District. It is about 20 minutes away from Hill Top Farm. 

Yew Tree Farm was also owned by Beatrix Potter and is still home to some of her furniture and decorations.

I want to talk about it today because Yew Tree Farm was used as Hill Top Farm in the movie Miss Potter which I talked about in April in this post. 

Martin Childs, the designer for Miss Potter, explained why Yew Tree Farm was used as Hill Top:

"...On our third trip to the Lakes together, Miss Potter's director, Chris Noonan, and I were trying to work out how to use Beatrix's own Hill Top Farm as the location for the movie's Hill Top Farm. Why wasn't it perfect? It had to be: our core audience would know it so well, its little slate porch has become familiar to millions, and it is still full of Beatrix's own possessions. 

Beatrix own choices shaped it. Yet when we visited it, we were frustrated; it may be great for stills photography, but for movie making it was impossibly restrictive. Such are the surroundings (barns built later by Beatrix and therefore outside our period, a wonderful but precious heritage garden) that staging any scene (and we had many to stage) forced us too close to the front door and left us with nowhere to put the camera. The National Trust, its owner, were keen for us to use it- it seemed pretty ungrateful of us not to jump at it. 

Driving to the station to catch our train back to London, we were shown one more farm to add to Beatrix's portfolio of real estate. It wouldn't have a name, it would just be part of a montage sequence. It was Yew Tree Farm and it took little time to realize that it should be our Hill Top. We were confident enough for it to be the only Hill Top candidate we'd show to our cinematographer, Andrew Dunn. 

Its disadvantages were few, and to us insignificant; we're calling it Hill Top and it's at the bottom of a hill; all Potterphiles know the real thing, and we mustn't alienate them. At risk of oversimplifying my job, both of these would be relatively easy to overcome with carefully chosen camera angles, a more historically photogenic paint finish, and the addition of glazing bars and familiar Hill Top greenery. Once these were achieved the task would be for our greensmen to take it back a hundred years to become a working garden again.

I photographed it from its most 'Hill Top' angle and took the photo home to form the basis of a concept drawing I would use to convince anyone who needed convincing, and the National Trust needed convincing. Aware that they would be disappointed that in our view Hill Top couldn't play Hill Top, I went to great lengths to show via a sheet of paper that Yew Tree could not only play Hill Top, it was the only farm that could play it at all....

The movie's art director, Mark Raggett, listed all the points we would have to negotiate with the National Trust, chiefly color (Yew Tree was too white for Hill Top), our wish to dig up the lawn, and replacing an existing wooden fence, a dry-stone wall across the entire width of the site. After many conversations, and with the enthusiastic blessing of the tenant farmers, a real wall would be built, with no showbiz plaster fakery."

The offer was accepted and it was decided that Yew Tree Farm would indeed play the part of Hill Top Farm for the movie. 

He went on to talk about how they transformed it: 

" About three weeks after the dry-stone waller started we were ready to shoot. The greensmen, all real gardeners but with a filmmaker's knowledge of how much should be living, how much should be fake, made a working farm out of Yew Tree's tea garden and, using photographs of Hill Top, fixed matching wisteria to the wall. We built a shelter for the pigs which would be taken down when we were finished, assuming the pigs didn't take it down first. A bonus was that the outbuildings at Yew Tree, unlike those at Hill Top, predated Beatrix's arrival in some cases by centuries."

Yew Tree farm can not be toured the way Hill Top can. It is rented out as holiday cottage now. (Unfortunately not one we will be staying at as they require longer stays now) 

I found a really fun clip on YouTube that gives you an insider look at Yew Tree Farm in case you would like to see more!

Enjoy!

I think it amazing how much they were able to make Yew Tree look like Hill Top and I love that, even though it is not the actual Hill Top, it still is connected to Beatrix!

Let's talk about: The Lake District and Beatrix Potter

 The Lake District. 

Today I want to look at a few of the places in the Lake District that have ties to Beatrix Potter. 

While Beatrix was growing up, her family spent many holidays in the Lake District and she grew to love it. Her favorite places was a village called Sawrey near Lake Windermere. 

When she grew up and was making an income from her books, she decided to buy a farm in Sawrey called Hill Top. 

She arranged for an extension to be built onto the farmhouse so that the farm manager, John Cannon, could continue to live there and manage the farm. 

At this time Beatrix was mostly still living in London with her parents and she spent as much time as she could visiting her new home. She renovated, created a beautiful garden, and decorated every inch of the house in a way that was delightful and special to her. 

She used Hill Top as a background for many of the illustrations in her books. 

In her will, Hill Top was left to the National Trust as well as the furnishings so that it would still look the same today. 

It is open to the public to explore and I can't wait to go there!

Next door and behind Hill Top Farm is the Tower Bank Arms. 

It is also a National Trust property and was featured in Beatrix' book The tale of Jemima Puddle Duck.

It is now a pub where you can go in to enjoy a meal, a drink, and it's rich history. 

Another spot that was special to Beatrix would, of course, be her home with her husband William Heelis. They lived in Castle Cottage for thirty happy years. 

From what I understand, you cannot go into Castle Cottage. But you can admire it from across the way. 

Another home that Beatrix owned but did not live in was Yew Tree Farm. 

This is the home that was used to represent Hill Top in the film Miss Potter and I will talk more about this home on Friday!

The Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead nearby is a 17th century building that was the former office of William, a solicitor. 

Here you can step inside and see an exhibition of Beatrix Potter's original drawings and water color pictures.

In Bowness on Windermere there is an attraction called The World of Beatrix Potter.

As far as I know, it doesn't have any particular historical value as a building and is just something that they have built to be a fun attraction. 

It looks like it would be fun if you took kids to it as you can explore the stories and characters. 

But I'm not sure I would take the time to see it as an adult without kids. It might be kind of fun but I'm not sure if it is a tourist trap kind of place or not. 

Near Lake Windermere there is Wray Castle. 

Wray Castle sits on the western side of Windermere. It was built in the 1840's for just two people to live in and was the first Lake District holiday home for Beatrix Potter and her family.

You can explore the castle and its grounds in all weather. 

Beatrix' favorite lake in the area was Esthwaite Water. 

It's very beautiful!

One of the things I look forward to the most when visiting the Lake District is just going on walks in these areas. I have a book, Walking with Beatrix Potter by Norman and June Buckley,  that outlines a bunch of different walks that you can go on to see different things. It details the difficulty of the hike and the length and time it would take to do it. 

And just for fun I am going to add one more location that is not in the Lake District. 

Beatrix based her illustrations in The Tailor of Gloucester on the tailor's house situated close to Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester. She used a local story about a tailor who tried to finish a waistcoat for the Mayor's wedding one Christmas Day as the basis for the story. 

She later acknowledged this story as her personal favorite so it is kind of cool that you can visit the house of the tailor of Gloucester. 

*If you were visiting the Lake District would you visit these sites? 

*What is your favorite Beatrix Potter book?

*Have you ever been to the Lake District? (or Gloucester since I added that!)

Let's talk about: Miss Potter

Miss Potter is one of my favorite movies. 

It tells the life story of Beatrix Potter, author of the Peter Rabbit books and many other wonderful stories. 

As much as I have always loved Beatrix Potter's books, I didn't know much about her as a person. 

This movie lets us in on her story. 

We see Beatrix as a young girl already telling stories and drawing her beautiful watercolor pictures. 

(played by adorable Lucy Boynton)

Most of the movie takes place as she is finally finding success with her books. 

A publishing house agrees to publish her but doesn't believe it will be a success. 

They use her as a way to keep their youngest brother busy so they can be in charge of the books they think are actually important. 

Norman Warne, played by Ewan McGregor, is wonderful.

He is as enchanted by her books as we are. 

I think we all fall in love with him alongside her.

Through her acquaintance with him she also makes a best friend of his single sister Millie Warne (played by Emily Watson). 

This movie is filled with magic, 

beautiful scenery (that breathtaking Lake District!), 

and a kiss that got my vote as one of the best movie kisses ever. 

It is charming, sweet, romantic, heartbreaking, and inspiring. 

Renee Zellweger does a tremendous job of bringing Beatrix to life.

Lloyd Owen also does a fantastic job at helping us to soothe our heartbreak with his portrayal of William Heelis. 

You don't have to be a huge fan of Beatrix Potter to love this movie (though it does make it even more special!). It is a wonderful story. 

Here is the trailer:

  And for those of you who have already seen it I think you will love this video as much as I do.