trip to the Lake District : Beatrix Potter's Hill Top

We had a great time (almost 4 hours!) picnicking by Coniston water, we moved to another Beatrix Potter's famous farmhouse, the Hill Top. In fact Hill Top was her first house she bought in Lake District. Previously (as mentioned in my last entry) we went to the Yew Tree farmhouse.

Here are some photographs we had at Hill Top. But no camera allowed inside it =(

on the way to Hill Top in New Sawrey

 the ticket room

 nearby Bed & Breakfast

Beautiful scenery.. all along the way. I'm sitting on wall stones, we think it is originally Roman stonework..not sure but it expanding everywhere here.

 the gate to Hill Top (this is the souvenir shops)

 The souvenir shop. 

Even until now, Beatrix Potter (1866- 1943) is still one of the world's best selling and best loved author. Legacy!

Entering the gate, and we passed by a garden..and look at those sheeps! 

Aariz likes to play with sheeps, but not this time honey.. lain kali mummy bawa pegi farm play ok

boleh pula Aariz nak masuk dalam tu, haha..sabar je lah

the porch

The Hill Top

Beatrix bought this working farmhouse as her home away from London, and as her artistic retreat. It was here she got ideas for her writing, that she featured in the villages, houses and this farm in her books. Some of them are The Tales of Tom Kitten and The Tales of Jemima Puddle Duck. I'd love to read all of her books to my children, good for imagination..erk mummy pun suka.

There are four bedrooms inside the house, two living rooms and all keep in good condition as it is, even the wallpapers! We also found Beatrix's first sketches, old photos, her dolls and few more things inside a house that you could imagine.

After Hill Top we went to the Fell Foot park, for an afternoon tea. I'm crazy over cream teas now. Inilah cara melepak kat sini ye..kedai mamak takde. But sadly, we were late that the cafe has closed. Terus takde mood haha. Thanks to this lovely creature.

Peter Rabbit.

 the Fell Foot park

And we went back to Bownese-on-Windermere town for a quick stroll before went back to our cottage.

trip to the Lake District : the Yew Tree farm and Picnic at Coniston water

Breakfast in Windermere =)

Lake District is commonly known as the Lakes. It lies within the country of Cumbria. Windermere is the largest lake, if you could recall Ambleside from my previous Windermere cruise entry. Rajinkan menampal map, so that you can imagine it and of coz for my memory =)

We had picnic at Coniston water on our second day in Lake District. The journey to the picnic spot from our cottage took only 12 miles but it was a bit nail biting drive of  hilly road on small one lane. Tapi drivers sini memanglah mempunyai toleransi yang tinggi!. And the serene  view of villages, farms, streams and bridges, it was all worth it for 25 mins drive.

On our way to Coniston water, we passed by a farmhouse which I recognized from a movie! This is Yew Tree Farm featured as Hill Top in Miss Potter movie (2006). Yew Tree was owned by Beatrix Potter in 1930, among other farmhouses in Lake District. She was a famous children's book author who moved from London and resided in Lake District. She was also a naturalist and conservationist, and she gave all of her fortune to National trust to preserve the extraordinary beauty of the Lake District. haish..kalau baca pasal dia memang inspiring betul. And makes me wonder, apalah contribution kita semasa hidup ye?

I guess nothing has changed to this farmhouse since then..this is a working farm, mind you. We didn't go inside though..it was raining plus it's a Bed&Breakfast now, so not open to wanderers.

Only a short drive from Yew Tree and finally we reached Brown Howe, the picnic spot at Coniston water. While mummy and Aariz were playing, daddy was setting up our tent and BBQ. Thanks daddy..so here's our proud tent =)

 it was freezing cold! but it's not always that I could go to the lake.. hee

ahh love it! Tak sabar balik Malaysia dan terjun semua sungai, tasik, pantai...

trip to the Lake District : our 5th Anniversary

The Lake District, hmm..anyone could easily fall in love with this British countryside. The lakes, mountains (or fells), villages and towns. Serenity. We returned again to the Lake District obviously because we love it! And even until now, we still have dreams to come back again. 

The journey to Bownese-on-Windermere ( a town in Lake District) took almost 3 hours from Birmingham, with one stop at highway M6 Services. M6 is public highway, south to north macam PLUS di Malaysia and Services tu macam R n R. 

We had our packed lunch, erk I memang wajib lunch nasi! haha..and of coz to freshen up ourselves sebab penat drive lama. There are many Services stop along the highway. Samalah macam PLUS, ada cafes, shops, toilets etc..

countryside scenery,.. greenish fields and small dual way lane  =)

 I swear, this looks like in Luzern!

We were actually late, behind our schedule. Kat UK ni kalau nampak sunshine kena cepat2lah, sebab cepat je dia berlalu..nanti rugi!

We parked our car at nearby parking area and quickly went to the ferry dock, bought our Windermere cruise ticket and off on afternoon sailing.

We were on the Red line cruise, a 70 mins round trip from Bowness to Ambleside accompanied with commentary from a National Park ranger. But we hardly put much attention on that. It was a lovely leisurely cruise, taking in all wonderful view of mountains and water. Romantiknya! 

 Ambleside pier

the Belsfield Hotel, as seen from our cruise

Love the scenery here in Bownese-on-Windermere, a perfect gateway for our 5th anniversary. We've been planning this for months and it turned perfectly just how we imagined it would be. After the cruise, we went up the hill to the Belsfield Hotel to have an afternoon cream teas. The view is spectacular, thanks to the hotel location for an interrupted view of the lake Windermere.

I love cream teas, I can bake my scones now =)

After spending some time admiring the view we went strolling around. When we first came here, it was snowing. The snow covered it all, kali ni semua nampak dan sangat cantik.

Can you believe it was 9pm? Terang lagi kan.. But we were all tired so we went back to our small cottage in Windermere town. Dah penat, and I cooked our dinner..apa lagi masak spagetilah, the easiest and fastest yang confirm both my boys suka. 

Happy Anniversary abg, thanks for always make my dreams come true!