10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT BEATRIX POTTER

1. AN EARLY manuscript of The Tale Of Peter Rabbit contained a gruesome drawing of Peter Rabbit’s father being stuffed into a pie by Mrs McGregor. It was deemed too distressing for children and removed. 2. WHEN Potter died her ashes were scattered on a hillside. The exact location is a secret. 3. EVERYTHING at Hill Top is exactly as she left it — except for the fireplace in the hall. Visitors were so disappointed that it looked nothing like that in her stories, a more traditional one was put in. 4. MR McGREGOR’S garden isn’t at Hill Top. The most likely site is the Lingholm Estate, Derwentwater, privately owned and open to the public (thelingholmestate.co.uk). 5. IN THE 2006 film Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, Yew Tree Farm, near Coniston, stood in for Hill Top. Hollywood didn’t think the Potter farmhouse made the grade. 6. POTTER set up a tea room at Yew Tree Farm. Today, it is a holiday cottage and also has workshops on Herdwick sheep. (yewtree-farm.com). 7. SHE was passionate about the superiority of Herdwicks. This hardy native has a darker, thicker fleece than other breeds, meaning they can overwinter on the fells. 8. POTTER was never happier than when tending to her flock. Dressed in tweeds with a sack draped over her shoulders to keep off the rain, she was once mistaken for a tramp. 9. RELATIONS with her mother were always strained. ‘My mother is so exacting . . . it does wear a person out,’ she once remarked. 10. HER charitable work was immense. She paid for district nurses, including midwives, in her area. She also encouraged Girl Guides, allowing them to camp on her land.