So first things first. Many of you will already know about this because I mentioned it in the beta posting for AGS, but if not, I'm one of a number of authors who has left Austen Authors. This is summarized wonderfully by Katherine Grant, so if you haven't read up on what happened head over to her blog. As I said in my post a while back, I've tended to let my work speak for itself. If you've read my series and particularly if you're in on the AGS beta, you know I value diversity in my stories and I'm looking to bring in even more of it.
The admins have deleted the posts of all of the departed authors. I saved all of my posts before submitting my resignation, however, and will be working to restore them over time to this blog, starting with the first two posts in the Lake District series:
In the first two parts, I had been basing in Far Sawrey, but I then moved on to the charming village of Hawkshead (seriously, I can't wait to share it in a future post). I dropped my bags off and as the weather was still clear but threatening to get worse later in the day, I was eager to get to walking. I stopped off in a National Trust shop first, though, because I wanted to get a trekking pole.
Gentler portion of the walk to Latterbarrow
I have a pair of poles at home but haven't really used them, but I was beginning to see how it could be a good idea. There are two key things the pole does: the first being to ease wear on your joints, because you can use it to help in downhill descents; the second being to use it for balance, for example when crossing a stream on stones. So I bought a pole at the shop, and since I was going out walking, the lady there recommended I walk to Latterbarrow.
The view was already pretty good!
I'm going to be honest, I didn't really realize it was...I won't call it a mountain, but it's a HUGE hill. But as I've said before, I've learned that you get rewarded for uphill climbs in England, so I kept going even when I saw that it was extremely high.
Getting steeper...
...and steeper.
The thing is, the path just kept getting steeper and steeper. I was definitely glad for the trekking pole to give me some extra stability going up, but there was one other problem.
Did I mention I am afraid of heights?
I am afraid of heights. Pretty significantly. And all of a sudden my fear kicked in, and I realized that I wasn't really going to be comfortable going back DOWN on the trail I'd come UP. Which meant I had to cross my fingers and keep going and hope for the best.
I made it, obviously, and I was pretty proud of myself for managing it, particularly since the view was absolutely wonderful, as I'd thought it would be. You can see it's very cloudy, but I found that just made it moodier!
Fortunately there WAS an easier path down on the other side, so I got to enjoy some more views without scaring myself!
Still a moody sky, even at lower elevation!
Love these farm houses, tucked away here.
Another farm.
I'm going to try to stay on a monthly blogging schedule here and I've got so much more Lake District to share, as well as some period cookery I've been engaging in. So I'll see you next month when I share where I walked next after Latterbarrow!
In my first post in this Lake District series, I wrote about some of the first walks I took, from my base in Far Sawrey. I was blessed with absolutely beautiful weather for my first few days, but hey, it's England...eventually the rain was going to set in. So on my first somewhat rainy day, I decided to walk over to Near Sawrey, which is the site of Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's house, and see the house.
I was decidedly not the only person
who thought the rainy way would be a good idea for this, but fortunately I got
there well before they opened to line up for a timed entry ticket. The house is
much smaller than the great country houses I usually see at the National Trust,
so they have to manage how many people are inside.
Hill Top exterior
I wasn't actually intending to share the house here when I first went in, so I don't have as much multimedia. I'd originally intended my setting within the Lake District to be an old cottage that had been in the Darcy family for some time, but as I started adding up the number of people that might be staying there (plus servants), I started realizing they needed a little "upgrade". So I made it a farmhouse that had become redundant by the combination of two farms, and Hill Top, a 17th century farmhouse, became the perfect model. So now I'm doubly glad I went!
Although I don't have much in the line of multimedia, I do have quite a few photos to share, and I'll be back in next month's post with some more tales of my walks, and walking videos.
You enter into what I would call the kitchen, Potter called the Entrance Hall, and Lakeland farmers would call the firehouse or houseplace. I love that they had a fire going on a rainy day!
Another angle.
Beside the kitchen is this panelled Parlour.
Beside the kitchen is this panelled Parlour.
Spinning wheel and work table in the Parlour.
Up the stairs...
I love the big old four-poster bed in this bedroom.
Bedroom fireplace.
I loved all of the Georgian-era antiques in the house, like this pitcher.
This "Treasure Room" is filled with all sorts of little items.
Including this doll's house; Potter used some of the rooms as models for her illustrations.
I lost my mind a little bit in the Sitting Room because it has an early 19th century Clementi square pianoforte.
Here's some detail of the keyboard.
And the Clementi branding.
One more pianoforte detail, for good measure!
The "New Room" was described by Potter as the library. The room is larger and looks different because it's part of the 1906 portion of the house (Potter actually split the house with her farm manager, who lived in the other portion).
Detail of one of the desks.
The village of Near Sawrey is a charming little place worth some photos as well, and Beatrix Potter fans may recognise some locations:
Cottages and wildflowers.
A longer view leading up to the village inn.
Close-up of the post box.
Close-up of the inn.
Farther-out view of the village.
I'll leave you with a few more animal photos from my walk back from Near Sawrey to Far Sawrey, but first it's worth noting that part of the reason I was able to make many of these walks on this trip was because of Beatrix Potter. During her lifetime, she worked hand in hand with the National Trust and others to see to preservation of Lake District lands, and after her death she donated more than 4,000 acres to the Trust so that it would be preserved. So not only do her books live on, but the land she helped save does, too.
Of I have no idea how many. I'd intended to do at least one post on walking from my travels last year, but going through my videos and photos I've got lots (as usual), so I'm going to do more. I know some of us may not be able to get out of doors as much right now and others may be in need of some of that beauty of the natural world in a difficult time, so I hope you'll take some walks with me and enjoy nature in this way.
Last year was my first time visiting the Lake District, and when I set my itinerary I forced myself to do something I'm not very good at, which is to slow down. I like to be out all day while I'm traveling, seeing things and doing things, and I usually set how long I'm going to stay in a place based on what there is to see and do. For the Lakes, though, I stayed several nights each in Far Sawrey, Hawkshead, and Chapel Stile. These places are all pretty close to one another so my goal was to get some walks in and spend time relaxing in pubs and inns, just enjoying myself.
I have a bad history of planned walking in the UK. When I'm in a town or village and just set out for a few hours' walk it works well, as does walking the grounds of the various country houses I've visited. But twice I've had grand visions of me spending lots of time striding across fields and over hills/clifftops: a la Poldark when I went to Cornwall some years ago and a la Outlander when I went to the Scottish Highlands in 2018. I travel in Britain at times of the year when the weather is usually pretty good, but in Cornwall my luck ran out and I got a week of dump buckets rain broken up with heavy fog.
Super foggy Land's End in Cornwall
In the Scottish Highlands a winter storm struck (in September!) so it was more dump buckets rain. I put my raincoat on and tried to walk anyway, but when gale force winds started blowing my sopping wet pants against my legs I gave up and spent the rest of my time hunkered down in a warm pub.
Rainy Glencoe, in the Scottish Highlands
I'd actually planned on setting part of A Generation's Secrets, the in-progress fourth book in my series, in Scotland but that experience left me feeling so uninspired I decided to try again in 2019 with the Lake District, and this time I had a winner (as a bonus, it's so much closer to Derbyshire it makes more sense anyway!). As you'll see the weather wasn't always perfect, but I did far more walking there than I've been able to do anywhere else, and that's why I've got so much to share.
Path through woodlands
The three villages I stayed in were on the opposite side of Lake Windermere from Bowness, and I have to admit I was concerned as I came in on the train station and walked down to Bowness, because it was a touristy mess of people waiting around for boat tours. SO MANY BOAT TOURS. Once I took the ferry over to the other side of the lake, though, everything was calmer and on a slower and more natural pace.
Sunset at Far Sawrey village
Far Sawrey was the first village I stayed in. You might have heard of Near Sawrey, home of Beatrix Potter's Hill Top, and I'll be sharing that in my next post. But the first thing I saw while I was there was some of its natural beauties. I set off for a brief walk before dinner, towards Moss Eccles tarn.
Moss Eccles tarn
One of the things I love about walking in England is you're usually rewarded if you hike up a hill, and this was definitely the case, for as I walked on I saw this:
Lakes and hills
There was just something about all of the elements that took my breath away and made me just want to stand there and admire it all day, and I knew even as I was standing there that Elizabeth and Darcy would be seeing the same view in my book and that it was a strong contender for my cover photograph. So you can enjoy the same moment, here is some 360 video from that spot:
Don't mind me, will be posting some 360 photos so I can re-post my old Austen Authors content on my personal blog. Or, alternately, enjoy this 360 from the Lake District!
Posted by Sophie Turner on Monday, July 20, 2020
I find as a traveler that if I'm going to like or love a place, I know pretty immediately, and from this moment I was in love with the Lake District. Even though the weather wasn't always as perfect as it was my first few days there, I was willing to cut it some slack. My stop there was towards the end of my trip and I was in pretty good walking shape from all the shoe leather I'd burned viewing country houses, so I decided the next day to walk over to Claife Viewing Station, a partial ruin that was built in the 1790s as a lookout point over Lake Windermere:
One of the things I enjoyed about walking in the area was the different animals I saw, both wildlife and domesticated animals.
The Lake District's distinctive Herdwick sheep
These cows were enjoying Lake Windermere just as much as the people!
Some sort of game bird...possibly grouse?
A butterfly and a bee
There were some lovely man-made bits as well, like this cottage:
I love a cute cottage!
I'm going to leave you with two "walking" videos I shot, so you can join me for a little portion of my walks. I'm not really sure why I zoomed in on the first one...I think I was trying to show what the path was like up close? These videos are not in 360 as it's much easier for me to hold my regular camera and walk at the same time, and I didn't want to fall over while shooting these. There'll be more of these and lots more photos to come in future posts.
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