Wordsworth & Beatrix Potter : The Lake District

One of the few mountainous regions of the UK, the Lake District is the perfect place for an active break or a more relaxing exploration of the region's literary history.

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The Lake District

When you take a trip to the Lakes, it soon becomes clear that the works of Wordsworth and Potter could not have been written anywhere else. You can practically sense the influence the rolling green fields had on the adventures of Peter Rabbit, similarly, the stunning lakes and peaks are a perfect visual accompaniment to Wordsworth's beautiful poetry.

The Lake District is the perfect land to explore on an active break. But that's not to say that it's without more relaxing charms, within its quaint towns and villages you'll also find plenty of places to sit down and relax with a good book.

• Find cottages in The Lakes
• There are hundreds of cottages throughout The Lake District
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• Download a FREE Audiobook TODAY!
• Choose from over 40,000 audiobooks. Ideal for that long car journey to a cottage holiday. Transferrable to many SatNav units, MP3 players including the iPod, and mobile phones. www.audible.co.uk/cottages4u

Top spots: where did the authors find inspiration?

• Hilltop Farm, Ambleside
  Beatrix Potter's former home in the Lakes, now run by the National Trust and open to the public.
  visit location in our maps >>
• Dove Cottage, Grasmere
  Wordsworth's former home, now an open house and museum run by the National Trust.
  visit location in our maps >>
• Lake Windermere
  The inspiration for Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons.
  visit location in our maps >>
• Wordsworth House, Cockermouth
  Wordsworth's childhood home, now open to the public.
  visit location in our maps >>
• The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Bowness-on-Windermere
  The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Bowness-on-Windermere
  visit location in our maps >>

• Silver Fell : Grasmere
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• Sleeps 4
• A spectacular view over Grasmere Lake to Heron Pike and the surrounding fells.
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• Fox Cottage : Rydal
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• Sleeps 2-3
• A delightful, stylishly renovated, traditional lakeland holiday cottage.
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• Broomriggs Cottage : Sawrey
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• Sleeps 8
• Perfectly located in the heart of the National Park.
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• Cosy Cottage : Rusland
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• Sleeps 3
• A charming little 300 year old semi-detached beamed cottage.
• More details>

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  Play Sample
• Beatrix Potter - the Complete Tales
  The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter includes 19 famous children's stories written by Potter in the early 20th century. These include: "The Tale of Peter Rabbit"; "The Tailor of Gloucester"; "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin"; "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny"; "The Tale of Two Bad Mice"; "The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle"; "The Pie and the Patty-Pan"; "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher"; "The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit"; "The Story of Miss Moppet"; "The Tale of Tom Kitten"; "The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck"; "The Roly-Poly Pudding"; "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies"; "The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse"; "The Tale of Tommy Tiptoes"; "The Tale of Mr. Tod"; "The Tale of Pigling Bland"; and "Ginger and Pickles".
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• Beatrix Potter - the Complete Tales
  This complete and unabridged collection contains all 23 of Beatrix Potter's Tales in one deluxe volume with all their original illustrations. The stories are arranged in the order in which they were first published to enable them to be read in proper sequence, as several are linked together by events and characters. A section at the end of the book contains four additional works by Beatrix Potter that were not published in her own lifetime.
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• The Collected Poems of William Wordsworths
  William Wordsworth (1771-1850) is the foremost of the English Romantic poets. He was much influenced by the events of the French Revolution in his youth, and he deliberately broke away from the artificial diction of the Augustan and neo-classical tradition of the eighteenth century. He sought to write in the language of ordinary men and women, of ordinary thoughts, sights and sounds, and his early poetry represents this fresh approach to his art. Wordsworth spent most of his adult life in the Lake District with his sister Dorothy and his wife Mary, by whom he had four children. His remarkable autobiographical poem The Prelude was completed in 1805, but was not published until after his death, and it is included in this full edition of Wordsworth's poetry.
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• The Lake District: The Panoramas
  This is a beautifully produced collection of over 80 panoramic views of the Lake District, including many unique shots taken from little-known vantage points. Mark Denton's distinctive photography reveals some of the finest-ever wide-lens images of the Lakes, a landscape of great scenic beauty and one of the UK's most popular holiday destinations. His panoramic views, from rare angles and often taken at the magic hours of dusk and dawn, capture the atmosphere of wilderness that attracts so many visitors. Here are undulating valleys, clear lakes, tarns and rivers and, on the heights, the steep, sharp ridges and peaks, including Scafell Pike, Helvellyn and Skiddaw.
  The photographs offer a richly saturated new interpretation of the region's most recognizable landmarks in a highly desirable souvenir volume.
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• Wainwright Pictorial Guides Boxed Set
  This boxed set contains all seven of the Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells by the fell walking legend, A. Wainwright. For this Anniversary edition the pages were freshly reproduced from the original artwork and printed and bound to match the original books as closely as possible. Maps and text are as Wainwright wrote them. Since the guides were compiled half a century ago, they have been treasured by generations of walkers, and television programmes in the year of the centenary of Wainwright's birth introduced them to new enthusiasts.
  There were no guides like these before Wainwright devised them, and in the years since they were first published, they have never been matched. This boxed set of all seven books is the perfect gift for walkers and lovers of the Lakeland fells.
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• The Rough Guide to the Lake District
  The Rough Guide to The Lake District is your definitive handbook to one of the most beautiful holiday destinations in the UK. From Castlerigg Stone Circle and the sculptures of Grizedale Forest to the serenity of Tarn Hows, the full-colour section introduces all of the regions highlights. For every town and village, there are comprehensive and opinionated reviews of all the best places to stay, eat and drink whatever your budget. There is plenty of practical coverage for all the best walks, from peak-bagging to valley rambles and in-depth accounts of lake cruises, literary homes and local museums.
  The guide also takes a detailed look at the region’s history, culture, literature and wildlife and comes complete with maps for every region. The Rough Guide to The Lake District is like having a local friend plan your trip!
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