My fascination with Beatrix Potter began when I first started studying art at university in 2009. I don’t know what happened in the first few months of that year but I just became obsessed with children’s book illustration. Maybe I was trying to escape back to childhood because I had just moved away from home and to a different state entirely.

I’m not exactly sure what sparked it, but ever since I’ve been in love with the style of Beatrix Potter’s work, and so many other illustrator’s work too. Alongside Miss Potter, Illustrator’s like Oliver Jeffers and E.H. Shepard just overwhelm me with the beautiful simplicity of their work.

Illustration is special. I think even more special than art sometimes. It takes you somewhere else. It has no status or pretension tied up in it, like art seems to inevitably have. It is its own thing. It has heart and soul. It has memory, echoes of our childhoods. All of these things and so many more indescribable elements to children’s book illustration, are why I’ve been fascinated by Beatrix Potter for so many years.

The characters in her books are mischievous, others dim-witted, all of them charming. Their misadventures reflecting Potter’s own rebellion against living a life similar to those of her parents and contemporaries and instead choosing to become a self-sufficient artist and author.

Something about her work transports me. But more than this, I’ve been so interested in her own story and where she found her inspiration that I have longed to visit her famous and beloved farm, Hill Top in Near Sawrey, Cumbria. This place has been one that I have wanted to visit for many years and this year in July, I had my first visit.

Set in tranquil, farmland surroundings, Hill Top is a small, cosy house with a picture perfect garden. It’s almost exactly how I pictured it to be. The house is low-lit, but not unpleasant, dank or in any way eerie. Instead it was snug, warm, comfortable and full of everything Beatrix. It made me realise how much of herself, her life and her surroundings were put into her stories and illustrations. I actually felt like I was in one of her books.

The accessible parts of the garden, I was surprised to find, were smaller than I imagined. However, there are more sections of the little farm that are kept closed off and only opened for exclusive tours. The garden is a rambling one that reminded me of the book, The Secret Garden. Through little archways and up little paths, I kept finding new sections. It is a modest garden, but it truly captures the spirit of Potter’s books and you really can find her here.

While everyone in my group did enjoy coming here, I know that Hill Top isn’t for everyone. If you’re not a fan of Beatrix Potter, you don’t enjoy meandering around a picturesque garden or seeing a well-kempt old farmhouse, then please do not visit here. It is not an attraction for you if you do not like these things.

I have recently read so many negative reviews on Hill Top with complaints on the darkness of the house, how it’s all too small and not worth the money and how it sucks to park there. I would just like to remind everyone who feels negatively towards Hill Top and the cost associated with going in that the money the National Trust makes goes towards preserving Britain’s countryside, historical sites, buildings and houses, which I think we all can agree is a pretty good thing to support. Maybe Hill Top wasn’t for you, but at least you’ve played a part in preserving Britain’s history and landscape; which is something that Beatrix Potter dedicated many years of her life doing.

I personally loved every minute of my time at Hill Top and would visit again and again. I decided to go with a day bus tour rather than driving to avoid the stress of finding a place to park and to also get guaranteed entry. The National Trust to do not presell or reserve tickets unless you book a specific event or if you’re on a tour, like I was. So bear all of this in mind before you decide whether or not to visit.

Just remember that you don’t always have to do what everyone else is doing in terms of tourist attractions. If Hill Top doesn’t interest you then you shouldn’t go, and the same goes for wherever else you visit. Don’t just tick off the main tourist sites just because everyone else does them. Create your own story.