I almost think Minh and I wouldn’t make it up to the Lake District before the weather turned against us, but fortunately we have been blessed with an amazing (and long) summer. It’s actually still going, and we’re already well into September! Craziness!
While there, we got our fill of National Trust properties, as shown in the pictures below. We also fit in one English Heritage site, a motor museum, and a bunch of breweries and food (more on that later).
Wray Castle is unique in that it was purposefully built to show off the wealth of a Victorian couple who retired to the Lake District (as people still do). It also was once a radio school for the navy.
Hill Top House and Beatrix Potter Gallery
Hill Top House was the first farm house bought by Beatrix Potter with the profits from her first book sales. She used it more as a studio then a home, opting to buy another property across the way a little bit. The Beatrix Potter Gallery is located in the old solictor’s office of her husband, William Heelis, in Hawkshead. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but one of the amazing things about her illustrations is that a lot of it is taken from her surroundings, including rooms and features within her own Hill Top home.
Sizergh has been the home of the Strickland family since 1239. In 1950, the Strickland family gifted it to the National Trust, but members of the Strickland family still live in the castle. Can you believe that? It’s very beautiful and has some amazing gardens.
Not part of National Trust, but actually part of English Heritage Properties, the Stott Park Bobbin Mill is the last “running” bobbin mill in the UK. It stayed open longer by expanding its operations to more than just bobbins.. pretty much anything that can be turned. Technically, it’s still running, but only as part of the daily tours, which we lucky to come just in time for at the end of the day.
A bonus stop on our visit to the Lake District, the Lakeland Motor Museum is actually a little gem of a place. Little is a bit relative, since the museum is deceivingly large… room after room of interesting cars and other vehicles.
Think Tran 
What a lovely blog, and fabulous photographs. I almost felt like I had been on the visit with you!
I just read about Lake Disrict in a book! The character was quite spoiled…