Musical adventure to mark Beatrix Potter birthday

Interest is building in the life and legacy of Beatrix Potter in what is a milestone year for those who continue to champion and celebrate the Lakeland writer's work.

Potter transformed the animals she saw in her Lake District hideaway into some of the most famous characters in literature.

She was also a key figure in conservation, doing much to conserve the landscape which inspired so much of her work, leaving land to the National Trust which continues to be farmed and specially protected. She was also a renowned figure of Cumbria's unique Herdwick sheep.

All aspects of her life are being highlighted to celebrate the anniversary of her birth - with the significance of the year expected to be another draw for tourists to Cumbria keen to learn more about her life.

The World of Beatrix Potter attraction, at Bowness on Windermere, will be a key focus for many of those visitors.

And its team will celebrate her work on stage with the premiere of Where's Peter Rabbit? at the Old Laundry Theatre on June 27. 

Its cast will perform some of Potter's best loved animal characters - Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck and all their hedgerow and farmyard animal friends.

The musical has been composed by Steve Edis with a classical set design by Cumbria-based Roger Glossop, one of the visionaries behind the Potter attraction, which also celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

The show, which its creators say will "capture

Potter‘s poetry, freshness and humour, while staying true to her unforgettable illustrations", will play throughout the summer.

A series of other events will take place at the World of Beatrix Potter this year, including a special celebration on what would have been her 150th birthday, July 28.

Mr Glossop said: "Beatrix Potter has dominated our lives for the last 25 years - in a good way - so it is fantastic to have a double celebration for our 25th and her 150 years throughout 2016.

"From the day we opened the door 25 years ago, Beatrix Potter has taken us on an exhilarating journey - exhibition, garden, shop, restaurant, online, theatre and ongoing - we couldn't have aligned our creative and business life with a more original, entrepreneurial and visionary woman."

Potter's works - and her depiction of the Lake District - are among the major draws for tourists from China and Japan to Cumbria, with attractions across the county benefiting.

Her popularity has grown to a new generation in recent years with the creation of a BBC children's animation based on Peter Rabbit's adventures.

Last week, actress Patricia Routledge, a patron of the Beatrix Potter Society, shone the spotlight on the writer's life in a More4 documentary, part of which was filmed in Cumbria.

She travelled across the Lake District to explore how the author fell in love with the area and its wildlife, reciting some of her most famous works.

Among those who featured was well-known county chef Gary McClure, whose farm at Broughton she made a trip to.

The documentary also highlighted how Potter produced great science and natural history studies but that her papers were unappreciated by the science community until years later because she was a woman.

Her life is also being celebrated as a part of a recently-released set of special edition Royal Mail stamps.

Other attractions that will be helping celebrate the writer's life this year include the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway - the world-famous L'al Ratty - which will host three Beatrix Potter Walk with the National Trust events this summer. They take place on May 28, June 25 and July 25.

They will include a ranger-led walk from Dalegarth to Penny Hill farm in Eskdale, which she owned.