Beatrix Potter: Hill Top and the Lake District

Mrs. Rabbit forbids Peter to go into Mr. McGregor's garden. He goes anyway, eats more than is good for him and is chased by Mr. McGregor. Between 1885 and 1907 Beatrix Potter spent her summer holidays at Lingholm, on the shore of Derwentwater, and she credited its kitchen garden as her original inspiration for Mr McGregor's garden. The tale was first published in December 1901, in a print run of 250.

In The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, the squirrels sail across the lake on little rafts made of twigs to gather nuts on an island owned by an owl named Old Brown. They bring him gifts, starting with three dead mice, while the impertinent Nutkin dances about singing silly riddles. Potter, who wrote the tale at Lingholm, based Owl Island on St Herbert's Island in Derwentwater. The book was first published in August 1903.

Location precision: The story's Owl Island is fictional; St Herbert's Island is the real island said to have inspired it.

Mrs. Tiggy-winkle is a hedgehog washerwoman who lives in a tiny cottage in the fells of the Lake District. Potter placed her home on the east slopes of Cat Bells, and the fells of the Newlands Valley supply the backgrounds in the illustrations. Catbells is one of the most popular fells in the area, rising above the western shore of Derwentwater. The book came out in October 1905.

Location precision: Potter set the cottage on the east slopes of Cat Bells without naming an exact spot; the pin marks the fell.

The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan opens with a dog named Duchess invited to tea by her friend, a pussy cat called Ribby. It is the only Potter tale to name Sawrey: a character remarks, "Just as if there were no CATS in Sawrey!" The illustrations depict the cottages and gardens of the village, and Duchess's home became Buckle Yeat, a picturesque cottage there. It appeared in October 1905.

Location precision: The tale shows several Sawrey cottages; the pin marks the village, not one building.

Potter bought Hill Top and its 34-acre working farm in 1905. The Tale of Tom Kitten features its garden, and the cat family's home was based on the house. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers uses the same house: Tom squeezes through a crack in the wall and finds himself under the attic's floorboards. Jemima Puddle-Duck is set on the Hill Top farm too. She left the house to the National Trust, and visitors can enter all its rooms.

Visitor guidance: Run by the National Trust; check its website for opening times and booking before you go.