Overview
Meadowcroft lies at the heart of the Lake District in the popular village of Near Sawrey, famous as home of author Beatrix Potter. Fans will be able to visit her house, Hill Top, and will see many of the buildings that featured in her books, including Meadowcroft itself. Once a shop in the village, Meadowcroft appears as the setting for Beatrix Potter's Tale of Ginger and Pickles. You will find the house very different now, but you will also see many visitors passing by to inspect all of the featured properties so close at hand.
The Living Spaces
From a small patio garden overlooking meadows, you enter into the shaker style fitted kitchen. Very well equipped you will be able to rustle up some fine meals.
From the kitchen a small hall leads off to a games den with sofa and chair to enjoy the facilities of TV, DVD and XBox 360. Off this is the utility room with laundry and drying facilities, and finally a shower room with WC and basin.
The sitting room is large, with two deep bays allowing light to flood in. To one-end sofas and armchair sit around a roaring log burning stove, and with the large flat screen TV with Sky Q, Blu-ray and surround sound, perfect to tuck up and relax. To the other end of the room, set in the bay is a large table for dining along with another comfy armchair.
Bedrooms & Bathrooms
Stairs lead up to the first floor where you will find three bedrooms and a bathroom with bath, separate shower cubicle, hand basin and WC. The bedrooms are all very comfortably furnished and offering village views, one a king size, one a double and finally a twin.
A further flight of stairs take you up to the attic bedroom, with a low door, pitched roof and double bed - mind your head. Opposite this is an attic bathroom with bath, hand held shower, basin and WC.
Garden Spaces
To the rear of the property is the parking area along with a small low walled patio space, with a garden picnic table. The pastoral view is across the meadow to the Tower Bank Arms.
For me, Meadowcroft is the perfect Lake District holiday home. Set in the heart of the lake district where you are surrounded by history, plenty of local walks, a pretty village and a super pub only a stones throw, all combine for the perfect setting for a Lakeland holiday for family and friends.
Out & About
The hamlets of Near and Far Sawrey lie to the west of Lake Windermere, close to the smaller lake of Esthwaite Water. Near Sawrey is most famous for Hill Top, the 17th-century farmhouse home of Beatrix Potter. Today Hill Top is owned by the National Trust where, full of her favourite things, the house appears as if Beatrix has just stepped out for a walk. Outside the lovely cottage garden is a haphazard mix of flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables. The house is popular and as such queues are likely.
Also famous, a stones throw from Meadowcroft, is the Tower Bank Arms, as popular for its literary connections as is its cellar and food offerings, and of which the queues are less and a close and full inspection is recommended.
Lake Windermere lies about a mile along the road where you can board the car ferry across to Bowness. From the property you are only a short walk or drive to some of the very best walks and rambles. A little lane by the house leads up to Moss Eccles Tarn, perfect for a picnic and you can carry on up onto Claife Heights for woodland walks and views of Windermere.
Esthwaite Water is very close where at the Hawkshead Fishery you can hire fishing rods and boats for a day's fishing.
A mile or so west is Hawkshead. A popular village set around two squares it has narrow streets, timber framed buildings, and cobbled nooks with the earliest buildings dating from around the 16th century. There are four good pubs, a grocer, post office and chemist, bookshop and cafes, along with walking gear outlets and some good arts and crafts shops.
Carry on from Hawkshead over the fell to Coniston Water and the village sheltered in the lea of the Coniston mountain range. Radiating from the stone bridge, spanning Church Beck, the four main streets are a bustling community with a fine church, shops, a post office, cafes, a local brewery and four good pubs.
South of Hawkshead, on the east side of Coniston water lies Gizedale Forest. A massive working woodland, it is crisscrossed with paths and tracks for walking and mountain biking. The Forest is big into arts, commissioning fabulous statues and installations throughout. It is well worth driving, via Hawkshead, around to the Visitor Centre for a forest map and information to get the best from your day out.
Last but not least is Tarn Hows, a short drive away. A picture perfect little water, the National Trust have made huge efforts with the path around the water making it easy for most people to enjoy.
Dogs are charged at £20 each per full or part week.
Please note there is a refundable £200 security deposit for this property payable closer to the start of your holiday.