Beatrix Potter Gallery

Tabitha Twitchit's Bookshop is what the Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead has become: a National Trust second-hand bookshop, named after one of Potter's cats, in the 17th-century building on Main Street that was the office of her solicitor husband, William Heelis, who gave it to the Trust and is believed to have first met her here. Between 1988 and 2022 the rooms showed Potter's original illustrations, until humidity in the old building proved unsuitable for hanging artwork; displays on her life and work remain among the shelves, and a trail map from the shop leads round the village to places in her drawings. Hill Top, her farmhouse at Near Sawrey, is close by and most visitors pair the two. Reviewers find the old interior as much of an attraction as anything in it. Tips from visitors: parking is pay and display in the village car park 300 yards away, and the 505 bus from Windermere station stops in the village. Dogs are allowed.