Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening whenever you read this blog and do lesson prep for a substitute teacher. You could also look ahead to see what documentaries are available to fit the curriculum. Anyway, time for a change-up. This time, I am looking at a documentary about Beatrix Potter and how the Lake District inspired this writer. This is part of the Historic Britain series that is called Secrets of the National Trust. The run time for this documentary is 42:56
The Lake District is where Beatrix Potter, a children’s author found her inspiration. Our hosts will explore this area as well as tell a tale of Beatrix Potter. She not only was a children’s author she was also a savvy businesswoman who enjoyed living in the Lake District. She would become an outspoken advocate for the Lake District. On this trip as well, Oz Clarke meets a team at the Plant Conservation Center. Jon Culshaw also explores the Snowshill Manor. I am a little bit nervous about this section because of Patricia Routledge’s excellent documentary on Beatrix Potter, but here we go! The show kicks off in Cumbria and it was where the most famous children’s book characters came to life. The animals had names and they lived as ordinary people. The tales were colorful and were a reflection of English Country Life. The author of these children’s books was at Hilltop Farm. You would recognize this farmhouse from the scenes in her tales’. She would use the farmhouse and the furniture to help tell her tales. In 1902, Beatrix Potter’s writing career began. She wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The book was filled with her own illustrations of animals. She would become renowned for her accuracy. Beatrix grew up dissecting animals and was a keen scientist. It was a pet rabbit that inspired her to create a rabbit category. Her approach to drawing was incredible. Beatrix would face tragedy, she lost her beloved fiancée. However, she would eventually find love again and go to stay at Hilltop Farm. Together she and her husband would farm in the Lake District. She had always wanted to farm. The next section talks about Blakeney Point and Suzanne Lipscomb joins the tour. Here she learns about conservation and how this piece of the English coast was conserved by the Victorians. The first stop that Suzanne makes on this tour, she goes to a repurposed lifeguard station. It houses a museum and a research facility that helps in the conservation of this particular piece of coastline. However, there was a great debate among conservationists and local fishermen. The fishermen felt that if the seals were allowed to thrive local fish stocks would not recover. Eventually, the seals were protected. Then there is a return to learning about Beatrix Potter. She would meet up with people who started thinking of conservation. Then there is a discussion on how the National Trust was created. It all started with the sale of a certain island. If this island was sold, it could be closed to the public and developed into something that would not match the beauty of the lake district. A group of people came together and raised funds to purchase the island to keep it preserved. The National Trust was developed to preserve land and homes from the developers. The National Trust is the largest landowner in England. This island was purchased, but it has been donated to the national trust. This Island will be open to the public for enjoyment and education. To learn more about the National Trust and Beatrix Potter continue to watch this episode. The number one thing about this episode is that it should have been divided into chapters. This would make it easy for the section on Beatrix Potter to be shown in an English literature classroom. Then the section on the conservation efforts of the Victorians would be excellent for an animal and plant science class. I am a little bit mixed about showing this documentary in the classroom. I feel like Patricia Routledge’s documentary is better for a classroom, particularly an English literature classroom. I would sooner show it to a classroom about animal and plant science classroom.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |