Hill Top Children's Trail

Beatrix welcomed children to Hill Top, and often wrote to the children of friends, telling them about life in the village and what her characters had been up to. We extend that welcome to today's children, and over half term it has been lovely to see so many young children coming up to Hill Top with their parents.

Cath awaits the arrival of a group of children

Quite a number of our young visitors will attempt the garden trail, which has been a popular activity for a number of years, especially when we are busy and there might be a bit of a wait to get into the house.
This year the trail follows the adventures of the rats Samuel Whiskers and his wife Anna Maria. You may remember, at the end of the story of the Rolly Polly Pudding, these two naughty rats are chased from the house by John Joiner the dog, but manage to bundle a number of items they have stolen into a wheelbarrow belonging to Beatrix.

The abandoned wheelbarrow

For the trail we have imagined that these naughty rats dropped most of their ill-gotten gains along the paths as they ran through the garden; we invite our younger visitors to find six of them scattered around, including the wheelbarrow itself.
They might also want to have a go at drawing the house with its simply arranged windows and central front door - a perfect child's view of a home..

Older children can try deciphering Beatrix's own code that she invented for her diaries when a teenager. We have taken an extract from a letter she once wrote to a young girl who had recently visited the house.

The rats dropped this mixing bowl, but where is it?

The trail is available from the shop near to the entrance to the garden, and children can return to the shop for a sticker when they have completed it.
Good hunting!

Ian