During our visit to Hilltop Farm (see rabbits, rabbits, rabbits…) we enjoyed looking round the garden and finding the many nooks and crannies to photograph. I saw this gate which attracted my attention but only when we returned home, and read the leaflet properly, did we realise this was Tom Kitten’s gate. I was intrigued by the similarity of the illustration, done by Beatrix Potter in 1907, and the gate as it is now, over 100 years later. Surely this couldn’t be the same gate? It looked in fairly good condition. Perhaps it was a more recent addition, based on that original illustration, just to satisfy the thousands of visitors, including many Japanese, who come each year. If it is the original gate, then surely the hinges, latch and wood must have been replaced many times.
![beatrix-potter-the-tale-of-tom-kitten-1907-kittens-watch-puddleduck[1]](https://johnspostcardsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/beatrix-potter-the-tale-of-tom-kitten-1907-kittens-watch-puddleduck1.jpg?w=760)
I was reminded of the classic scene in ‘Only Fools and Horses’ in which Trigger claims that he’s had his road sweeper’s broom for 20 years. But then he adds that the broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. “How can it be the same bloody broom then?” asks Sid the café owner. Trigger produces a picture of him and his broom and asks: “what more proof do you need?”
So how can this be the same gate? Well see the original illustration and my photograph – what more proof do you need?
John's Postcards 
Lovely pictures.I think it’s probably a copy of the original
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Of course it’s the same gate! It must be! I am always an optimist.
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As soon as I saw the name Hilltop I knew this was going to be about Beatrix Potter’s former home.
What a fantastic well preserved piece of history Hilltop is. We were enthralled by our visit, in fact last summer I wrote a couple of blogs about our visit including the exhibit in Windermere. Later I amused myself by creating a talking Peter Rabbit book for my youngest grandchildren.
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It still retains a ‘lived in’ feel. Your talking book sounds interesting!
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We were up there last summer in the glorious sunshine. I loved Hilltop and would quite like to pop up there again before Autumn well and truly kicks in.
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You will be there before we have a chance to return. Perhaps you could ask about the gate!
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Forgot to mention that many of Beatrix’s own illustrations were based on the village of Sawry and Hilltop Farm. I can imagine that it is the same gate and has been carefully preserved by the National Trust.
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I have a few more shots taken in the village. I must look up your blog posts on Hilltop Farm.
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