Posy Simmonds chooses The Tale of Mr Tod by Beatrix Potter.

Potter, born in 1866, didn’t publish her first book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” until her mid-30s. Having grown up isolated from other children, she had numerous pets and spent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. She would go on to write 23 tales for children, but as early as 1913, at the height of her fame, she began to wind down her career to devote herself to sheep farming in England’s Lake District. 

Previous to her career writing children's books, Potter's study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology. Due to purchasing farms and parcels of land over her decades living in the Lake District and subsequently leaving them to the National Trust after her death, she is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park.

Twice Upon A Time is hosted by Janet Ellis

Produced by Caroline Raphael

Recording and editing by John Wakefield and Diggory Waite.

It is a Hat Trick Podcast. Follow us on instagram @twiceuponpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.