Rolf Harris visits Lakes to pay tribute

10:52am Tuesday 18th December 2007

A RENOWNED artist and television personality jetted into the Lake District to pay homage to a legendary children's author as part of a new television series, reports Paul Duncan.

Rolf Harris spent a week visiting the places that inspired Beatrix Potter's famous children's stories for a new BBC programme looking at the author's life and work.

Mr Harris arrived in the Lakes armed with his sketch books and watercolour paints, which he used to create his own memories of places such as Tarn Hows, the hamlet of Near Sawrey, the Beatrix Potter Gallery and Wray Castle, the first house Beatrix stayed in when visiting the Lake District as a child.

Spokesman for the National Trust Liz Houseman said the artist packed a lot into his whistle stop tour of the Lakes.

"At the end of his stay, Rolf settled down in front of a roaring fire in the kitchen at Hill Top, with his paints, to create his very own watercolour inspired by the places and her illustrations for The Tale of Tom Kitten," said Mrs Houseman.

Last week Mr Harris threw his weight behind a campaign opposed to the redevelopment of the Waterside Hotel in Grasmere.

The filming was part of a new programme featuring the life and work of Beatrix Potter, as an artist and illustrator, which is due to be shown on BBC1 at 4.20pm on December 30 as part of the BBC's Christmas schedule, along with a performance of the Tales of Beatrix Potter by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House.

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