Victorian Times My Story

This story belongs to Kai

and his mummy, Georgina.

It's a tiny tale about how children, just like you,

lived a long time ago - over 100 years.

-Shall we take some photos, Kai?

-Yes.

OK, all right.

Selfie...

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

Cool.

But now it's time for Kai and Mummy, Georgina,

to go on a journey of discovery.

Together, they're going to find out

what life was like all those years ago.

What do we need to pack for our holidays, Kai?

-Clothes, books and Peter Rabbit.

-Oh, yeah.

We can't forget Peter Rabbit, can we?

Holidays are a really special treat.

Yes, very special.

I know a story about a little girl, who loved going on holiday

with her family. And her favourite place was the Lake District.

Her name was Beatrix Potter and she lived in the Victorian times.

What's Victorian?

It's a long, long time ago when Queen Victoria was in charge of the

country, and the people who lived at that time were called Victorians.

-You know Queen Elizabeth, our Queen?

-Yeah.

Well, Queen Victoria was her great, great grandma.

Can you tell me about Beatrix, please?

Absolutely! But before we do that,

-I think we should dress up as Victorians.

-Yes, please.

-What do you think of our clothes, Kai?

-Cool.

-Would you like to wear these every day?

-Yeah.

-You would?

Mummy, I love your dress. It's really pretty.

Thank you, I think you look fantastic.

-Shall we strike some cool poses?

-Yeah.

-Come on then.

Wow, look at Kai and Mummy, Georgina, now -

dressed up in clothes, just like Beatrix would have worn

all those years ago, in the Victorian times.

Kai is wearing short trousers called knickerbockers.

The trouser leg fastens below the knee

and has a matching vest and jacket.

Kai and Mummy, Georgina, look ready for their big adventure.

But where will they go?

Mummy, Georgina, has brought Kai to Wray Castle.

This was where Beatrix and her family came on holiday

and the first place she ever visited in the Lake District.

Like many Victorian families,

the Potters would be away on holiday for three months of the year.

Do you know, Beatrix would have played here as a child?

-Cool, I would want to do that.

-Would you? It's amazing.

-This is a big staircase, isn't it?

-Yes.

Imagine, Beatrix would have walked up here when she was a little girl.

You know, Beatrix used to spend her whole summer holidays here

when she was a child.

Just look at all of these suitcases,

and this wouldn't have been half the luggage

that they would have brought with them.

Mummy, Georgina, and Kai are going outside,

and it's started to rain -

just like real holiday weather.

Do you know that Beatrix's holidays were really long - the whole summer?

She spent all that time away from her house in the city with

her family and pets.

What about school, Mummy?

That's a very good question, Kai.

But Beatrix didn't go to school at all.

Wow, no school.

Many Victorian children had a governess that taught them lessons

at home, so she didn't go to school. So when it was Beatrix's holidays,

the governess would go with her and she'd be learning the whole time.

Can you imagine going on holiday

-and your teacher being there giving lessons?

-No.

When she didn't have school, what did Beatrix like to do on holiday?

Beatrix loved exploring the countryside. She loved nature

and art, so she would draw things she saw there.

Her governess thought that she was very good at drawing animals

-and nature.

-I love animals too.

Well, I know somewhere that we can go that you'll enjoy.

Now it's time for Mummy, Georgina,

and Kai to get up close to some little animals.

They're visiting Wetheriggs Animal Sanctuary,

a place where animals, like ducks, goats,

ponies and many more are cared for.

I'm sure Beatrix would have loved it here.

Let's see who Kai and Mummy, Georgina, get to meet.

-Who's this, Kai?

-Peter Rabbit.

-Yeah.

Did you know that Beatrix, when she grew up, she wrote a story

about a naughty little rabbit that she had when she was a little girl.

Do you know what that book was called?

-Peter Rabbit.

-The Tale Of Peter Rabbit, well done.

Beatrix wrote the story and drew beautiful pictures to go with

it for her governess' little boy when he was ill.

Isn't he cute?

Yes.

Look, there's a little hedgehog.

I've never seen a white one before.

Did you know that Beatrix Potter wrote a story about a hedgehog?

It was called The Tale Of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.

Not all children had pets like Beatrix in the Victorian time.

-Why, Mummy?

-Because they had really big families.

About five or six children, so they couldn't look after pets as well.

Instead, children would have played with toys

-that they had made or played outside together.

-Playing outside's fun.

It is. Beatrix used to love playing outside.

That's where she used to copy all the things that she drew.

And that's what she did for Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Peter Rabbit.

-Quack, quack, quack.

-That's a great duck noise, Kai.

Do you know who might have written a story about a duck?

-Beatrix.

-Yes, well done. Her duck was called Jemima Puddle-Duck.

Jemima Puddle-Duck, I like that name.

-It's a good name, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Shall we try and draw and paint our

-own version of Jemima Puddle-Duck?

-Yeah.

-Shall we show Jemima Puddle-Duck our paintings?

-Yeah.

Oh, I think she likes them.

-I think your picture's fantastic, Kai.

-I think yours are brilliant.

During Victorian times, people didn't have computers or e-mail,

so everything had to be sent in the post.

Kai is sending his grandma his drawing of Jemima Puddle-Duck.

He's putting it in a postbox in Beatrix's village -

just like Beatrix would have done.

Mummy, Georgina, has bought Kai to visit Hill Top -

one of Beatrix's homes when she was a grown-up.

She wrote many of her famous stories here.

And nowadays it's a museum, a place where people can visit

to look at all of Beatrix's favourite things.

And see what gave her ideas for her world-famous stories.

-This is a really pretty house. What do you think, Kai?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

This room's called the parlour and it's probably where Beatrix

would have entertained her friends and her guests.

And she might have come in here to read books

or maybe write some of her stories. I've got a special book for you.

The Tale Of Samuel Whiskers.

Excellent reading, Kai.

What's it about?

It's about a really mean rat called Samuel Whiskers

and a naughty little kitten called Tom Kitten.

And one day Tom Kitten was running away from his mum

and he fell down into Samuel's house.

Samuel Whiskers wasn't very happy about that.

So do you know what he did?

He tried to roll him up into a roly-poly pudding

and eat him for his dinner.

That sounds like a funny story.

Children have been reading Beatrix's books for over 100 years.

-And do you know what's really special about this book?

-No.

It was set in this very house.

There are things in this house that are in this story.

-Like furniture and stuff?

-Yeah.

Do you want to see if we can find things from this book in the house?

Yes, please.

What do you think we can find in this book that's in this room?

-The two chairs.

-Well done.

Cousin Ribby was sitting there,

and Mrs Tabitha Twitchit was sitting over there.

Shall we see what else we can find?

What can we see in the book now?

The sideboard.

Oh, yeah. Really good. Well done. That's Anna Maria -

Samuel Whiskers' wife. That's what Beatrix Potter used to do.

She used to look at things, study them and draw them

and put them in her stories.

-Shall we see what else we can find?

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

It's Mrs Tabitha.

Oh, yeah. Well done. Good spotting.

You know, I heard that Beatrix had a room where

she kept all her special treasures.

Like pirate treasure?

Not quite pirate treasure.

But just a room full of her special and precious things.

Wouldn't it be cool if we had a place to store our treasure?

-Shall we go and find Beatrix's treasure?

-Yeah.

Beatrix and her brother, Bertram, used to collect lots of things.

Collecting things was a really popular hobby

for children in Victorian times.

They used to collect loads of things, like dolls, rocks, stamps,

and even insects.

Look in this treasure cabinet.

I see money.

Little animals.

Marbles.

-Jugs.

-Loads of things in here.

Did you collect anything when you were little, Mummy?

When I was a little girl? I used to collect marbles.

I used to try and collect as many of them in as many colours as I could.

-That sounds like good fun.

-Yes, it was.

Kai, have you enjoyed yourself,

finding out all about the Victorian times?

Yes, I loved finding out about Beatrix

and her stories and pictures.

-Can you remember all the different things that we've done?

-Yes.

'We got all dressed up in clothes like the Victorians would have worn.

'They're very cool.

'We visited a castle where Beatrix went on holiday...

'and saw lots of suitcases.

'We met some little animals,

'hedgehog, bunny rabbit and ducks.

'We drew our own Jemima Puddle-Duck, just like Beatrix.'

I think she likes them.

'We visited Beatrix's old farmhouse, where she wrote her stories.

'We looked at her treasure room.

'I spotted things from one of Beatrix's books in her farmhouse.'

What did you enjoy the most, Kai?

Stroking Peter Rabbit.

Oh, me too. I loved holding Peter Rabbit.

But most of all I enjoyed spending time with you.

-Now that we've had our adventure, it's time for a...

-Hug.

What a fabulous heap of fun.

That was Kai and Mummy Georgina's tiny tale

about what it was like living during the Victorian times,

over 100 years ago.

Now Mummy, Georgina, has shared this story with Kai,

it's time for Kai to start to his very own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?