Beatrix Potter Castle near Lake Windermere. Here Beatrix met Hardwicke Rawnsley, vicar of Wray and later the founding secretary of the National Trust, whose interest in the countryside and country life inspired the same in Beatrix and who was to have a lasting impact on her life. At about the age of 14, Beatrix began to keep a diary. It was written in a code of her own devising which was a simple letter for letter substitution. Her "Journal" was important to the development of her creativity, serving as both sketchbook and literary experiment: in tiny handwriting she reported on society, recorded
Hardwicke Rawnsley Lord Tennyson, with whom Rawnsley had a family connection. In 1883 Rawnsley was appointed Vicar of Crosthwaite, near Keswick, and Rural Dean. In 1891 was appointed as an honorary canon of Carlisle Cathedral. In 1884 he and his wife began organising classes in metalwork and wood carving, which resulted in the establishment of a School of Industrial Art in Keswick, which remained in operation until 1986. His interest in education also led him to take a large part in founding Keswick High School, which opened in October 1898, one of the first co-educational secondary schools in the country. In 1888