Editing Beatrix Potter (section)

==Lake District conservation==
[[File:Derwent Water, Lake District, Cumbria - June 2009.jpg|thumb|upright=1.54|The [[Lake District]] in North West England]]
Potter had been a disciple of the land conservation and preservation ideals of her long-time friend and mentor, [[Hardwicke Rawnsley|Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley]], the first secretary and founding member of the [[National Trust]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who was Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley?|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/who-was-hardwicke-drummond-rawnsley|access-date=4 October 2021|website=National Trust|language=en|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004043256/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/who-was-hardwicke-drummond-rawnsley|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the National Trust, "she supported the efforts of the National Trust to preserve not just the places of extraordinary beauty but also those heads of valleys and low grazing lands that would be irreparably ruined by development." Potter was also an authority on the traditional Lakeland crafts and period furniture,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lear|first=Linda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8VID3P916gC&dq=beatrix+potter+farm+restoration&pg=PA375|title=Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature|date=4 March 2008|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-37796-0|pages=373–376|language=en}}</ref> as well as local stonework. She restored and preserved the farms that she bought or managed, making sure that each farm house had in it a piece of antique Lakeland furniture. Potter was interested in preserving not only the [[Herdwick|Herdwick sheep]] but also the way of life of fell farming.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lear|first=Linda|title=Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature|url=http://www.bpotter.com/StoryPart2.aspx|url-status=live|access-date=4 October 2021|website=www.bpotter.com|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004043251/http://www.bpotter.com/StoryPart2.aspx}}</ref> In 1930 the Heelises became partners with the National Trust in buying and managing the fell farms included in the large Monk Coniston Estate.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walk in Beatrix Potter's footsteps|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/walk-in-beatrix-potters-footsteps|access-date=4 October 2021|website=National Trust|language=en|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029202331/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/walk-in-beatrix-potters-footsteps|url-status=live}}</ref>

The estate was composed of many farms spread over a wide area of north-western Lancashire, including the [[Tarn Hows]]. Potter was the ''de facto'' estate manager for the Trust for seven years until the National Trust could afford to repurchase most of the property from her. Potter's stewardship of these farms earned her full regard, but she was not without her critics, not the least of which were her contemporaries who felt she used her wealth and the position of her husband to acquire properties in advance of their being made public. She was notable in observing the problems of [[afforestation]], preserving the intact grazing lands, and husbanding the quarries and timber on these farms. All her farms were stocked with Herdwick sheep and frequently with [[Galloway cattle]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Photograph of the Month - October 2013 |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/photograph-of-the-month/photograph-of-the-month-october-2013.php |access-date=6 October 2022 |work=National Portrait Gallery |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006152742/https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/photograph-of-the-month/photograph-of-the-month-october-2013.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>