She was famous for her stories of rabbits and hedgehogs but Beatrix Potter was never averse to taking part in real-life dramas of her own.
Echoes of one of the most dramatic, which a novelist might entitle Beatrix and the Seaplane, are about to be heard again in the Lake District, where the children's writer became a farmer and generous patron of the National Trust.
It hinges on a stringbag aircraft called Waterbird which broke the peace of the Lakes when it arrived for trials as the UK's first seaplane on Windermere 100 years ago this week. Uproar followed, with Potter in the vanguard.
Pronouncing that "those who want noise go to Blackpool", she enlisted ramblers, schools and nurses of recuperating invalids in a protest which briefly shook the then Admiralty and War Office. A trip to London's main "aviation ground" at Hendon was organised for Cumbrians to assess the racket and Potter wrote from Hilltop, her home overlooking the lake which is now a museum: "I think I may speak as a seasoned judge of noise; I am accustomed to sleep soundly, with an open window, fronting a constant service of motor omnibuses. I consider the Hendon noise nothing 'out of the way', but the Windermere noise is intolerable."
She lost, partly because her opponents included an ambitious politician, Winston Churchill – and now the growl and stutter of the Waterbird is set to be heard in the Lakes again. A working replica of the plane is being built by a 70-year-old enthusiast and former RAF pilot, Gerry Cooper, with the aim of a commemorative swoop along Windermere next year.
The project is part of a plan to build a seaplane museum on Windermere, where Sunderland flying boats were also tested and repaired during the second world war. A fund-raising event by the lake on Friday will mark the centenary of Waterbird's first flight, but the spirit of Potter has ruled out any seaplane involvement – for now.
"We cannot break the bylaw which introduced a 10mph speed limit on Windermere in 2005," said a spokesman for the Lake District national park, which was asked earlier this year to allow a commemorative landing on the water. Instead, a veteran Sea Fury naval aircraft built in 1949 will fly past guests at the Storr Halls hotel to help reach the £160,000 needed to complete Cooper's plane.
Waterbird is preparing a second application for a lake landing once the replica is finished and declared airworthy – probably next summer. Cooper is confident people will want to see the plane in action.
"Children and young people take it for granted that they can get on a plane and fly around the world and they are amazed to see how it all began with aircraft made of wood and wires," he said. "I am really looking forward to flying Waterbird."
The venture may face opposition from landscape preservation groups, but the park authority will have more flexibility to allow one-off exceptions to the speed limit next year. The spokesman said: "We have agreed amendments which would allow this sort of thing without setting any precedent for more regular events. They are still with the environment secretary, but we should have things sorted out in time."
Waterbird's supporters are gently playing the populist card, arguing that a one-off celebration would add to the pleasure of visitors as well as helping the local economy. Such issues were important in 191, as Potter noted: "The majority of the Lancashire artizan [sic] excursionists and lodgers are perfectly alive to the quiet beauty of the Lakes," she said, highlighting support from the Bradford Co-operative Holiday Association "who are principally work-people; the Lake District is a resort for people who cannot manage to go to Switzerland".
