Beatrix Potter married William Heelis in 1913 and settled in Sawry, Ambleside for the remainder of her life. She reputedly used the walking cane for dislodging snails and other pests from the garden wall at Hill Top in Sawry. Most canes of this type held telescopes but she may have had this one converted to a 'viewing' cane which would have held four slides (recent correspondence concerning these slides is supplied).