....... and this morning we were very glad when we arrived early for our visit to Paxton House. We got there twenty minutes before the first guided tour round the house. We paid for our tickets, and the woman on the desk told us about all the things we could see. However, she didn't mention The Prestonpans Tapestry, which was the main reason for our visit. When we asked about it, she said that the exhibition had finished yesterday. No, no, we said, the advert that we had said it finished today. At that point, the woman who was going to be our guide for the tour arrived, and said she would take us up to the gallery to see if the tapestry was still there, as she wasn't sure when the exhibition was being removed. Hooray, it was still there, and we just had time to see it before the curators arrived to remove it! Photography wasn't allowed, but you can see the whole thing if you click on the above link. Meanwhile, here is a little taster from the fund raising leaflet ....
...... and the leaflet about the summer tour. Check out the link to see if it is going to be anywhere near you - it is a fabulous piece of work - I could have spent hours looking at it!
We enjoyed our tour of the house ..... but photography wasn't allowed. Our guide was very entertaining and showed off the house well, with interesting anecdotes about previous owners. The next stop was for lunch in the coffee shop, which is in what was the stable block (don't worry, it had been cleaned!). We both had pan haggerty - you can find a recipe here. I could tell you that this was Malcolm's portion with the cheese on top, but it's mine!
After lunch, Malcolm took the one photo that is allowed indoors ..... however I declined to sit on the chair to show its size!
We then went for a walk in the grounds. Paxton is probably the finest Palladian house in the country. The style is strictly symmetrical ......
....... even the swallows have built matching nests!
The pink sandstone looked lovely, bathed in sunshine
Down by the river, we found this fish house, where fish could be stored for several days in the cool, damp conditions, to keep fresh
Just past the fish house was this wonderful boathouse
Inside, there was an unusual staircase, which was folded flat against the wall, so that there was more space for the boat
We don't know what this strange edifice is - some sort of folly?
As we walked over to admire the Highland cattle, we were getting a bit worried as there wasn't a fence. However, once we were up close, we saw that there was a deep ditch between them and us!
This one kept turning his head away (has he been talking to the owls at the Waterwheel cafe?), but eventually I got a good shot!
We had a look round the gift shop before we left (I resisted buying a book about recycling textiles!). The woman who had sold us our entry tickets told us that three ladies had arrived to see the tapestry just after it had all been packed away - they should have been early like us!