Barbara falls in love with the Scottish Borders

Canadian visitor Barbara Blackport enjoyed her tour of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and Paxton House with us last week so much that she asked us to design several private tours of the Scottish Borders for her this week. Barbara is on a two month holiday in Scotland to spend time with her son plus researching her Scottish roots and touring the country. Barbara has fallen in love with the beauty, history and culture that this beautiful and unspoilt region has to offer.

Monday saw us spending the morning in Jedburgh visiting the Castle Jail and Museum, Queen Mary’s House and Jedburgh Abbey. Despite the heavy rain we had a very enjoyable morning learning more about Jedburgh’s colourful history. We had a delicious lunch of homemade soup follow by cake and Woodside Garden Centre at Ancrum. Afterwards we had a walk around the charming garden and admired the wonderful plants for sale. The rain did go off briefly for us to walk around the beautiful gardens at Monteviot House. The gardens extend from the house down to the river Teviot and encompass several themed gardens within their 30 acres.

Tuesday afternoon saw us back at Monteviot House, this time to tour the house. Monteviot House is the principal ancestral home of the Marquis and Marchioness of Lothian. The present house was built in the early 18th century by the 1st Marquis of Lothian. Designs were commissioned from Edward Blore for a Jacobean-style mansion in 1832; however only the Jacobean-inspired office wing was completed. In 1961 the 12th Marquis commissioned Schomberg Scott, a grandson of the 9th Marquis, to redesign the house. Monteviot House is a place where a modern building displays the family’s heirlooms. Heading back to Melrose we stopped at Harestanes Visitor Centre to browse around the beautiful craft and design units; if you are looking for an individual gift the Harestanes is well worth a visit.

Wednesday afternoon was spent at Johnstons of Elgin’s Cashmere Visitor Centre in Hawick. We were given a wonderful tour of the mill by Kenny, his knowledge of cashmere production process made the tour memorable. The tour ended with an opportunity to browse around the shop which stocks the latest womenswear, menswear and childrens collections alongside the home interiors collection. Afterwards we had tea and delicious homemade cake in the café. The café serves morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea daily; everything is freshly prepared on the premises.

It’s been a pleasure to share the beauty, history and culture of the Scottish Borders with Barbara this week and we are looking forward to welcoming her back on other trips over the coming weeks.