Paxton House is our local Stately Home-A Palladian Mansion as the idiom goes. It is one of our few attractions which is given a real push by the Scottish Borders Tourist Board-unlike its near neighbour the Amazing Maize Maze.It is no longer the Laird's home-he made it over some years ago to a trust and now lives in an adjoining pad in the grounds. With a dominating position overlooking the Tweed it is a pleasant spot for a walk or a game of croquet. A short bit of its river frontage is one of only three places on the Tweed where salmon netting is allowed-the Tweed commissioners are very protective and many of the landowners prefer to keep the fishing rights to themselves or for visiting friends. Or as in the case of Hutton Mill Whiteadder stretch expensive commercial fishing-so much per rod per day. Paxton House is a retreat for the endangered Red Squirrel and a haven for large woolly beasts-cows or coos more usually associated with the Highlands. It is a good place for walkers but wheel chair users are cautiously discouraged with notices in the passive voice -presumably for insurance purposes in this sue -if -possible culture.
The house has a romantic history and the picture gallery Ballroom is the venue for the Music Festival-see previous blogs. The Gallery is an outhoused part of the Scottish National Gallery and some of the paintings on show seem to be those they would not dare put on display in Edinburgh-ok for the hicks. They are so wall to ceiling that they are a kind of sombre wallpaper so perhaps the merits of the individual works of art don't matter too much. One large offering of an 18th C(?) lady with a revealing neckline may have been modeled on an ape rather than a human-the arms are unrealistically long according to an artist bloggee friend. Perhaps the struggling TB ridden garret dwelling artist could not afford to model from life and had to make do with a passing monkey-perhaps better not bring that possibility to the attention of the ALF.
