Robert Smail's Printing Works

This is the entrance to Robert Smail's Printing Works (with unintentional self portrait!) where we spend a rainy afternoon being introduced to the ins and outs of the printing world. Robert Smail's was established in 1866 in the small town of Innerleithen and became a National Trust for Scotland property in 1986 when the last member of the Smail family retired. The printer presses are still going strong there as all kinds of things are still printed there to this very day, such as leaflets, stationery and the like.

During a visit you get taken around the old place (above the cash register) and you have an opportunity to see the various presses in action.

 You can also try your hand at setting some words yourself (your name for instance) and have it printed. 

On leaving you can still this advertisement for the business set onto the outside wall.  

I feel that this blog has become a subdivision of the Scottish Tourist Board in the past few days but fear not, my mother will be leaving tomorrow so life will return to normal and art will be resumed as well as gardening!

Back to Newhailes

You may remember that back in April we discovered Newhailes near Musselburgh when friends took us for a walk around the grounds. You can see the pictures of that visit here. We wanted to return and today was the day. This time we focused our attention on the house itself because it was too wet to wander around outside. There are guided tours during the summer and it proved a treat. The National Trust is preserving the house rather than restoring it and as a result the house looks very much like it did when the Trust took it on.

As a result of death duties the books that used to be in the library are gone and it was quite unsettling (specially to a librarian!)  to be in a room with shelves all around up to the ceiling that were entirely empty! That might be why the windows there were boarded up! We were very lucky with our guide who proved to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. My mother also hugely appreciated the fact that in every room we visited there were chairs for people to sit down while the guide talked. I've not come across this in other historical properties and never missed it as John and I are quite happy to stand, but it's a great idea for elderly people.

There is a strict No Photography rule within the house so here are some that I took outside today, taken a bit closer to the house than we were able to get during our previous visit.

Newhailes

We met up with our friends and had a lovely lunch at their house before going to Newhailes, a property now run by the National Trust for Scotland and very close to the river Forth. The house dates back to the 17th Century and was added to lavishly when it came into the possession of the Dalrymple family early in the 18th. There are guided tours for the house but we had a gorgeous time walking around the beautiful grounds in the lovely sunshine. It makes such a difference when there are blue skies!

 

I think these are white wood anemonies of which there were many. Apparently the grounds are rich in bluebells too so we must remember to return and catch them in flower!

Above on the horizon line you can just catch a glimpse of the river in the distance.

All through the grounds there are these metal plaques with information about the various places of interest.

And this is the outside of what once was a shell grotto. The textures were incredible.

A monument to one of the members of the Dalrymple family with an obelisk, no doubt acquired during a Grand Continental Tour that was almost obligatory to members of the aristocracy during the 18th Century.

This is the side view of the house itself.

And here is the grand entrance. We're definitely planning a return visit as I would love to see inside the house and explore the grounds some more.

 

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Malleny Garden

It was another gorgeously sunny but extremely cold day and we woke up to a frozen world. Not a day to waste and despite some very slippery conditions in the lane we managed to get out to the main road (winter tires are a great invention!). When I visited a small quilt show about a week ago in Balerno I had noticed signs for Malleny Garden so that is where we went today. Malleny gardens is in the hands of the National Trust for Scotland and charmingly has a honesty box for entrance donations. 

In the summer this garden is known for its gorgeous collection of Old Roses and I did manage to find one, but it was frozen solid. Still very beautiful though!

There were many old urns, looking wonderfully weathered

and some very old trees reaching up towards the blue sky!

Enormous hedges provided some lovely through views in the garden

and 4 old yews (they date back to the 17th Century and are known as the Four Apostles, originally there were 12 apparently!) guarded the centre of the garden. As you can see the sun was already very low despite the fact that it was only about 2.30 in the afternoon.

There was also a very interesting and I would guess Victorian fountain, which needless to say wasn't working

as the water was frozen solid! 

However the swans at the bottom of the fountain could still be admired!

And even the little lane where we parked our car (we were the only visitors!) provided lovely vistas!

Return to Kirkcudbright

I returned with my mother to Kirkcudbright where I also was some weeks ago (see my post here) and I could not resist a last visit to the Glasgow Boys exhibition. It wasn't really my mother's sort of thing but I thoroughly enjoyed my final look at this beautiful exhibition. It will finish at the end of this week.

Kirkcudbright lays peacefully at the Solway Firth and is known as an Artists' Town, as the sign when you've entering the place proudly states. But it's also a centre for water sports as you can see. It has a very pictureque little harbour, now mainly filled with pleasure craft although once upon a time it used to be an active fishing port.

We then visited the house and studio where the artist E.A. Hornel used to live. He was one of the Glasgow Boys and lived in Broughton House, now a National Trust for Scotland property. He established a garden there in the Japanese style as he too was an artist very much inspired by flowers and plants (see my previous post). We were lucky as the sun was shining when we visited.

Many plants were still flowering so I took the opportunity for some more pictures of my favourite subject. I was particularly pleased with the yellow dahlia seen at the top of the blog and this became my blip for today.

Priorwood Garden and Melrose Abbey

An action packed day where my mother and I visited both Dryburgh Abbey and Priorwood Garden. I'm blogging about the latter first as I have to sort out my huge collection of Dryburgh Abbey pictures first before showing them here. Priorwood Garden is a National Trust for Scotland property and consist of a wonderful cottage garden where the plants are specifically grown to be dried as well as a large orchard. We spotted this amazing plant, seen above. Despite much looking around we couldn't discover what it's called (all suggestions gratefully received) so I'll have to study the books. To my disappointment it wasn't among the plants for sale.

This luscious clematis was still in full flower. The garden must have a sort of micro-climate as it's protected on all sides by high walls. It was originally a part of the former precinct of Melrose Abbey.

Priorwood also has a beautiful orchard with mainly apple trees. There is an amazing selection of different ones but this one caught our eye because of it's gorgeous red colour.

The garden also provided wonderful views of Melrose Abbey which is virtually next door. So this was a day filled with history as well as gorgeous plants. I'll blog about our visit to Dryburgh Abbey in the next few days. I took almost 60 photographs as Dryburgh which also had a fabulous graveyard so that provided even more pictures, one of which became my blip for today. You can see it here