Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
We were staying with friends Julia and Allan and our first visit was to Prudhoe Castle. Our first house was in Prudhoe, and we remembered chatting to the keeper of the time. The castle is hidden away and fronts the huge Kimberley-Clarke factory on the river Tyne, mostly well hidden by trees. It is much more impressive than imagined. That is why it was the only castle in the North never taken by the Scots. There were two chapels ( a lot of praying to do). The one above the gateway which Allan and I climbed up to contains the earliest Oriel Window known in the country. This is the outer bailey. The Great Hall would have been on the left. And the inner bailey...on the left is the Georgian house which was built over medieval remains. The mill seen here was important but outside the bailey walls......surely a problem? When besieged by the King of Scots in 1173 he said "My lords what shall we do? As long as Prudhoe stands we shall never have peace." The next day we visited Paxton House in the Borders. We had never been before. It is an exceptional Georgian house with many surprises. "The opulent Picture Gallery is filled with a superb collection of paintings on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland. Works by celebrated 18th and 19th century Scottish artists Sir Henry Raeburn, William McTaggart and Sir William Allan can be enjoyed alongside 20th century paintings by the renowned Scottish colourists Samuel John Peploe and George Leslie Hunter, and artists with local connections to the Borders, Anne Redpath and Sir William Gillies. Contemporary local artists are invited to show in a series of changing exhibitions in the Hayloft Gallery and in the Regency Gallery by the gift shop. The Scottish artist, Allan Ramsay’s earliest oil painting, several works by Sir Henry Raeburn and works by British and European artists, including Rosalba Carriera, David Martin, William Shiels, Alexander Nasmyth, Francesco Fidanza, and Antonia del Massaro da Viterbo are displayed throughout Paxton House." "Paxton House is home to two pre-eminent nationally important collections of furniture. The first commissioned from England’s most celebrated cabinetmaker, Thomas Chippendale and his son, by Ninian Home from 1774-91, and the second, commissioned from Scotland’s premier cabinetmaker, William Trotter, by George Home and Nancy Stephens in the Regency period. Today you can see the original furniture in the rooms for which it was designed. Ninian Home commissioned Chippendale, Haig and Co. to decorate and furnish his home ‘in a neat but not expensive manner’ between 1774- 1791. Thomas Chippendale and his prestigious firm of cabinet makers, Chippendale, Haig and Co, furnished the house with a wide variety of exquisitely made chairs, cabinets, desks, beds, clothes presses, tables as well as soft furnishings at a time when he and his son were at the height of their success. The Chippendale firm undertook a complete interior design scheme for the Dining Room and Drawing Room, supplying hand-painted wallpaper and enormous pier glass mirrors from Paris." "William Trotter is Scotland’s most outstanding cabinetmaker of all time. A crucial figure in the Edinburgh New Town, he had showrooms on Princes Street. His furniture was typically made to be hired out to clients renting houses in the New Town of Edinburgh.Paxton was Trotter’s largest country house commission with 40 fully documented pieces made for the new wing added by George Home in 1812-15, of which 30 remain in situ. His furniture at Paxton, mostly in rosewood, is the world’s largest publicly accessible collection of his work." What was really extraordinary in our tour was to see the Eighteenth Century costumes which had been preserved in a trunk. They were magnificent. A carousel held in Berlin, 1750, was one of last great European Royal performances designed to demonstrate the power, wealth, and importance of the King and his cavalry to his subjects and other kingdoms.King Frederick II of Prussia, named Frederick the Great, held a month of festivities to celebrate the visit of his elder sister, Wilhelmine, in August 1750. Balls, concerts, opera, plays, feasts, and firework displays culminated in knightly equestrian performances where four teams competed. The events took months of preparation and rehearsals. Thousands of people watched the spectacle. Four teams based on ancient empires (the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Carthaginians) were each led by a Prince or military figurehead with six knights, plus pages and squires. Patrick Home, then aged 22, who later built Paxton House, was a knight in the Carthaginians team. Each team displayed their horsemanship through arranged performances to music; tilting, jousting, and various types of target practice also took place. The spectacular displays took place in an illuminated performance on the evening of 25th August and during the day of 27th August 1750. Patrick’s matching horse regalia is also in Paxton’s collection. This is the only costume surviving from the Carousel event. Masons' marks are always interesting to see (necessary for them to get paid). Here a couple at Norham. Next, to Ford and Etal, usually classed together and they are very near each other. Etal is another Romantic ruin.... Etal village is exceptionally nice....... Whereas Ford Castle (now an adventure centre) is much restored. The castle dates from about 1278. The view out from the castle...... Another day, we drove to Amble which we hadn't really explored before. We parked by the beach and walked in past the golf course. A place full of character and lovely buildings. From there to lunch at Boulmer, and a brief walk to the Bathing House. On our last day we paid a visit to Belsay Hall, and its quarry garden...... You also get to see the impressive 13th century castle, owned almost continuously by the family since Sir Richard de Middleton was Lord Chancellor to King Henry III.
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August 2023
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