Enjoying the grounds at Traquair House
They say the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. Well, the rain in the Scottish Borders falls mainly on Harry’s head. At least, that’s the conclusion I came away with on the day we decided to visit Traquair House. It was all sunny and lovely when we drove down and even when we got there. We decided to have a quick sandwich stop when we arrived so everyone was fuelled up for the big day ahead. But I’m not joking – the minute we decided to get going, it rained so hard I’m sure it dented the tarmac. Torrential doesn’t even begin to cover it. So here is my review of our time spent at Traquair House in the pouring bloody rain. But first, here’s a cheery photo in between rainstorms…
Stunning grounds, great for kids
Traquair House is just a bit south of Peebles. The movie ‘The Ballad of Tam-Lin‘ was filmed here. No, I’ve never heard of it either. However there’s 100 acres of ground and forest to play with, meaning it’s going to be hard for kids to get bored. There’s play areas too including swings and whatnot. The friendly man at the hut on the way in tells you all the cool places to go. It costs £6 per adult, and under fives go free. Children and concessions are a fiver.
One of the highlights and selling points of Traquair House is its maze. It is the largest hedged maze in Scotland and was fun! It was also absolutely soaking for us, but we tried our best. I thought we got to the centre, but it turns out that Sam and I only got to a ‘sub centre’ which just had a tree stump in it. It would have been nice if it was clearer what we were going for – perhaps a sign in the ‘sub centre’ to tell us what it was. Anyway, Sam was getting a bit claustrophobic so we came out anyway but he did have a great time.
The maze is a really good thing to have here as it’s great to do with the family. Make sure you wear a jacket if it has been raining or you’ll get soaked! I have experience of this…
What else is there at Traquair House?
Cards on the table, we didn’t do as much here as we planned. That’s because – and I don’t know if I mentioned this before – of the bloody awful rain we had pouring down our necks. We did manage to find a little fairy hut to take shelter in, which was lovely. It would be a great place whatever the weather to sit and have a picnic!
We also had some great fun looking at the pig and the chickens kept here. The pig was very friendly, and even got a scratch behind the ears! Not far from here is a playpark, but everything was so wet we didn’t go on it, which was a shame as it looked great.
We didn’t really get the chance to explore this place anywhere near as much as I’d have liked. Did I mention the torrential rain, at all? In the breaks of dryness it was lovely, but we had to call the day off. We only lasted two hours, which was a shame considering we’de just forked out £12 for the privelige. We’d love to go back though!
Have you been to Traquair House? Perhaps on a nicer day? Let us know what you thought and what I should see when we go back! If you’re looking for other places to go, here’s our blog on Limekilns.