For the summer and autumn 2003 five day tours were arranged starting in May and continuing to September. These trips are not normally open to non-members but friends of members accompanied them on some trips when space was available.

Inverary Castle and Glencoe

We enjoyed our first day tour of the season in the Inverary area. We stopped for coffee en route at Loch Lomond Shores where there is a small outlet of Jenners Stores.

Inverary Castle has been the ancestral home of the Dukes of Argyll since the 15th century, the present castle having been built between 1745 and 1790. The castle was designed by Roger Morris and the clerk of works was William Adam.

Lunch was in Inverary town and afternoon tea at the Glencoe Visitors' Centre. The Centre now enjoys a new site and is much improved on the old one.

Levens Hall, Cumbria

Levens Hall is near Kendal and is the family home of the Bagot family. It is an Elizabethan mansion set around a Pele tower. The famous topiary gardens were laid out in 1694 by Monsieur Beaumont and his designs remain largely unchanged to this day.

The garden is a former winner of the Christies/HHA Garden of the Year Award and is considered to be one of the top ten gardens in Great Britain.

Paxton House and Eyemouth

We traveled to Paxton House via Haddington, our coffee stop.

Paxton House is situated near Berwick upon Tweed and built in 18th century classical style between 1758 and 1762 to a design by John and James Adam. The House contains the pre-eminent collection of Chippendale Furniture in Scotland, together with the furniture of William Trotter of Edinburgh.

The large picture gallery is an outpost of the National Gallery for Scotland. A light lunch was available at Paxton, but some members who did not wish to use the restaurant provided their own sandwiches. Later we visited the coastal town of Eyemouth and its museum.

Brechin Cathedral, Pictavia and House of Dun

We traveled to Brechin via a coffee stop at the Caithness Glass Centre outside Perth. We made a brief stop to visit Brechin Cathedral and then on to the Brechin Castle Centre for lunch, before seeing the Pictavia exhibition.

Later in the afternoon we visited the House of Dun as an afternoon tea stop. House of Dun, a NTS property, is a Georgian house designed by William Adam and built in 1730, and features excellent plasterwork by Joseph Enzer.

Traquair House and Smail's Printworks

Traquair House is the Peeblesshire home of the Maxwell-Stuarts and is considered to be the oldest inhabited country house in Scotland. The famous Bear Gates have remained closed since 1745. Originally a royal hunting lodge it was owned by the Scottish Crown until 1478 when it passed to a branch of the Royal Stuart family, ancestors of the present owners.

We later visited Smail's Printworks at Inerleithen, an NTS property, a complete Victorian printers' workshop.