On Saturday we visited Abbotsford, the historic home of Sir Walter Scott. It’s recently been restored and a new visitor centre built, so we’ve been meaning to go for a while.

First we walked around the garden and grounds.

The place looked great, and the house itself was very impressive from the outside (we didn’t go in). We were told at the visitor centre that the way round the grounds was “obvious” and there was no need for a map, but we still got lost! Not to worry – we had great fun exploring inside this giant rhododendron instead:

Then we found the best part of all – the adventure playground! The kids almost enjoyed it as much as me.

Finally, we went into the visitor centre for lunch. Unfortunately the food was overpriced and mediocre in quality. Ben entertained himself while we were waiting for food by running in circles around the Walter Scott exhibition wielding his children’s table knife at the other visitors!

All in all I think Abbotsford is a good local destination and I’m sure we’ll be back.