Paxton House, built in the mid 18th century, is a lovely example of a classical layout, built by Robert Adam. It apparently has a major national collection of Chippendale furniture as well as Adam interiors. Unfortunately, you can’t visit inside (COVID) but the gardens are lovely. (https://paxtonhouse.co.uk)
The River Tweed runs alongside the gardens and the dog and I careered downhill to it before letting her in for a brief dip. She can smell water from a very long way off.
After Paxton House we went to Berwick upon Tweed, a famously historical town on the border between England and Scotland. Over the years it has changed hands between the two countries on several occasions and has an impressive range of fortifications.
The town is a bit scruffy and was rather cold so we didn’t stay long. More intense study of the history would probably be educational and / or interesting. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick-upon-Tweed)
And, at the end of the day, we played Survive: Escape from Atlantis (otherwise known as Shark Attack). Complex rules but quite entertaining.
The Retirement Travels 
Berwick can be mighty cold, particularly if you walk the walls on days when there’s a stiff breeze – which is most of the time. I know what you mean about scruffy – it’s caught between decline and regeneration and the local authority haven’t really decided which way they’re going to go – and of course it suffers from having ended up on the wrong side of the Border. I know several Morebattle folk who will go to Berwick for larger shops, rather than to Newcastle, but I don’t think it has the footfall from the surrounding area or the campsite tourists to support the range of independent shops in the historic centre and hasn’t the space to put in larger retail outlets. The road from the bypass into the station goes past large Victorian villas and I think that once upon a time, there was a deal of steam-commuting to Newcastle.
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