by Alison McLeay
'Sir James and Lady Miller request the pleasure of the company of...'
There can have been few more sumptuous housewarmings than the Grand Ball given to celebrate the completion of Manderston House in the Scottish Borders. With its silver-plated staircase, and silk-hung walls, the house was a monument to uninhibited Edwardian luxury.
Manderston still stands almost exactly as it did then. The stables, with their rosewood harness-room, are said to be among the finest in Europe, and from the massive French kitchen range to the magnificent ball-room and Sir James's own silver-plated bath, it is virtually unchanged since the day of the Grand Ball on 7 November 1905.
This dramatised impression of that day was recorded on location at the house and on the estate.
With the voices of VIVIENNE DIXON, GWYNETH GUTHRIE, MARY RIGGANS , JOHN SHEDDEN , FINLAY WELSH and PAUL YOUNG

BBC Scotland
Preview: page 17
(Stereo/Binaural)
(The full binaural effect of this programme can be achieved by listening with stereo head phones)