Is National Trust membership worth it?

trailingspouse · 1 January 2019 at 10:30PM

I'll declare an interest here, as I'm a National Trust volunteer.
If you like looking round historic properties and/or walking in beautiful areas then it will probably be worth it for you. If that's not your thing, then you probably won't.

I work at a relatively small property, we get +/- 40,000 visitors a year, many of whom are members - so many people feel that it is worth their while.
As to buying membership to Scottish NT, you can indeed, and it is cheaper - but you won't get any mailings about events in your area, and you won't be helping the properties that you are visiting. Your call, of course.

Goldiegirl · 1 January 2019 at 10:40PM

THIRZAH wrote: »

Depends where you live. We do quite a lot of walks from places like Lyme Park and Mam Tor so take advantage of the free parking.DD lives in east Kent and reckons it's not worth her joining as there are so few NT properties there.

I think English Heritage is better for East Kent. Last summer we visited the castles at Dover, Walmer and Deal on days out.

Katiehound · 1 January 2019 at 11:41PM

Don't forget you can use Tesco clubcard vouchers towards / to buy outright annual membership of English Heritage. (not NT 'though.)
Vouchers are worth x3 in value for this offer.

trailingspouse · 2 January 2019 at 9:27AM

If you take out membership at a property rather than direct with the National Trust (eg online), the property gets more than 100% of the membership fee directly into their own budget. If you have a 'favourite' property, this is a good way of helping them directly.

VJsmum · 2 January 2019 at 9:37AM

We've been members for about 20 years. when the kids were small we used it a lot but less so recently.

We probably don't (or maybe only just) reach the cost of the subscription in visits nowadays but see it as a charity donation. having said that, we do use it for walks in the grounds, and such like, even if we don't go in the houses.

It does depend on where you live and where you go on holiday. Some places are more blessed than others.

(I come from kent, though don't live there now, I thought there were quite a few places there? Knole, Chartwell, Ightham Mote....)

Out,_Vile_Jelly · 2 January 2019 at 11:31AM

Yes; if you have a car and regularly go for days out. Most NT properties aren't easily accessed on public transport. This is why my partner and I chose EH membership instead.

If you go to Cornwall for a week you will probably make back the cost of annual membership in free parking, as they own a lot of the coastline.

Ishtar · 2 January 2019 at 1:53PM

We have a family membership - although my 14 YO daughter often tends to opt out more now. We pay monthly by direct debit and generally break even. There's quite a few properties near to where we live, including Waddesdon, Nuffield Place and Basildon Park - all a good day out with a picnic (weather permitting).

It's also very useful on holiday.

pavlovs_dog · 2 January 2019 at 2:05PM

we joined whilst on holiday last summer and viewed it as our anniversary present to ourselves. There are not a huge amount of properties local to us, but there are lots within a 1-2 hour drive, which is acceptable for a day out.

As CapricornLass says, we only have to visit 5 big properties over the course of a year to break even, we try to visit one a month to make sure that we are getting value for money.

Our nearest property is just 15 minutes away and has beautiful grounds so I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of our membership there in the spring and summer months. It is an ideal place for a stroll and a picnic lunch

carolbee · 2 January 2019 at 2:23PM

VJsmum wrote: »

We've been members for about 20 years. when the kids were small we used it a lot but less so recently.

We probably don't (or maybe only just) reach the cost of the subscription in visits nowadays but see it as a charity donation. having said that, we do use it for walks in the grounds, and such like, even if we don't go in the houses.

It does depend on where you live and where you go on holiday. Some places are more blessed than others.

(I come from kent, though don't live there now, I thought there were quite a few places there? Knole, Chartwell, Ightham Mote....)

nothing much in East Kent. Wish we had somewhere we could go withinin five miles or so. those mentioned are lovely, and we’ve been a few times to them each.

gentlepurr · 3 January 2019 at 4:03PM

I'm going to stand up here and admit that ive gone the New Zealand Heritage route for several years now, and if i hadnt have done, then we wouldnt have visited any NT properties at all, so they do gain from what we spend in the tea rooms and shops on NT sites. I used to work for NT and saw just how much money was wasted on bureaucracy ( as with some other large charities) and so i would rather spend the money ive saved on helping other, smaller, charities out too, which i wouldnt otherwise be able to afford to do so. Yes, i still have to pay for NT parking, but i dont find that unacceptable.

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Is National Trust membership worth it?

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