After my post last year detailing which National Trust properties we'd visited during the period of our membership, I decided I'd keep track of where we've been and how much we would have spent again after renewing our membership. It's worth bearing in mind that during our previous membership we had Archie with us so we weren't able to go inside the houses, nor were we able to go in some gardens. This year we've been able to visit all areas, there's sometimes an extra charge to go inside the houses and the admission prices quoted reflect this.
Our joint membership this year cost us £160.80. Last year we broke even within four months, this year it took us seven months, a fair bit longer. National Trust properties were great places to take Archie for walks so we would often visit for that purpose. Our visits this year have been much fewer but more purposeful taking in the houses as well as the grounds.
Townend. Admission is £11 for non-members. £22 saved.
Hill Top and Hawkshead. Admission is £17 for non-members. £34 saved.
Hardwick. Admission is £21 for non-members. £42 saved.
Nunnington Hall. Admission is £12 for non-members. We visited twice. £48 saved.
We also visited Nunnington Hall when it was their Love Local event. The admission this day was free for all.
Clumber Park. Admission was £6 for non-members, it's now £6.50. We visited twice. £25 saved.
Fountains Abbey. Helios by sunset. Free for members £12 for non-members. £24 saved.
Nostell Priory. Parking is £5 for non-members. Garden or House admission is £9 or a combined ticket for both is £13 for non-members, though the house wasn't open on one of our visits and we didn't go inside the house on our second visit. We visited twice. £46 saved.
Dunham Massey. Park & Garden admission is £10 or House, Park & Garden is £20, though the house wasn't open when we visited. £20 saved.
Rhosili and South Gower Coast. Parking is £4 for up to two hours or £8 over two hours for non-members. £4 saved.
Pennard, Pwll Du and Bishopston Valley. Parking is £4 for up to two hours or £8 over two hours for non-members. We visited twice. £8 saved.
Woolsthorpe Manor. Admission is £15 for non-members. £30 saved.
Hardcastle Crags. Parking is £5 for up to four hours or £8 all day for non-members. £5 saved.
In total we would have spent £308 on admission to these places. That's £147.20 more than we paid for our membership, a lesser saving than last year but we expected that. Visiting National Trust properties was brilliant when we had Archie as we all got something out of it, nowadays we're not looking for places we can take a dog when we have days out so our visits have been fewer as we've tended to go elsewhere.
Again, we received the National Trust Handbook at the start of our membership and another one was sent to us at the beginning of this year. We also received three National Trust Magazines over the course of the year and there was also a promotion when we took out the membership of a £10 gift card which can be spent in National Trust cafes or shops.
The prices quoted in the post were correct at the times we visited. Some, if not all, of the properties have now increased their prices, and the price of joint membership has also now increased to £168 for the year.
Even though we didn't save as much as we did last year, membership was again well worth it. We visited some of the places we visited last time and visited new places too. We've been able to look inside the houses this time whereas we had Archie with us still during our last membership so that wasn't an option for us then.
We've decided not to renew our membership at this point in time, mainly because there's other, non National Trust places, that we've earmarked to visit soon. I'm sure we will in the future though, possibly later on this year. I think you get good value for money and there's so many different properties, there's always somewhere to go when you're looking for a day out.
You certainly saved overall, with a great choice of properties to visit within relatively easy reach. There are so many lovely places to see. National Trust costs must be high and rising.
ReplyDeleteI think an annual membership is good value for money. There's so many lovely places to visit all around the country and it's a way for them to meet rising costs in preserving these properties for generations to come.
DeleteYou got your moneys worth which is good.
ReplyDeleteIt's really annoying here living in a bit of the country that has so few NT and English Heritage places to visit!
I've been a member of both at various times but there's a limit on how often I need to visit the same place!
It's a shame there aren't many places within easy reach for you to visit because the membership can be very good value for money if you've got a choice of properties relatively nearby as we have.
DeleteWe had NT membership for many years and found it very useful when holidaying in Devon/Cornwall for parking. But now we live in Derbyshire not so many places to visit. Our daughter bought us 'Friends' membership for Chatsworth, so we have renewed that and discarded the NT. Xx
ReplyDeleteChatsworth is somewhere we've never been but it's definitely on the list of places to visit in the future. It looks to be a perfect place to have Friends membership for, especially if you live close by.
DeleteIt seems that you have had a good year visiting more NT places and made some good savings. Wherever you go this year you are bound to find some great places beyond NT.
ReplyDeleteYou have already organised some great surprises to celebrate Mick's 60th birthday that are making the year special for him. The Gower peninsular was a place we visited often as D went to Swansea University.
I liked the puzzles you have done. We have a similar one to Dickens but is Shakespeare instead.
Beautiful 'Natures Walk' blanket - so pretty.
I enjoyed catching up with you and hope you have a good week x
After two years of National Trust membership it's time for a bit of a break, but we've really enjoyed our visits so we'll definitely renew in the future. We enjoyed the Gower Peninsula, there's some beautiful scenery there. I've had to ration my jigsaws now that spring is here, I'm keeping it as a winter hobby otherwise I'll spend the summer indoors, haha, I've become a little bit addicted. Thank you, I enjoyed crocheting the Nature's Walk blanket and I'm thinking I may even make another one in the future.
DeleteWell you certainly saved and you've seen some wonderful NT properties, which with your lovely posts I've enjoyed seeing.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
The National Trust properties are always enjoyable to visit, there's always something of interest and something new to see even if you've visited a particular property before.
DeleteYou've made good use of your membership. I've kept my membership but let Marks lapse, I get the discounted price now being over 60 but don't make use of it like I should. I've been reading how a lot of people are not happy with the N T at the moment and not renewing, although it's still good value I think
ReplyDeleteWe've definitely found it good value for money, particularly so when we had Archie but even when we've visited far fewer properties than before. We'll definitely renew it again, just not yet.
DeleteI love having my National Trust card, and I would probably spend the same amount on car parks alone. You've visited some remarkable places, and this post has given me a nudge to make more use of my membership. Thank you, Jo. Xx
ReplyDeleteIt was useful to have our membership when we visited Wales recently, we used a couple of National Trust car parks there. It's a good membership to have if you enjoy days out.
DeleteYou've done really well with the savings and had some fantastic days out too. Not only that but you have also supported an excellent organisation with the upkeep of these wonderful places that could easily become ruins without help, future generations will also have great days out and a tasty cheese scone in the café!
ReplyDeleteI like to think that I do my bit when it comes to supporting organisations such as the National Trust, they do a good job and as you say, our children, grandchildren and future generations will be able to enjoy these properties, and enjoy a cheese scone too!
DeleteGorgeous pictures. Helios by sunset is so pretty.
ReplyDeleteHelios by Sunset was so atmospheric. The art installation of the Sun glowing in the Abbey looked fantastic.
DeleteWe definitely get our money’s worth’. Just going to Nostell most weeks saves us £5 a time. Say 40 visits and that’s £200. We’ve been to many that you have. Nunnington is next on our list.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same with us at Lotherton, a separate membership but we get our money's worth because we live close by so we visit often. We love Nunnington, it's much smaller than some other National Trust properties but we always enjoy our visits.
DeleteWhat absolute beautiful places!
ReplyDeleteWe're spoilt for choice, we're so lucky. We have some wonderful days out.
DeleteSo many beautiful places...it really does seem like you got good value last year.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same thing with Disney passes. We would do a year or two and then take a year off. The passes were a good value back then. Not so much now. Many member benefits have been eliminated.
We have (USA) National Park Pass. Most things in Philadelphia are free. The pass gets us in to those that aren't.
As much as we enjoy going to places, I think it does us good to have a time away, we can then go back again with fresh eyes. You're lucky to have many free places to visit in Philadelphia, they seem to charge for more and more things here but we're lucky, we have some beautiful places that we can visit for free too.
DeleteInteresting, and informative, post with good pictures. xx
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased you enjoyed it.
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