National Trust

As well as joining the RSPB last year, we also joined the National Trust. We've visited National Trust properties in the past but didn't think a membership would benefit us as many of the properties they look after weren't very dog friendly. In recent years the National Trust seem to have become more inclusive and they now allow dogs in many of the gardens and parkland so we decided to take out an annual membership.

A joint membership cost us £151.20, though you can pay monthly by direct debit if you wish rather than in one lump sum. Again, as I did with our RSPB membership, I kept a note of all the National Trust properties we visited over the year to see what we would have paid had we not taken out a membership, and it was the same as with the RSPB, we'd broke even within four months.

Calke Abbey. We didn't go inside the house so we would have paid £7.50 each for entry to the parkland and gardens had we not been members. Admission to the house costs £12.50 for non-members and is in addition to the Parkland and Gardens. £15 saved.

Fountains Abbey. Admission is £19 for non members. We visited three times £114 saved.

We also visited Fountains by Floodlight, an after dark event which was free for members but £10 per ticket otherwise. £20 saved.

Studley Royal Water Garden. Set within the same site as Fountains Abbey, one admission fee allows entry to both, however, we visited each at different times. Non-members pay £19 and there's free parking near the visitors centre, however, the car park adjacent to Studley Royal which we used is pay & display, free for National Trust members, or £6 for 4 hours or £9 all day for non-members. We visited twice. £88 saved.

Beningbrough Hall. Admission is £14 for non-members. We visited four times. £112 saved.

Hardwick Hall. Admission is £19 for non-members. £38 saved.

Nostell. Dogs aren't allowed in the house or gardens so we only visited the parkland. Parking costs £5 for non-members, house or gardens £8 or a combined ticket for the house and gardens £12. We visited twice. £10 saved.

Ilam Park. Non-member parking, up to 4 hours costs £5, all day costs £7. £5 saved.

Clumber Park. Admission is £5 for non-members. £10 saved.

Nunnington Hall. Admission is £11 for non-members. We visited twice. £44 saved.

Belton Estate. Admission is £15 on Tuesday or Wednesday or £18 Thursday to Monday for non-members. £30 saved.

Wentworth Castle Gardens. Admission is £6 for non-members. We visited twice. £24 saved.

Ormesby Hall. Admission is £6.50 for non-members. £13 saved.

Lyme. We didn't go inside the house so we would have paid £7 each for entry to the Park and Gardens had we not been members. Admission to the House, Park and Gardens costs £15 for non-members. £14 saved.

Quarry Bank. Admission is £22 for non-members. £44 saved.

Brimham Rocks. Non-member parking, up to four hours costs £6.50, all day costs £10. We visited twice. £13 saved.

East Riddlesden Hall. Admission is £6.50 for non-members. £13 saved.

Hardcastle Crags. Non-member parking, up to 4 hours costs £5, all day costs £8. £5 saved.

Dunham Massey. We didn't go inside the house so we would have paid £9 each for entry to the park and gardens had we not been members. Admission to the house costs £17 for non-members and is in addition to the park and gardens. £18 saved.

So in total we would have spent £630 on admission to these places. That's a huge £478.80 more than what we paid for our membership. In fairness, I should point out that we visited some of the places purely because we were passing on the way to somewhere else, we wouldn't have popped in for so short a time if we'd had the admission price to pay, but as we had our membership that didn't matter.

Our membership also included the National Trust Handbook which details the places cared for by the National Trust and opening times. They sent us one at the start of our membership and another at the beginning of this year. In addition to this, members also receive the National Trust Magazine three times throughout the course of the year.

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 £160.60.

For us, the membership has been well worth it. We've renewed our membership for another year and have already visited Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's farmhouse retreat in the Lake District as well as other places.

Do you have National Trust membership? What are your experiences with it?