Anyone got National Trust membership and wish they hadn't?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I'm contemplating getting it for us this year. We only have weekends free, but also only holiday in the UK so would make use of it then too. We could stretch to the monthly direct debit but would need to feel it was worth it.

Anyone got it and just thought "meh"?

We are in the north east so there's maybe 3 or 4 sites within an hour or so drive of us.

We got it and cancelled after a year. We didn’t make best use of it.

We went to a few places while on UK holiday which was nice, including to break up a long journey.

Near us we have a few but they are all more than a 40 min drive and tended to be quite busy. The children just weren’t into them and their favourite place is a non NT property where NT members are free but you pay for parking, so it was better to join the friends of scheme the property run.

My children just prefer the woods and other non NT spaces near us. We still go at Easter for the egg hunts but that’s all (DC are 4 & 7).

We live in SW so have many NT places but also beach parking so use it a lot. I found it made us visit places because we had membership. One summer we had no money was a livesaver well worth 10.50 a month.

Love our NT membership. We use it all the time.

When I have had it I have used it to make it worth while. But I do,t like there take on allowing hunting on there land so not renewing.

I love in Cornwall and it’s practically essential!

We have family life membership and used it a lot when DC were younger.

Downside is that I wanted to leave as a protest about their continued allowance of fox hunting on their land but they wouldn't suffer at all as a result. I just keep voting instead.

We're in the NW so not loads of places but DH likes it for DD cos it's 'away from the riff raff' and i like the gift shops and cafes!
We did have Scottish membership one year, I think it's a few quid cheaper, we joined whilst visiting that fabulous castle and grouds outside Ayr whose name escapes me. DD still talks about that playground and it was 5 years ago!

We are NE too and have had family membership ever since we had to pay for largest child. Gibside is our local but we visit others in the region too and quite like a bimble up at housesteads fort which is a joint EH and NT or down to fountains abby. Like others we use it for stop offs on long car trips for nice loos and a run in the grounds and on UK based holidays visit local places.

We use ours a lot and often just drop in somewhere for an hour , particularly if there’s an event / display / Christmas etc and I wouldn’t do that if I were having to pay the entrance costs . We are SE and I don’t mind driving so there are loads of places to go . We also have EH but again there are loads of places locally .

I’ve had one for years now and do use it. I only pay £6.99 a month for me and 1 child so even if we only visit somewhere every 2 months it’s usually cheaper than paying entry.
We’re lucky in the NE as there is a good choice of NT places (Gibside, Wallington Hall, Cragside, Souter Lighthouse, Washington Hall, Seaton Delaval) within easy driving distance.

Absolutely not! This is our 6th year of it and it’s worth every penny and more. We use it regularly - on holiday in the UK and every school holiday we we end up at a local property. We do have a fair few within an hours drive though which helps.

I won’t lie - I much prefer a trip to NT with my children than the local park. Less ‘riff raff’ to set off ASD DS3 who just can’t cope with it. The freedom to run but within boundaries and knowing the likelihood of others pissing him off is low is priceless.

After leaving over six months ago and phoning three times I am still receiving emails from them despite telling them repeatedly despite advising them I no longer wish to be contacted.
Don’t think their admin is up to much but their properties are great and you can use it in Scotland too.

Love it. We have a few places near us we regularly visit. We also use it when we go on a UK break. Also handy for long drives, instead of visiting services, slight detour to NT property for a stretch of leg and nice lunch. (We always stop off at Stourhead on the way to Cornwall. Great walk around the lake, nice lunch. An amuse bouche before going on holiday.) Worth every penny.

I think it depends on your kids ages (if you have them), but it’s a plus that you holiday in UK.

We had family membership for many years when kids were younger, as we holidayed in UK with our caravan at Easter, half terms etc. We did use it a lot both locally (NW) and on holidays, esp Cornwall, Northumberland, Yorkshire.

We dropped it a few years ago, partly due to not having as many UK breaks when kids were doing external exams, but also because we got a dog, and many places don’t allow them in the grounds. Understandable, but if we are heading out somewhere for the day now we will choose somewhere easy for walking the dog.

I am mulling over whether to re start it for DH and I, with the aim to visit somewhere at least once a month, but need to look at membership cost versus cost of pay per visit.

Kids are 5 and 8 so hopefully a few years worth of use.

I have periods of membership and periods off, rather than renewing. This way the DC and us have a break from the same places and make more of it when we have it. We currently just have English Heritage, which covered its cost on a holiday, but we are unlikely to use for the remaining few months as not much nearby.

Yes, DH was persuaded to sign up when we went to a NT property on holiday a few years ago. There are a few properties near us (west mids) and we enjoy them when we go, but we don't go often enough to make the membership cost worthwhile. I work at least one day of most weekends so often DH spends the other day doing his hobbies and I don't drive so can't take DC on my own, so we rarely have time to go. I always thought DH would take DC for something to do while I was at work on weekends/ holidays but he never has. I often think about not renewing the membership, but it seems to just rollover each year without sending us any information on how to prevent that.

We had one then gave it up as we only have a few properties in easy distance and it just wasn’t worth it. Now have English Heritage and we’ve used that a lot more

Another here who loves it.

We've one big house nearby, with miles of walks and advent play ground and around 5 other places within a an hour and a half.

We also use the NT sites like posh service stations. Particularly useful when going up the A1 (Newton's birthplace anyone? And Belton to stretch the legs.).

And use it when we holiday go to stay in cottages in this country - makes a few cheap days out with kids.

If you’re near beamish then you’ll use it loads!

Washington old Hall - not far from the galleries. Mine love it for a run around and we can definitely spend a couple of hours there outside.

Gibside - it’s great. Good park, high and low ropes in the woods. Great willow maze thing in the walled gardens. Good pizza

Cragside - massive. More of a drive but amazing day trip. Sensory garden thing by the play area. Take a towel and wet wipe!

Wallington - lovely. One of my favourites.

You can be savvy and get your membership at the right time (if you are mostly going to be a summer visitor).
I usually get an EH membership in August and then I can use it for part of the following summer holidays (last time it gave me the whole of August the following year too). Then have a year off, or get a different one for the following year. I usually alternate with Beamish.

We use ours a lot. Days out with kids and it’s handy as a place to go when I want a day out with my mum and sister and my nephews and nieces. Was worth its weight in gold on holiday in Cornwall as saved a fortune in parking costs at the National trust beach carparks

Depends how old DCs are. when mine were little it more than paid for itself in trips to just my local one, it had a great playground, a few different walking routes through the forest and massive house to explore. Once they got to 11/12 they would be more interested in the coffee shop than the grounds.

depending on your location consider English Heritage- eg NE has a few more EH than NT sites and can be used for Fountains Abbey (NT) entrance too

NT allows entry to Mount Grace Priory

we alternate between EH and NT, more because we want to support their work, but EH provides the best value to us

I think joining the Scotland NT is less costly and allows access to all English NT sites., but we havent tried this.

I have corporate membership of English Heritage. It's not something I would ever thought about until I got it through work, but I love it.

It's great having trips available without thinking about the cost.

I do have to 'force' myself to use it though in order to get the benefit of the membership. I normally try and plan at least 1 trip during the school holidays to get the children out of the house.

What I like about the sites is that they never feel over crowded as there is lots of space and places around the cites to explore.

We pack a picnic, so only have to pay for petrol and ice creams.