What's the appeal of National Trust on MN?

[SpringIsSpringing23]

Often people suggest taking kids to a National Trust for a day out. I've been to NT properties. What do children get out of looking around old properties?? Is it a middle class thing? I'm low income working class and nobody I know would suggest national trust for a day out somewhere. Not the cost, just the idea of taking a child around old properties is madness to me.

Genuinely want to know!

@EyesOnThePies I'm addressing all of the posters who claim that there's no correlation between class and NT. There very much is, it has been acknowledged by NT.
Lots of children regardless of class will not be interested in old houses, which is fine, but to ignore the statistics and lament about "why would you not pay for access to natural play areas?!" is to be blind to the greater issues.

Although I say "see the world" - haven't managed this yet but we've seen a lot of the UK 😂

Fantastic comment

That’s always the case on MN, @Coxspurplepippin : you see it in particular on threads about food where a lot of people assume anyone on benefits have children starving like Victorian waifs. There’s a confusion with WC and chaotic, always is.

The problem with talking about it is that you inevitably get very defensive ‘well I am WC and I regularly go to art galleries, the opera and skiing!’ Apart from the fact that a lot of the self proclaimed WC posters actually aren’t, the other problem is it becomes impossible to discuss. On feminism, we have to accept generalisations about men because otherwise it can’t be discussed - with the disclaimer that NAMALT - but for some reason, with class distinctions, we can’t.

MN as a whole has a lot of people on it who insist they are indeed WC, but they defy the WC stereotypes (and in fact, dislike them immensely) - so many of the English working-class culture and attitudes, which I would say include things such as England flags, package holidays in Spain, Sky TV, too many lights on your house at Christmas, bull breed dogs, The Sun - are fair game to mock and to shudder at and bluster that ‘well we are WC - BUT …’

And it is that “but” which is quite funny, because really, it’s ‘well we’re WC but we’re MC really, look!’

We are members and visit lots

never ever gone inside the houses. Lots of wanders around the grounds, picnics, play areas, dog walks. Some are lovely for a walk.

Working class, from a working class background and I've always enjoyed visiting NT properties and similar. My parents took us as children and the habit has stayed with me. Just because you are working class, it doesn't mean you can't be interested in history, architecture, horticulture, art and so on.

Historic sites are actually a lot more child-friendly now than they were in my youth 40 years ago - more interactive exhibits, puzzles, trails, dressing up and that kind of thing, sometimes adventure playgrounds outside. I don't have children but any children I see when I visit that kind of place seem to be having a whale of a time.

Walking - knowing there are toilet facilities nearby
Playground
School holiday trails

We rarely go in the houses!!

Just signed up to the NT. Thanks for spurring me on OP 😁

I grew up pretty poor and this is what we did when we were on holiday. If we were super lucky we went into the house but otherwise we would wander the gardens. I loved it and would imagine I was of a different era for a short while - my mum rudely disabusing me of any notions above my station by reminding me that I would be “below stairs”.

as an adult with children and a little more disposable income we have had NT membership and heritage membership. Interest in history isn’t class based - it’s just a thing you are or are not interested in.

I'm pretty sure I am WC, my mum worked in pubs/care homes and fish and chip shops etc until she took a podiatry course and trained as a podiatrist when she was 40 (at the same time as working as a housekeeper), her stepdad was a painter/decorater and her mum worked in a corner shop. My dad's family were very poor, his dad was a low paid labourer and his mum was a housewife. Dad did an apprenticeship in engineering and spent his whole career doing that, for most of it he wasn't highly paid.

Before I had to stop working due to ill health I worked in shops/admin/care.

I did grow up in a nice little village on the moors though so perhaps some of those middle class values have rubbed off on me!

The definition of class itself is fascinating - what defines someone as WC or MC?

NT is definitely full of people with £££ - you only have to look at the cars in the car park - which is a shame because it’s actually more affordable than many other days out if u use it enough.

Love NT and EH properties. When ds was younger we would go quite often to a local one with a little train ride, farm, lovely gardens and fab playgrounds. Another had a maze. We visited quite a few different places. I love stately homes, castles etc. We always explored the properties and often there would be activities for children like trying on armour, activity trails and so on. Great family days out and pretty reasonably priced . As a result, ds grew up with an appreciation of the past and history and had fun in the mix

@Picklypickles 'working class' now seems to be an underclass, as a pp described. Families with generational unemployment, substance misuse, low aspirations for their dc. That's why it's often problematic to talk about a particular class group - it can mean different things to different people.
From my experience after years in the school there are generally distinctions between the classes as to how people spend their time, and it isn't always to do with money. For some the idea of spending £12 a month and driving for an hour to go for a nice walk would be utterly laughable. For others the thought of spending £50 per month on PlayStation subscriptions would be abhorrent. Generally speaking, the two groups don't value what the other likes and don't seek to spend time with others like them.

Adventure play parks, woods and gardens to explore, trails to follow, rivers to paddle in, picnics, creams teas, ice creams, castles... Yep, can't think of anything kids would like to do at NT places. Poor mites being dragged there by their middle class parents

In Cornwall it’s worth it to save on parking ant many beaches alone.

£12 a month is good for me as I don't have larger amounts of money to spend on days out to the zoo/farm parks etc and I can have as many days out as I want at NT properties, I could go every day if I wanted to! We also don't need to drive for an hour to get to a lot of the properties near us, we have one a couple of miles up the road and several within a 10 mile radius. Also, as I mentioned in a previous post a lot of the beaches and beauty spots near us are now under NT management and we'd have to pay a fortune in parking if we wanted to go to these places and weren't members.

If you live near a few properties it is good value. They do lots of things for children during the holidays such as trails, and they're nice spaces for picnics. My local NT places are always full of families.

It's not just "looking round old properties". Loads of them have big playgrounds etc, space to ride bikes, for picnics, walks, pretty gardens etc. The playground here, for example is amazing: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/belton-house/visiting-belton-with-family

It's actually quite a cheap way to have days out if you have a membership IMO. We tend to get a membership years when we're a bit skint and go there rather than bigger ticket days out.

This is a great experience for children www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/peak-district-derbyshire/the-childrens-country-house-at-sudbury/new-heritage-experience-opens-at-sudbury-hall

I'm in a town not far from you that likes to flood. It has something similar to a salt shaker...

Depends on the age of your child @JetPlanesMeetingInTheAir2BRefuelled

Sudbury is brilliant for maybe 3 + I would say. DS didn’t understand why a lot of the toys couldn’t be played with or touched so had a few tantrums!

Elsewhere near me is Kedleston Hall which is very beautiful but not much there, and Calke Abbey (likewise.)

I do like NT but I don’t think I could do it every weekend to be honest.

We didn't have NT membership growing up, but we did have English Heritage as there are far more properties nearby us than NT ones. Me and my brother absolutely loved the houses and castles, but we were both into history so that helped I suppose.

Working class family, I really wouldn't have thought of it as a class thing.

I expect I'd be considered middle class now, but I am from a definitely working class background and we visited NT and similar places a great deal when I was a child. I always enjoyed it, but then I have always been interested in histpry and loved the open spaces that many NT properties are in.
I think the NT has made a real effort to make a lot of it's properties a lot more child friendly now - places like Cragside, Wreay Castle and Quarry Bank spring to mind but even a lot of the more "standard" stately home type places are more family friendly now. I remember sometimes feeling a bit scared in those places as a child as it was all "keep quiet" "no touching" and the staff seemed rather stern. I stil found them interesting but it felt slightly tense! These days it's a lot more welcoming I think.
And the grounds are often gorgeous, with really great play areas and lots of space to run around in.
We have been members for years, though the main benefit for us now our children are grown up is that there are lots of NT owned carparks in our county which are quite expensive, so the membership is worth it just for that!

I don't know a child who wouldn't like this sort of thing. Have you tried OP? We don't have NT membership but do have historic Scotland which is great value given the amount of properties locally - really pays for its self over and over during school holidays. Am far from middle class as a single parent on low income

i think they are a big crap, it i enjoy the cake