to use a public footpath to access a pricey tourist attraction?

[PennyHasNoSurname]

Entry is only with an Annual Pass - they dont do single day access. There is a public footpath that leads into the attraction, not gated, however it isnt a short walk. Nice enough and our kids are happy to walk.

It is wrong? It feels wrong. Even though its technically allowed.

Obviously if you are sticking to the path then no problem but I don't think you'd be asking if that was the case

Yes, if you go in the right hand queue you buy a day ticket but don't fill in all the paperwork. It's the same price. On the website they bill it as pay once and visit free for the rest of the year to do beamish unlimited, lots of family days out are around £50 or more. Lots are things are free. If you don't want to spend anything choose a free one. Beamish has lots of staff in costume role playing the experience, and has lots of upkeep costs hence the admission price.

Spend a day at the beach or in the country for free, lots of great places around Durham that don't cost anything

So the public path leads right into the attraction, you don't have to climb over anything or leave the path?

If that's the case I don't think YABU, the owners of the attraction must know about the path and if they haven't done anything to get it moved they must accept that a small number of people might come in that way

Ah don't rip off beamish man. Pick somewhere free if you don't want to pay.

If it's Beamish then they just do the one ticket option now. Just that you can sign the back and use it for a full year these days, making annual charge a bargain.

£18.50 is VERY reasonable for Beamish IME - it's a proper full day out, with lots to see and do. we definitely think its worth it even when we just use our ticket once in a year.

There may well be a public footpath through part of the estate but once you come off that path you should be paying the entry fee. It would be a conscious decision to not pay, not an accident.

Iboralass - salty they probably do have to realise that some people will gain unauthorised access due to the way it is set up. Trouble is it's the rest of the visitors who end up paying the extra costs to cover it.

Toastdemon If its Culzean we used to do that too, it was very pricey just for a walk around the gardens/castle grounds with no access to the castle. I have heard recently though they are blocking/watching the back entrance.

We went to the Giants' Causeway last year which can be accessed free if you are prepared to walk. If you go via the visitors' centre you are basically paying for parking, a shop/ cafe and loos. We didn't do the walk-in option, but only because it was pouring with rain when we arrived. If there is a public footpath then there is literally nothing to stop you using it.

Its frustrating as St Fagans in Cardiff/Ely is free entry and equal to Beamish.

Beamish is an amazing full day out and I'm usually a bit tight with money but I think it's good value especially if you take a picnic.

It costs a hell of a lot to keep a place like Beamish up and running. If they are now doing tickets that are valid for a year yabvu.

The £18.50 at Beamish is for 1 adult though, right? So not like it's a bargain. Family pass is £50 odd.

I think it's perfectly ok to use the public footpath as long as you don't stray from it. Public Footpaths are there to be used. If you want to stray from the path then you should pay.

I've lived abroad a lot and public footpaths are something that I love about the UK.

As kids We lived near a big castle with a dry moat and used to scale the sloped walls of the moat to get into the castle until we realized that the guys on the door would happily let us in for free as we were local and obviously skint It wasn't half as much fun going through the gate than scaling the walls.

Trufflesnout - I personally think £18.50 is not bad for an adult entry to Beamish and have paid if a few times. And if you do mange to sue it more than once in the year it's even better.

I've never been to the other place OP mentions so can't comment on how it compares. But I do think that £18.50 pp for a full days worth of things to see and do is pretty good.

I hadn't heard of Beamish but it looks great based on the website and £18 seems fair. I like St Fagans but there's no people in costumes etc. They do have a very convincing recreation of my mother's kitchen though.

But St Fagans is a national museum supported by the gift just like natural History Museum etc Beamish isn't and needs to pay staffing cost etc so YABU

This thread reminds me of visiting my uncle in north wales and having to wait until the tide was out to visit portmeirion so we could walk along the beach to it and not past the ticket booths!!

The thing is places like Beamish cost an awful lot to upkeep, and are mostly staffed by volunteers who do it simply for the love of it. Museums are tight enough on money as it is. If everyone starts sneaking in the back then they won't be able to afford the upkeep.

People are quick to moan when places charge entry, and even quicker to moan when things close down and there's nothing decent to do anymore.

Portmerion is definitely worth paying for. It's amazing.

Beamish is awesome - we went 10 times last year; £1.80 a visit is pretty damn good. Tbh, if you're going for the full day and taking a picnic there are not many family days out you could do for less even as a one off.

You are making a conscious decision to trespass if you come off the path.

I can't work out if Beamish is run as a charity or a business (or a bit of both)

I have been to Clovelly a couple of times and not paid to walk Hough a visits centre - I walk down the road and cut in half way down the hill. It's a village where people live with a hotel on the quay at the bottom.

OMG, i'd use the footpath. You don't need to announce to the kids what your doing, do you really?