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Original poster

To be surprised at adults not knowing most museums are free?

260 replies

FelineFatale · 03/03/2019 11:37

I've met recently at least four people who didn't know this. One said they didn't take their children to museums because they can't afford it and the other three just thought you had to pay.

I'm close to two of these people and when I said I was amazed they didn't know this they stated most people think you have to pay for museums.

They don't, surely?!

OP posts:
Gentlemanwiththistledownhair · 03/03/2019 12:35

Seriously OP? "Most" museums aren't free, outside of the big ones in London.

Perhaps your friends were brought up with as much exposure to museums as you, but not in London? Although if you've only been to London museums, perhaps your museum exposure isn't as great as you imagine?

Jenala · 03/03/2019 12:36

Every museum in my town charges Hmm

Well done for regularly going to museums though op. Which is what this post is really about.

PlainSpeakingStraightTalking · 03/03/2019 12:36

Some are free
Some are not
Some are free with pay-for exhibitions inside
Some are 'specific' and would not interest the majority
Some people really are on the breadline and cant afford the associated travel costs.

Some people have no capacity to understand that some people really are too poor

Random sample of museums (adult entrance costs)
London Transport Museum - £16 entrance
Greenwich Museum of Fans - £5
Victoria & Albert Museum - free but £12 to visit the Mary Quant Exhibition
Tate Modern - free, £20 for Exhibitions
Notting Hill - Museum of brands - £9 entrance

Original poster
FelineFatale · 03/03/2019 12:37

Gwen I'm right in thinking you are Welsh, and they don't charge in Wales? If so I'd say not.

OP posts:
JassyRadlett · 03/03/2019 12:38

I could be wrong! I’ve just checked and Norwich and Wells are both free so maybe it’s more the big ones on the tourist trail - eg Canterbury, Salisbury, Durham, York Minster, Lincoln, the two in London...

That said I’d have thought of Hereford in that list, it’s lovely.

NuffSaidSam · 03/03/2019 12:39

'and then Londoners wonder how Brexit happened hmm'

I don't think anyone voted for Brexit because the museum's and transport in London is better than elsewhere!

Brexit isn't going to remove London from England, more the UK from Europe!!

StoorieHoose · 03/03/2019 12:39

LOTS of museums are free in Scotland.

NuffSaidSam · 03/03/2019 12:42

I don't think most museums are free.

Some are. But not most.

Even in London it's only the main, big ones that are free. Smaller ones can be quite expensive. I looked at going to the Sherlock Holmes museum during half term, but it something like £50 for all of us and that was too much.

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 03/03/2019 12:42

"Whilst a lot are “free” they do have a suggested donation that people perhaps feel pressurised into paying."

At the Science Museum the only way in was by queueing for a desk where the guy briskly asked whether I would be making our donation in cash or by card. The manipulation annoyed me - when I make a donation I don't like to feel my arm has been twisted.

Gwenhwyfar · 03/03/2019 12:42

Come to think of it I've never been to a cathedral in the UK that had a ticket office or anything. Some have a donation plate for loose change, but I don't consider that to mean you have to pay.

outpinked · 03/03/2019 12:43

Some do charge, some don’t but ask for a voluntary contribution. Most where I live are the latter but I have been to a few that have charged and it wasn’t cheap.

GunpowderGelatine · 03/03/2019 12:44

It's been years since I set foot in a free museum. The local one is £10 a year for me and free for the kids and is very good but bigger ones round here, such as the local Castle, are about £24 entry for a family of four

ShabbyAbby · 03/03/2019 12:45

@Lockheart
That's interesting and also very sad that people don't value heritage even at those tiny prices, however I can see how it happens when people are on a really really limited budget. Things are definitely much worse under universal credit than heritage benefits, which has an impact on spending even minimally on heritage. It's cheaper to go to the park, or stay in and watch TV in cold months. Its such a shame.
I can see that the choices councils have now and financial pressures they are under mean that it's not possible to prioritise heritage, but what a shame. We are a country that benefits massively from tourism on the basis of our history. Certainly can't depend on the weather!
I have struggled to get my DCs excited though when we visit sites that are badly maintained, and we are distracted from our day out by the level of mess and graffiti. It's such a shame, honestly.

isabellerossignol · 03/03/2019 12:45

Maybe these people who live sheltered lives actually live somewhere that it's not all that easy to travel to London or Birmingham or Manchester?

I just looked at that list of free museums on MSE. There are three listed for the whole of N Ireland. And only one of those is the sort of place where you could pass any length of time and have a 'family day out'. It's also in a busy part of Belfast and has no car park and unless you live on a train route (which most of N Ireland doesn't, as there is hardly any railway) it's not easy to access by public transport from outside of Belfast.

If I wanted to access the free museums in the rest of the UK I'd have to fly there. That's not being insular and deliberately turning my back on educational experiences because I can't be bothered, it's a simple matter of cost.

I had no idea most museums were free because I've never been to London.

JassyRadlett · 03/03/2019 12:47

Come to think of it I've never been to a cathedral in the UK that had a ticket office or anything. Some have a donation plate for loose change, but I don't consider that to mean you have to pay.

The ones I listed definitely do - I don’t think you can even get into the grounds at Canterbury without paying.

Doobydoobeedoo · 03/03/2019 12:49

" One said they didn't take their children to museums because they can't afford it and the other three just thought you had to pay."

My local museum is only free during term time. The last time I went it cost me £10 just to get in.

It's not a well-known museum and doesn't really have anything that would make anyone want to go out of their way to visit it. Even if you really take your time and look at every single exhibit, you'd still be finished in about an hour.

I would think it far more odd that someone would assume that most museums here are free.

sashh · 03/03/2019 12:50

I suppose it's the lack of exposure to museums I find shocking more than anything else. I grew up visiting museums regularly so it's so alien to imagine otherwise.

I grew up with them being a treat because you did have to pay, this continued long into my adult life, I took younger relative to the science museum when he was about 10 and I was in my 30s - I paid.

Witchend · 03/03/2019 12:50

Really? Not most outside London.

Ds is interested in history so we've been to a fair number round the country and if I think of ones outside London, there's only a couple that were free-although he got into a few on Blue Peter badge, I still had to pay.

NoahsArks · 03/03/2019 12:51

Well done for regularly going to museums though op. Which is what this post is really about.

This

Gwenhwyfar · 03/03/2019 12:51

"The manipulation annoyed me - when I make a donation I don't like to feel my arm has been twisted."

Something similar happened to me in Bristol. I decided not to use the shop and cafe, which is how I usually contribute and not to go back so it's backfired on them.

If it's just a large donation box, I am insensitive enough to ignore it happily.

needthisthread · 03/03/2019 12:52

I suppose it's the lack of exposure to museums I find shocking more than anything else.

Exposure to museums Confused

isabellerossignol · 03/03/2019 12:53

On thinking about it, I never really went to museums growing up because there weren't that many to go to, paid or not. It would be amazing to live somewhere that you could choose from half a dozen museums on a Sunday afternoon.

ImportantWater · 03/03/2019 12:53

I have come across people who didn’t realise libraries were free, and those who thought you had to pay to go to state grammar schools. I can understand the confusion around grammars as some private schools call themselves grammar schools, but the library thing is sad. And more shocking than museums, because all libraries are in fact free, and I would agree with those who say most museums are not free. Some are, especially in London. Most are not.

Wishiwasincornwall · 03/03/2019 12:54

It's not the price of admission or lack of interest that limits me. It's the cost of travel, accommodation as there is very little in the way of museums where I live. What little we do have we have done to death.

I would absolutely love to take the children to London for a week but there is no way on this planet I could afford to do it whether or not the museums, parks and architecture are free to enjoy.

Not everyone has these amazing opportunities on their doorstep and the means to pay for the associated costs.

Gwenhwyfar · 03/03/2019 12:56

"On thinking about it, I never really went to museums growing up because there weren't that many to go to, paid or not. "

Same here. Looking back I think I missed out and my parents and school should have made more of an effort. Once I was a teenager and able to travel independently (still needed a lift or two buses to get to nearest train station), any trip to a city meant not missing the opportunity to go shopping.