We currently own a family membership for the national trust. We used to have an english heritage membership but we switched to the national trust when i was about 6 and we are still with it now.
So with the membership you get free access to most national trust places. They are listed in the handbook you are given and on the internet. The handbook is great, it shows you exactly what places they are to visit and where they are on the map. It also syas the facilities that each place has and what events that it holds. When the place is open and even when the best time to go visit it is, this is because of theplants that grow at specific times and when they bloom.
You get a membership card which you use to gain your free access. My parents have one each. You also get three editions of the national trust magazine a year. They have good posters in them. Some of them are even on my wall. This shows the wide range of age groups that the national trust appeal to, the old the young and the in-betweeny's. You also get two newsletters a year to keep you informed on whats going on. You also get a car sticker to show when parking, it looks good and helps to advertise the national trust, gaining them more members and more money to preserve and mantain such beautiful places. Dont lose your card because you will have to ask for another and if you visit a place and have to pay you will not
be refunded.
So the cost, it really is much cheaper to buy memberships than to pay each time you go, there are also so many places to visit. We have our favorites, liek bolton house which has a huge playground for the younger children and the house for the adults, enough to encourage both to go. We usually stop off at a national trust place on route to a holiday, because they are great places to picnic and are enjoyable to visit.
and individual membership is £43.50 ( but you can get it for £32.60 with the direct debit offer online) here the named member on the card gets the free access. For a lifetime membership it is £1,060, you save even more money.
A joint membership for (£54.38 direct debit) or £72.50, here you each get a card. A lifetime membership is £1,275.
Family one adult for (£43.88 direct debit) or £58.50, here you get one adult and their children or grandchildren that are under 18.
Family group for (£58.12 direct debit) or £77.50, here you get two adults and their children or grandchildren. A lifetime membership is £1,450.
In individual liftime membership for a pensioner is £695 and for a joint pensioner lifetime membership it is £840.
Additional - An additional member to individual or family for (£21.74 direct debit) or £29.00.
Child ( under 13) or young membership ( 13-25 years) for (£14.62 direct debit) or £19.50.
These memberships will save you soo much money. National trust places are dotted all around the country and no matter where you are you can almost guarrentee that there will be a national trust place nearby. They are easy to find and usually well signposted.
Many nationalstrust places have picnic areas, houses , gardens, shops, cafe's , parks, dogs may or may not be allowed, some places ahve specific events at certain times. These may be easter egg hunts or reinactments of past occurances. You can even hold weddings or functions at some of the places. Most national trust places are also suitable for the disabled. Guided tours are also sometimes available. Each place is beautiful in its own way and yes the kids will enjoy it. Some of my fondest memories as a child are going to national trust places. There are lots of things for children to do, the open grass to run in, quizes given at the start, stickers given ( of trusty the hedgehog). I learnt to look after my enviroment and appreciate the places. I realled liked visiting abbeys because you could discover secret passages and obviously playign tag was great.
If you get a chance i recommend visiting yorksire and going to Brimham rocks, it can get very busy but theres a reason why. Basicly its a load of rocks that are really fun to climb, some small some big, but all fairly easy ( with the exception of a few), Great for kids ( and dont worry big kids too) you get a real sense of acheivement when you get to the top of one. Or you could just walk around and find routes around the rocks, sometimes thats just as fun. So the events are obviously going to bring more visitors. If visiting on an event day, leave a little earlier. As i said before there are easter egg hunts etc, this means there are events for both adults and children, there are special evenings, craft fairs, concerts, bands
So why join. Well from my view the places are great fun the visit and its just a really nice day out every day. Even if it rains there seems to be somethign you can do. It maynot be as good as a hot day with a dripping ice cream but it still scores well in my books. Im a teenager and i still look forward to visiting national trust places. It really does widely appeal. If you get the membership you save soo much money and it means you can have an endles amount of fun days and not have to worry about the varying costs of each place.
One extra that i found great as a child was to buy the national trust passport. It is a passport sized book with squares for stamps. Every time you visit you can buy a stamp and they will also ink stamp it with the place you have been. This was great for me and filling a square each time made it more exciting. You used to buy one stamp at a time and they had butterflies, flowers, beatrix potter and trusty the hedgehog etc on them. Now i think you buy them in packs of 4 and then when you visit a place you can get it ink stamped free. When it is full you send off the back page and get a certificate. Im not sure if they still sell them as mine is rather old now but i should think they will. Its a great idea and if you have kids and get it for them you may find them actually asking you to take them to the national trust, brilliant!.
They are customer and especially family and pensioner friendly. As far as i have seen their toilet facilities and catering is very clean and efficient. The food at the cafe's is nice, they usually sell mini already made lunch boxes for children, nice in a bright cardboard box, the lunch is healthy and promotes healthy eating. what more could you want. Sometimes a little expensive , but still worth it.
I really do recomend that you join the national trust they put alot of care and effort into what they do and it shows. they are basicly a charity for gardens , houses and animals. they restore and protect. They provide a great day out, and there is so much to choose from, you could see an abbey one day, a mill the next, then a house or castle or garden. This is very highly recommended. If you can get hold of the Handbook and just flick through, you will see what i mean about just how many there are.
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Advantages: The National Trust is committed to saving as much of our heritage "FOREVER, FOR EVERYONE". Disadvantages: Looking after lots of national treasures is expensive.
Advantages: The National Trust is committed to saving as much of our heritage "FOREVER, FOR EVERYONE". Disadvantages: Looking after lots of national treasures is expensive.
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