Should I renew my National Trust subscription?

I used to meet relatives regularly at one property but the last time we went there was nothing my cousin could eat because they had changed to a plant based menu, most of which was bought in and they could not guarantee that nut milks or oils had not been used.

None of their food had allergen advice displayed.

I contacted Head Office the next day and they couldn’t have cared less. It’s policy.

So our policy is to meet somewhere that actually operates for the benefit of those who go there.

No more membership for me.

I am also considering dropping mine. Like you I have visited very few places recently and had to pay the entry fee at one, Pollock House because I couldn't locate my online membership card because the WiFi didn't work at the the desk.

I found it on the bus home!
There are only a few properties in or near Edinburgh and I hardly ever get to England these days.

So maybe it's time.

Oh dear so are we. We’ve done the ones close to us so many times and have visited most of the ones that are convenient to us to drop in and have lunch in whilst on the way to some where else. We used to deviate from our route to visit.
I don’t think we have used our card at all this year so it would be much cheaper to pay as we go.
This thread has just given me a nudge.

I need to check if I’m getting the 25% discount for being a member for over 3 years. My partner pays by direct debit and I reimburse him but I’ve just read that you have to ask for the concession , it isn’t automatically given, and he just adds it to anything else I owe him ( he does our food shopping).I pay for my children’s family membership, too even though they rarely, if ever ask to meet up with us there ( they usually meet up with my ex and his family). I do need to have a rethink, especially as I only remain a member so that I don’t lose the three year concession. I hadn’t realised just how expensive the family membership now is. Can’t remember the last time I visited our local one either although, when we first joined we visited lots of NT properties.

We didn't renew ours. We didn't use it often enough to justify it.
We give to The Woodland Trust instead.

I’ve also realised that, unless you’re a member they don’t offer pensioner discounts.

We’ve been NT for Scotland members for years, it’s cheaper. You can also use the membership for NT England properties.

Crikey. It is a lot cheaper. You can’t visit Scottish properties with an English one though, can you?

We use our membership a lot - and we didn’t have to ask for the Seniors discount as they just offered it to us. The NT property which is barely 10 minutes drive away, we visit a lot. They do a brilliant cream tea too; there are several other properties within an hour’s drive or so. When we are on holiday in UK we usually visit a couple of NT places. Plus, when I was in Sydney this year I used my card when visiting an art exhibition! We are very happy to be members.

We use ours a lot. We do get the 25% discount. For us, it’s worth having as it comes into its own on holidays too.

They used to provide nice casseroles during the winter, now it is only the basic of food in the cafes. The cakes are ok.

We're in Devon, South Hams at the moment we were going to visit Agatha Christie's house today, but it's so gorgeous weather wise we went to the beach instead. I hope we will see her house before we go. Other than that in the last 12 months have used the beach car park on the Isle of Purbeck, visited Nymans fairly close to where we live, where the scones were disappointingly hard and Snowshill when we stayed in the Cotswolds. That's about it! We've done much of the places in a 50 or so mile radius, Surrey, Sussex bits of Kent. I've made a note to go and see Virginia Wolfe's house in East Sussex sometime it was mentioned in one of my recent books. When we first became members on my husband's retirement we got our money's worth, but our visits fell off after a while. We deliberate whether to keep our membership going, hum and hah and then end up paying the annual subscription, full of intended prospective visits, that don't happen.

We don’t go as often as we used to for various reasons but it’s still excellent value for money.

TerriBull

We're in Devon, South Hams at the moment we were going to visit Agatha Christie's house today, but it's so gorgeous weather wise we went to the beach instead. I hope we will see her house before we go. Other than that in the last 12 months have used the beach car park on the Isle of Purbeck, visited Nymans fairly close to where we live, where the scones were disappointingly hard and Snowshill when we stayed in the Cotswolds. That's about it! We've done much of the places in a 50 or so mile radius, Surrey, Sussex bits of Kent. I've made a note to go and see Virginia Wolfe's house in East Sussex sometime it was mentioned in one of my recent books. When we first became members on my husband's retirement we got our money's worth, but our visits fell off after a while. We deliberate whether to keep our membership going, hum and hah and then end up paying the annual subscription, full of intended prospective visits, that don't happen.

We visited lots of places when I first retired, but there are only two that we go to these days and even then only go round the grounds not the houses. Then again, if I cancelled our membership I wouldn’t go to the local one at all. So it would be another thing on my growing list of things I no longer do .

It's just me now, but I wouldn't be without it. I often visit NT properties. I meet family members and friends for lunch at halfway places
It works in Italy, by the way, and I gather in the US too, should anyone want to go there.

I don't think they've changed the rules, best to check but I know some years back when we visited Scotland regularly they were happy to let us in.x

We took out Life membership many years back whilst on holiday in Cornwall as we had toured a few of the houses down there and enjoyed it. We rarely go on holiday now and then to the same places so we have already seen the properties here regularly. We have to travel over and hour from where we are now so haven't bothered in several years.
I must say the last few times we went we were very disappointed in he taste and range of foods. We also have a rescue dog now so one of us has to wait outside whilst the other one goes in alone and that makes a visit very long winded.
We also haven't been happy with some of their policy decisions but as the membership is already paid for we haven't resigned from it but if we were paying yearly we would have done.

J52

We’ve been NT for Scotland members for years, it’s cheaper. You can also use the membership for NT England properties.

Us too!

Redrobin51

We took out Life membership many years back whilst on holiday in Cornwall as we had toured a few of the houses down there and enjoyed it. We rarely go on holiday now and then to the same places so we have already seen the properties here regularly. We have to travel over and hour from where we are now so haven't bothered in several years.
I must say the last few times we went we were very disappointed in he taste and range of foods. We also have a rescue dog now so one of us has to wait outside whilst the other one goes in alone and that makes a visit very long winded.
We also haven't been happy with some of their policy decisions but as the membership is already paid for we haven't resigned from it but if we were paying yearly we would have done.

Some properties do have a dog sitting service eg Lindisfarne but I wouldn’t dream of leaving my lock down clingy dog with anyone. At least I spoke to my partner tonight and we are thankfully paying the reduced membership.

We need all the protection possible for our countryside and houses...the NT is one of the few ways we can enjoy it..

Romolo where in Italy can you use it please?

We aren't going to renewing our English heritage membership, not enough in our area and we have seen all we can

We have lapsed - too much politically correct focus on the sexual pasts - I also can't get a decent meal with their current menu - revisionist histories. Just don't enjoy visiting any more. Will Pay as We Go for exceptions.

You might be interested in the Art Fund pass. It's not a dissimilar amount of money from memory but we get a lot more value from it. Several of the National Trust properties near me are included along with some English Heritage places and a huge array of galleries and museums such as Chatham Dockyard, some free, some half price. I'd never heard of it before but am a real convert now.