CAMpRA and the National Trust
Comments
-
I don't know this particular location but if you stay overnight is there any barrier to access the Gardens? If you can just walk in when the office is close perhaps that might explain the very high cost. On the other hand if access is restricted by some sort of barrier the it would be better to charge a more realistic figure to stay overnight and normal charges for access? That way at least that way NT members wouldn't be disadvantaged?
David
0 -
Stourhead can be a magical place to visit in winter. I remember staying overnight during a sunny, settled cold spell in January/February. We arrived about 3:30 and literally had the lake & grounds to ourselves - we were the only van in the CL. In those days you paid for the MH pitch (hard standing & EHU) and as NT members the rest was free. The grass was frosty, parts of the lake frozen and the whole place carpeted in snowdrops. Bacon baps for breakfast in the NT cafe and toilet facilities during opening hours. The churchyard was a picture. Pub in the grounds. I’d happily pay £30 for that kind of experience. Sometimes special places have special prices.
0 -
Things may have changed but when we stayed there a few years ago there was a notice asking you not to access the gardens out of hours [health and safety issues] but there was nothing stopping you. I had a wonderful couple of hours in there one evening all on my own other than one other couple I saw once.
The CL at that time was dire. Motorhomes could not have emptied their grey water as access was difficult, and the main car park was along side so it was like being part of it. During the day there were people walking through the CL as a short cut to reception.
1 -
As I said earlier up the thread, there's no way I'm paying £38 for a basic CL. I realise that Stourhead is the 'jewel in the crown' of the NT but they are 'avin a larf.
I wonder what the occupancy rate is at those prices. I suppose it might be attractive to a non NT member as it effectively includes entry.
2 -
I have to agree with Seaside Bill “Sometimes special places have special prices.” I would also add there are a variety of walks from the carpark/CL and going up King Alfred’s Tower when visiting some time back was worth climbing all those steps for the view (it has restricted opening times).
I doubt very much NT would continue to run the S’head CL if it wasn’t cost effective as they spent money relocating it a few years back.
0 -
The CL at Stourhead is still alongside the main car park, hardly a quiet location, but we know that's not the point...
we live close enough to visit without the need to overnight and it is a regular place for us, but it's just another example of not understanding the market.
club and NT members, being charged £40-50 (depending on party size) for a small patch of chippings to access a park they've already paid for?....no thanks.
Although we can visit SH easily, the sad thing is this 'researched model' will be rolled out and other spots like the wonderful Kingston Lacy (formerly 'not cheap' at £20) will now more than double in price...to something that will put us off.
rather than this initiative becoming part of an overall drive to make overnight use of largely unused car par spaces, we've got an excuse to turn previously accessible NT CLs into top priced white elephants..
5 -
I doubt very much NT would continue to run the S’head CL if it wasn’t cost effective as they spent money relocating it a few years back.
I am sure it will be attractive to non NT members. A family group of two adults and two kids can stop the night for the princely sum of £1. The cost of a nights stay minus the £45 family entry fee to the garden.
1 -
I wonder what the occupancy rate is at those prices. I suppose it might be attractive to a non NT member as it effectively includes entry.
Probably so CY but it certainly does not sit well with NT members of which I am one. I already pay over the odds for membership (it is a charity) so there will be no way I will be using this CL even though I like Stourhead. It may well go down well with CAMpRA members who are not NT members but it hardly encourages them to join the NT
peedee
3 -
I already pay over the odds for membership
An interesting comment, what is the odds for membership of this kind of organisation then PD? And if you feel that way why pay it?
but it certainly does not sit well with NT members of which I am one
I'm a NT (and EH) member and it sits well with me?
As always use it or not ?
btw the way I'm in favour of using car parks at night for MHs.
0 -
You're right, bit of a loose/loose...
NT member charged a fortune, non members not joining as there's no need...
the worst thing the NT could do would be to put a CL in each property and we'd all rescind out memberships in lieu of Steve's £1 a night stays....
3 -
I may be wrong but I took Peedee to mean, that there are various options as to at what level you contribute when you get to our age, plus of course there was the option of 3 months extension for the pandemic.
Again don’t know about PD but we have been members for 45 years, for the access it gives to properties and because I support their aims in relation to the open access properties of mountain and coastline.
Of course one is free not to use it, but it would be nice to be given the choice without feeling one was being ripped off. You can stop here but only if you donate another £38, the entrance fee for two. I’m not saying NT members should be able to stop for nothing, but £20 would seem a fair compromise.
2 -
Corners, There are cheaper memberships than the full membershiip I currently pay! Like I said, its a charity which does good for our heritage and countryside but I do not agree with all its policies and effectively charging members twice to visit is not one of them I support.
peedee
2 -
Taken from BoleroBoy’s post - “the worst thing the NT could do would be to put a CL in each property and we'd all rescind out memberships in lieu of Steve's £1 a night stays.... “
Hopefully the above was said in jest though it could be read as misinformation
I’m a CAMC and NT member and the poster does not ‘speak’ for me with regards to the above comment. It would be interesting to know who “all” are that the poster refers to and how he/she has come to the conclusion that they would rescind their membership.
I am satisfied with my membership even though I don’t always agree with everything they do.
Have to go now things to do, places to be.
0 -
The NT is undergoing a lot of change, and not all of it is good. There are a lot of articles available to view if anyone is interested enough to find out more, but long term Members who visit certain NT properties on a regular basis will notice some of these changes. I went to Clumber Park yesterday, and it’s a far cry from the Clumber Park I used to visit only ten years ago. New NT members won’t know any different.
0 -
I think BB meant that instead of paying £120 a year to be a member of NT you may as well book a stay at a CL which gives free entry to the property and the cost would be £1 for entry so even if you visited 50 properties a year you would still save £70 on membership. Basically the NT are taking to p155 out of its members charging £38 a night for a small patch of land to park on, no doubt fuelled by all the newbies panic buying a LV during lcokdown and think its a bargain compared to a package to Spain or somewhere which maybe it is but in mine and many others opinion it is not value for money even for a lovely place like Stourhead and not what Campra and those of use who mailed the NT had in mind when thinking of allowing overnight stays.
5 -
My view was that, as has been mentioned several times, the CL 'deal' at NT sites is vastly skewed in lieu of non members.
while I am happy to pay for NT membership for all the other things I get, if I wanted to visit the properties that have them and 'take advantage' of the scheme as presented, then there is no advantage at all in being a member.
hence my comment that, if all NT properties had them and folk made use of them, the NT membership becomes redundant.
however, with the number of NT/CLs being low, there are many more properties to see where we are touring on other types of site...or from home.
just highlighting the skewed thinking....you may not agree, that's fine.👍
PS....thanks Michael, another way of putting a what I tried to write....lol😉
1 -
We have never joined the NT. Previously that was because the company we worked for had Corporate Membership so all we did was to fill in a form and hand it in when we arrived for free entry. A few years ago that ended but we were not persuaded to join as we don't visit enough properties each year to justify membership. We are still fortunate that we can claim back half the cost of any visit from our ex employees so we are probably in a more fortunate position than most.
The only problem with the charging mentioned for the CL in this thread is if you stay two nights it becomes very expensive. On the other hand if you have relatively short journey and can do the Gardens in an afternoon, stay overnight and leave the next morning it is not bad value.
David
0 -
I am a N . T member and we have been for many years and will continue to be so. However I do not find it good value for money and certainly do not agree with many of their ways or ventures. But to continue seeing and visiting certain places I realise I have to bite the bullet, such is life,
0 -
David, if it's a relatively short journey, we would arrive, visit, and go home without the bother (and expense) of an NT CL.
I realise you like to park up and use public transport, however the NT do provide enormous car parks with generally easy access and calling in on the way to (and perhaps from) a site might give you more 'variety' than just the bus and Shanks' Pony, especially at 'half price'....👍
this is how (along with our bikes within 15 miles or so of site) we see many of the NT properties not 'on our patch'...usually a nice place to lunch, too.
2 -
That’s how we tour BB. Day one is just as much a “doing day” as any other. We set off, visit somewhere nice, then arrive teatime ish at our chosen site. Most EH, CADW, Historic Scotland, NT and HHA properties have huge car parks (the NT even have dedicated MH parking in some) so it’s just so easy to set off, do a visit, then get to Site later in day. We do reverse on way home.
2 -
Views on NT obviously vary. Some see membership as a transaction, a subscription in return for the opportunity to visit various attractions and enjoy other benefits e.g. free car parking. Others, myself included, see it as a contribution to the preservation of our heritage and protection from commercialism that would see huge swathes of the countryside and coast placed off-limits and our great stately homes and estates turned into ‘resorts’ and golf courses. Partnerships that benefit that mission are fine by me and I have a choice whether to pay or not.
0 -
I for one view NT (and EH) the subscription as excellent value for money and always have done especially when the children were young. It was a 'cheap' family day out and we easily got the cost on the subscription 'back' many times over through out the year by visiting as many as we could get in.
And also like SB I also saw it as a contribution to keep these places going for everyone to see and worth doing.
0 -
Stourhead is much more than a garden, the estate is large and even contains an iron age hillfort, Alfred's Tower and Stourhead House itself and the history of the Hoares, a famous banking dynasty.. So a two night stay would probably do it justice. The CL was updated and moved in recent years, away from the back of the restaurant area with noisy delivery vehicles to a quieter spot on the edge of the car park.
Because we're local, half an hour or so away. We can spend an enjoyable couple of hours there on a visit. Sometimes we have a meal at the Spread Eagle Inn, where you can stay or in one of the estate cottages. We can also get food from the farm shop which is privately run. It's a big enterprise there, one of NTs flagship sites. Very soon the Christmas Light show will start, this will cost visitors an extra £20 to walk around during the evenings with food and entertainment too. The house also gets decorated for Christmas. A lot of volunteers needed not just employees.
I still think it's an expensive CL stay but many will get their money's worth.
0 -
I tend to agree Bill, but just reading about some of the plans for the future is a bit worrying, seems a definite moving away from the preservation and interpretation of some of the properties is likely. I suspect things are sadly going to get more commercial in some ways. They have lost a huge swathe of the staff who curated and specialised in a lot of their property (small “p”) in terms of things like paintings, sculptures, textiles etc..... Speaking to friends who are volunteers for NT, there’s a lot of upheaval going on.
0 -
Us too. We make full use of our membership, and that of EH and HHA, to visit both their properties and their car parks. This year we've visited 20 properties, combined, and numerous CPs too. We would certainly not consider using their CLs at the proposed prices but will continue with our membership.
0 -
I don't think this is an either or debate....
most think NT is good value and the membership is more than an admission charge. We do, too.
however, most think that the NT CLs are blooming expensive for NT members who don't receive a discount for already having 'contributed'. We do, too.
0 -
Yes, but they haven’t ‘contributed’ to the creation and maintenance of dedicated facilities for campers - that’s not what the NT is about, It therefore seems reasonable that people should pay for extras if they want them rather than expect other important aspects to be diluted to cater for them specifically and their minority needs.
0 -
Does this mean you think an NT CL should cost an NT member and his kids/dogs £50? Whereas an non member gets inclusive entry?...and every other comparable facility is about £15-£22?
certainly not a huge investment on the NT's part, especially where Stourhead is concerned....a few converted, gravel covered, extra wide car park spaces with a tiny little horse rail around them...
0 -
The cost of the ‘CL’ is typically £38 for 2 adults, that’s all I need to know. It’s expensive by most standards, but I’ve paid more for much worse. The fact that it’s a sort of CL is immaterial to me.
0
