What's your favourite National Trust site to visit?
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I'm not even sure future generations care about these buildings being preserved anyway.
@Cornersteady But of course there is also the vast tracts of countryside. Perhaps they might have a different view on those.
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@SteveL maybe for some, but again some of that land is leased out as farms for profit, again a commercial enterprise.
yes it could be viewed as a conservation organisation but not in the same league as a charity that gives to those less fortunate.
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@SteveL I'm not sure where this 'getting my money's worth' came from?
MikeyB quoted it in a reply to myself but I never mentioned it, only that membership was good value for money for me, as others have. I've never considered it a worthwhile cause but each to their own.
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We have had a love/hate relationship with the NT down the last four decades. We didn’t join for a long time, as they allowed stag hunting, fox hunting on land they owned, and made a profit from it. Once they ditched the stag hunting, we took another look.
I do agree with Corners that whilst registered as a charity, it’s an interesting set up. The latest information I can find actually has the NT as the second biggest owner of land in the UK, second only to the Forestry Commission. So, it’s a very very asset rich charity, and many of its acquisitions have come about via “gifts” in lieu of inheritance taxes. There are still a good number of NT managed properties where the rich estate owners still live in the NT properties, and have negotiated significant terms of what parts of the buildings and estate are open to “Joe Public”. Knole is very much a case in point, the Sackville West family still occupy and live in many of the rooms, and only a small part of the Estate is owned by the NT. Shugborough was another property given in lieu of death duties, but a nominal rent paid to have private apartments in the house, until this ended in the early 2000’s.
The NT has made sure some of the loveliest places in the UK have been “saved for the nation”, and deserves a lot of credit for this, albeit via public donations in part. It also has a huge amount of heritage and conservation expertise able to access grants and funding. The country would be far worse off without it, but membership and visitors fees aren’t cheap given some of the cost of living pressures for some folks. I would say it a personal thing about have much someone values it. Anyone who loves history, walking, cycling, nature, great outdoors is likely to consider membership worthwhile.2
