CAMpRA and the National Trust

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...