If you regularly read my blog or follow me on social media you will probably know about my love for the National Trust . We became members just over a year ago and signing up was one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s always a funny moment when we are queuing up with our cards waiting to be scanned, I can feel my 16 year old self cringing at the fact that I am at that stage in my life but we are and it’s great.
There are so many reasons why I love our National Trust membership and I thought I would share a few with you…
It’s cheap. I pay by direct debit and it works out at about £9 a month for both of us which given how much you have to pay to get in to a lot of National Trust properties just once is a real bargain. I know some people don’t have many places in there area which might mean it’s not worth signing up but here in the west country there are lots and we had made out money back in the first month.
You always have somewhere to go for free days out when on holiday in the UK. When we went up to the Lake District in September we spent the first two days visiting all the National trust properties in the area which didn’t cost us a penny. Getting in free means you don’t have to stay for a long time to feel like you are getting your money’s worth either, we didn’t spend too long at each one as we wanted to fit in as many as possible. You can even plan breaks around the National Trust properties on your ‘must visit’ list, hmm or maybe I will save that for my retirement years ;).
The cafes. Most NT properties have cafes and they always have yummy homemade cakes and food.
Free parking. As well as free car parking at the houses and grounds you can also park for free at lots of coastal locations which saves money.
Always somewhere to go for an hour or two. As I mentioned above, when you have to pay quite a lot for entry you generally try and spend a whole day in that place but when you are members it’s the opposite, you try and go as much as possible just because you can. On Saturday we visited one of our local properties to stop and have cake (the most delicious gluten free brownies that I’ve been dreaming of ever since!) and to have a little run around. It was super windy and cold but that turned out to be a good thing as there were only a few other people there, something which is a huge bonus for us when visiting somewhere!
And despite the fact it was grey and miserable I managed to brighten things up with my Joules neon pink coat. I have to admit that it was a bit brighter in the flesh than it looked online but I’m not going to lie, I do love a bit of pink. We did all laugh at the fact that I was basically dressed like a five year old though, especially with my snow boots and rucksack. It’s actually quite funny because I literally used to only wear black, everything I owned was dark and the idea of colour terrified me but these days although I do still love wearing black I spend more time in bright colours or garish floral patterns. It is also available in yellow and blue for those of you who wouldn’t wear pink. They sell lots of other coats too.
Coat c/o Joules.
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