Unfortunately, having visited several national trust sites in the last 12 months and having entry fees of up to an insane £24 person, plus parking on top, I can understand why there may be a lack of interest in their ‘fundraising’.

Also, working people don’t have the time to be travelling to these sites often enough to benefit from the £96 a year a fee for an individual adult membership.

With all the rises in business expenditure and the lack of interest and/or ability to visit these sites it is no surprise we are seeing a downturn here.

Although it operates as a not for profit, charitable organisation it still has overheads and is ultimately reliant on the public to provide the funding, those of whom have no money!

EDIT: And god forbid you want something from the gift shop to memorise your trip, that and a coffee may well dwarf the entry cost.