The National Trust

The National Trust annoy me with their high-handed treatment of US - us who are their owners, if they could just bear that in mind. They charge fortunes for entry and begrudge letting you in even then; they keep wanting to sell off land that's been given to them to defend and preserve, because they can't cope on the BILLIONS of pounds they have at their disposal; and they repeatedly let places burn down due to criminal levels of carelessness, thereby depriving the nation of multiple priceless irreplaceable assets that they had been charged with looking after. They are arrogant, which they have no business to be because they are shoddy. 

A visit to Dunster Castle revealed some prime examples indicating the shocking state of the National Trust. First we were accosted by a hostile old lady who demanded to see our tickets, as though we were sneaking in without paying - but we were only going in to the GROUNDS, and why should we pay for that? My husband has a Life Membership Card anyway and that entitles him and guest to get in free which the old lady did not believe and he had to speak quite sternly to her and tell her she must look it up on the internet. It is as well to maintain an air of authority on these occasions. Do not be cowed by the minions. I was only sorry he did not claim to be Goat Luttrell (previous owner of D Castle) and that he would buy this place and install a jukebox.

We went on, and were soon stopped by another fierce unwelcoming harridan at another machine gun post, demanding to see our tickets again. We showed the trout, and told her we'd already been checked. She retorted that there are "hundreds of places where they (sic) can get in" which nicely demonstrated that the National Trust's corporate hostility to the people they are supposed to serve is both strong and diligent.

National Trust Border Guards in action. 

Victim of difficult new stairs

The next annoying thing was that they have got a long stairway of wrongly-sized steps incompatible with legs of normal human length. The steps were recently installed at great expense, and who ever designed them has obviously never walked on stairs in his life. Presumably it was someone on the committee's brother/nephew/godchild; it definitely was not any graduate of the Royal College of Staircase Design, or even any pupil in their Kindergarten.

Then there was a silly map pointing the wrong way. North was indicated towards due West. Fools. And it takes them a whole year to put in a few herbaceous perennials. Work did not seem to be progressing very successfully either if I may say so. It was a proper mess, such as one can see in many a garden without paying entry fees of £7.50 per person.

There were haughty 'Private' notices everywhere, forbidding the nasty unwanted visitors to have access to any of the most interesting-looking places. Really who do these people think they are? They would do well to remember that these places are the property of the nation, i.e. the general public, whom they clearly much despise. 

We declined to take tea as it was being served in polystyrene cups which are most disagreeable to drink out of. At the prices on show one would expect Ming at the least.

There were some quite nice flowers out in the gardens, I will give it that, and charming views, but you can get these anywhere.

They had let in some pretty girls, which pleased all the men but annoyed me. Here they are (right). Out you go, Girls.

There were tractors, strimmers and chainsaws loudly at work all over the place which detracted from everyone's enjoyment so the fee for entry ought to have been waived anyway.

Also they are idiotically resurfacing the car park. Why they need to do it at all I can not imagine, and certainly not in the middle of the busy season. Again, "Fools". The car park was fine before, and what they really needed to do was sort out the utterly STUPID road in and out of the car park which is long and single lane but serves for both coming in and going out. Given that the majority of National Trust visitors are aged approx. 90 and suffer from degenerative neck problems so they can't reverse this road is completely useless for the purpose.

On our way out that Miss Blennerhasset woman who had first tried to keep us out bestowed upon me a final vindictive glare.

The last view we had of Dunster was this - an officious National Trust official raking in the cash from the extortionate parking fees. 

Humourless, ungenerous and grasping, I'd say of the whole Dunster ethos. Not a rewarding experience for the visitor.