| When did days out get so expensive?! 08:10 - May 26 with 5764 views | Zx1988 |
We're over in the West Country with Mrs Zx's family for a short break. Since when did everything become so eye-wateringly expensive?
Wells Cathedral - £15
Cheddar Gorge & Caves - £27
Wookey Hole - £30
Bath Baths - £33
I had in my head that £20 was probably the cost of a day out at a decent attraction. I get that prices have increased, but by so much? Surely there's a greed premium being tacked on on top of the increased operating costs, hoping that owners will be able to get away with laying it all at the Government's door? |  |
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| When did days out get so expensive?! on 09:44 - May 27 with 579 views | ElderGrizzly |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 09:28 - May 27 by hoppy |
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Didn't have you 'finishing off' Hype on today's bingo card :) |  | | |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 09:51 - May 27 with 555 views | MJallday |
it cost me £42 to go on the dodgems and a ferris wheel with the kids at the weekend.
and it was in wales.
days out are expensive. you'll stay at home and be happy. |  |
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| When did days out get so expensive?! on 09:56 - May 27 with 541 views | Vaughan8 |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 11:33 - May 26 by Ryorry |
Honestly guys, gals and all - there comes a time when you can't go out at all. Either save up & enjoy it when you can, or take to the hills for free - public footpaths, bridleways, country lanes and lakes cost nothing to meander along, some are ok for wheelchair users; there'll be pubs to visit for the price of a pint (yeah I know), and you'll probably meet some lovely people + their dogs too. |
I'd love to do that but we usually have a kid with us. Try and tell them its "just a walk". For some reason they need a purpose, and going to a pub for a pint doesn't seem to appeal! haha
I don't mind paying for English heritage/National trust, but going for a one-off trip is a rip off. You need to get a membership and use it as much as you can. Again, our son gets "bored" of the local places because we go too often for him! | | | |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 10:22 - May 27 with 510 views | leitrimblue |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 09:56 - May 27 by Vaughan8 |
I'd love to do that but we usually have a kid with us. Try and tell them its "just a walk". For some reason they need a purpose, and going to a pub for a pint doesn't seem to appeal! haha
I don't mind paying for English heritage/National trust, but going for a one-off trip is a rip off. You need to get a membership and use it as much as you can. Again, our son gets "bored" of the local places because we go too often for him! |
Not sure where abouts your based Vaughan, but there's usually interesting enough archaeological sites all over the UK (perhaps not so Interesting for kids  ) that are free and well worth a visit.
I would suggest for instance the burial mounds at Bartlow Hills on Suffolk/Cambridgeshire/ Essex border are as, if not more impressive then Sutton Hoo and well worth a visit. |  | | |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 18:13 - May 27 with 399 views | Ryorry |
Thanks for the kind comments everyone.
The Coldstones Cut Millenium celebration sculpture that's walk-into/up/around in North Yorkshire is my fav - on top of the right-hand "turret" which you walk up a winding maze path to get to, there's a broad exterior wall with all the points of the compass plated on, and hundreds of places all around the world from near to far, named with their exact distances away - Qujing - 8,690.5km - I've spent many happy minutes mentally in many of those exotic places! a free feast.
On the other turret are descriptions of the local flora and fauna.
It's fairly high altitude (1,375' iirc) so tends to be cool & breezy on the hottest of days, *very* cold & windy on other days!
https://lovetravellingblog.com
https://www.thecoldstonescut.o
Re geocaching - something I always wanted to do, lack the fitness these days but will have a look to see if there's a 65s+ group locally.
Re town & city walks - I remember reading somewhere, may have been a novel? about a guy who spent hours/days/months just walking around different parts of London for his own amusement, said he found it fascinating to explore history in that way. Can definitely tune into that, as when I was a teen my Dad had an office in a warehouse-type building in a run-down little street below Cheapside (which is now very fashionable I'm told) near the Thames. The buildings themselves & just the smell of the place were very evocative, painted a good picture of times past. |  |
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| When did days out get so expensive?! on 22:46 - May 27 with 337 views | ClareBlue |
I think we all need to be a bit more imaginative and check out freebies and offers. These are not the high profile attractions but local authorities and public bodies often have culture events that are very accessible and good value.
We were passing through Birmingham the other month and checked out the LA website and ended up at a climate change interactive art event at the Botanic gardens at no entry cost which was great. Done these sort of events in loads of towns and cities. There's free events and history and culture all over the Country. You can get into York Minster free if you are going for 'private prayer', for example.
I woukd say the main attractions are at a tipping point on price but there are alternatives. | | | |
| When did days out get so expensive?! on 11:39 - May 28 with 254 views | FBI |
At last, a post I can respond to with some actual authority and knowledge!
I spent 15 years working for the National Trust, running a mansion/estate in Devon. Then became Ops Manager at a large regional museum and am now Chair of Trustees, Curator and Conservator at a small local museum. I picked up one or two things about the Heritage industry (for 'tis one) as I went along.
Imagine a trip to a fictional NT property. Let's call it Guffing Manor.
How do we get there? Loook out for the brown signs. Each one costs about £2-3000 on a side road and about £15000on a main road. Double that for Motorways. Plus design, build and installation. Each. And we're not even there yet.
Where's the car park? Oh, here it is. Maintenance. Repairs. Cleaning it up because nobody wants to take their empty Dairylea Dunkers pots, dead vapes or dogsh!t home. Weeds. Potholes, because just one of those and Uncle Bert will be whining at the admissions volunteer. Emptying the bins - and paying for the disposal at the local tip or paying someone to do it for you. Cutting the grass. Fixing the picnic table you lit a barbecue on/let the kids jump on/damaged by putting two alongside each other/generally wore out by 97000 backsides using them each year.
Where's the entrance point? Oh yeah, shall we use the toilets first? Dear God. Seriously. There's no greater misery than cleaning the toilets repeatedly (including unblocking) on August Bank Holiday. If you can imagine it, I've seen it. And more. This is NOT an exaggeration.
Tickets. Do you visit a lot of our properties? Yes? You'll save around £400 a year if you join as a member? Plus you get today's admission refunded. No? Oh, I understand: you're not made of money. Guidebook? No, that's fine. You don't mind missing half of it and not understanding another 25%. Cool.
Welcome to the House. It was built for the Guffing family in 1805. You've heard of Major Guffing? He collected all this amazing historic and left it to the natio... oh, they've gone.
How do we look after these incredible places and artefacts? Well, it starts with a team of highly-trained staff, experts in their field, who studied for years to very high levels whilst also working as volunteers or unpaid interns to get some practical experience. Curators, Conservators, Vistor Experience Managers, Gardeners, Estate Rangers. And the teams of between 3 and 5 who work under them so that you can't see what they do. And the 200 or so volunteers who support them. There's around 5000 individual objects here, all needing the same level of oversight. That carpet you didn't even look at? About £80,000. Victorian. No, wellies are fine, just like you would at home.
Yes, it IS a bit dark in here. That's to preserve the incredibly fragile Regency wallpaper which, oh, I see you're leaning on. No, it's fine. The paper conservation expert we had in last year only cost £12000. A week. This? it measures light, humidity and temperature. So we can keep the conditions as stable as possible to protect all the historic objects, Sorry? Oh, just under £1000 each. Repeat ad infinitum...
Yeah, that sandwich is a bit more expensive than a Co-Op Meal Deal. But is was made freshly for you in the next room, the ingredients were grown organically here by our staff or bought in from local, small batch organic suppliers and tastes amazing, doesn't it? The cake was baked this morning, by the way using the same principles. No, that's absolutely fine: we'll clean up after you. I know there's a queue and it's busy but we're happy to wipe the table, vacuum up the ground-in crumbs, pick up your mess and put it in that bin. Which one? This one, a foot away. No, don't mention it. Oh, they didn't.
Of course you can enjoy the grounds. All day, until we close. Go for it. 2700 acres of estate to explore, miles and miles of footpaths, walks, viewpoints, herds of deer, lakes, streams, rare and protected wildlife. Just don't trample through the bluebells or let your kids... oh. Never mind, they'll grow back next year. As long as you don't leave your picnic rubbish by the lake when you've fini... Ah. No, we didn't need that young red deer anyway. Watching it choke on a crisp packet will teach the others. And they *like* being chased by dogs, so that's all good.
Actually, seeing as you ask, I *would* like to go home, yes. I got here at 7:30 am and now it's almost 7pm. Well, you're right, I did get to sit down, but you can't stay in the toilet forever. And I hate doing this, but I must ask you to leave now, so we can shut the gates. 5:30, since you ask.
Thanks, and if you had a nice 6-hour visit, don't forget to leave us a review so other people can come to enjoy everything we've got going on and learn a bit of history, too.
Oh, look: dirty toilets, busy cafe. Avoid. 2 stars. |  |
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| When did days out get so expensive?! on 13:26 - May 28 with 185 views | OldFart71 |
In some instances things have always been expensive. I remember taking my girls to a Butlins type holiday. Instead of buying food on site i would take most of it with me. With the exception of milk and bread.
When going to the club at night we would take cartons juice for the girls and take a few miniature spirits in my wife's bag rather than pay extortionate prices they charge.
Believe me i do know the struggle that bringing a family up entails.
I was 31 before I got my first mortgage and I had a vasectomy so I didn't have more kids than I could afford. Whilst some may think it was easy years ago it wasn't.
When I was very young and my Mum was ill I lived with my Grandparents. My Grandfather would work hard all day, come home, have his tea then go on his allotment until 10 o-clock at night. He shot game so we would have meat and he also worked for farmers at the weekends. | | | |
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