Justice

[Bigbill]

Hello from Tropical Sheffy,
Whilst away in Folkestone,i bumped into a bloke who was with his Mrs,wasnt short of a few quid,5 and half grand Leica,several multi grand lenses etc etc,very nice bloke to chat with,they have had life memberships for the National Trust for a few years,and,we got to talking about the NTs nazi approach to us,,,,,,and it turns out that they have returned their cards as a gesture,,,,,just shows that perhaps the surface greed of the NT is infact backfiring on them,,,,, A C E  A C E  A C E
I never bothered with visiting any NT sites either,nor Canterbury Cathedral,just couldnt justify the £33 it would have cost for me and Lizzi,,,,,,,,
SAD INNIT !!!!!!!!

Shine On

[picsfor]

Funny you mention this.
I was in Dorset this last week and travelled via Corfe Castle which is actually a village with this rather spectacular ruin of a castle sat in a place that you just couldn't miss from any vantage point.
My wife expected me to stop and take some pictures - my response being - "Why bother, even though we're on a public road, i'm sure the NT will be demanding rights ans copies of anything i take".

OK, some what cynical my view may have been, and unwinnable in law for them - but it shows what this ruling has done to my thinking on NT properties. I am a member but i will not be renewing, and i will be telling them why as well.

[greypoint]

Perhaps it's a good excuse to get out there and find the less photographed gems.

[picsfor]

Maybe we should just set up a gallery for pictures of NT sites which they can't make demands with menaces!

Whilst i agree it will encourage us to look for the other gems in this marvelous land of ours - not all of NT property is marked with an NT sign - and it seems to be changing all the time.

[Peter Jackson]

You might find this interesting reading:

http://copyrightaction.com/forum/national-trust-pictures-not-the-nt-not-alamy

I have been an NT lifetime member for some years now and find their stance deplorable, I have chosen to stay a member and lobby hard from within rather than walk away from them as I honestly feel that this current stance is just that of a small core of individuals whom will not last much longer at the NT, their initial stance has weakened considerably under pressure from members. If you feel strongly enough, let them know directly:

The National Trust
Heelis
Kemble Drive
Swindon
SN2 2NA

Tel:     01793 817400

You might be surprised by just how many on the inside feel just the same as we do!

[picsfor]

Thanks for that Peter - makes very interesting reading.

I joined the NT as a way of supporting something which in principle i strongly agree with. Our heritage is one of those things that makes this country so great and i like to do my bit to hep preserve it.
I am also appreciative of the need to generate revenue streams and as the article points out - if membership were to add in another option with photographic permit - then i'm sure a lot more revenue would be generated than the current policy. How many of us would pay for such a permit and be willing to allow the NT to use one of the pictures taken for a nominal fee or accreditation with use. £25 recieved for use of a picture or accreditation with a nationwide poster campaign or in the many tourist brochures? It might be said i was selling myself cheap - i'm fairly sure that would be the cheapest publicity any aspiring photographer could hope for.

I'm also a member of Kew Gardens and they do not seem to have such a narrow minded policy. I can not remember how many pictures i have seen taken at Kew and advertised as such. But i do know that lots of people look at those pictures and think "i need to go to Kew to try that shot..." I wonder which policy is bringing in the most revenue?

I will write my letter as you suggest.

[Sarasocke]

We also used to be member of the NT but stopped when we got our dog about 7 years ago.
We also in principle thought it was a good thing to support, national heritage and all that - there seems so little of it over here.

Every spring we spend time in Cornwall and we take our two dogs with us. There are so many wonderful gardens which allow dogs, some even allow them to be off the lead, Caerhays, Pencarrow, Trewithen, Trebah, Prideux Place etc, we just don't bother with NT any more.
And I must say, that we haven't noticed that these places are more filled with dog deposits than anywhere else. That was mainly our beef about NT, but I guess the prices have gone up a lot in those 7 years.

I suppose the non-NT places aren't cheap either, we usually manage to get the May edition of a leading gardening magazine (Gardner's World) where there is always a "2 for the price of 1" card in it. Might be a tip for anyone wanting to visit gardens in the UK. I stopped buying the magazine on a regular basis as things were getting repeated (like other magazines too), but the May edition is worth it just for the card.