{"id":16799,"date":"2017-09-29T17:02:43","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T16:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=16799"},"modified":"2017-09-29T17:02:43","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T16:02:43","slug":"national-trust-memberships-hit-new-high-of-five-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=16799","title":{"rendered":"National Trust memberships hit new high of five million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BBC<\/a>Membership of the National Trust has reached five million for the first time, the conservation charity says.<\/p>\n

The BBC writes:<\/p>\n

The organisation, which looks after historic homes and natural sites \u2018for the nation\u2019, had just 278,000 members when it began recording rates in 1970. National Trust chairman Tim Parker said people were craving peace from an increasingly \u2018busy, noisy world\u2019.\u00a0 The Giant’s Causeway in Antrim was its most popular site, with 665,681 visits last year.\u00a0 Also popular were Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire (475,604 visits), Attingham Park in Shropshire (466,658) and Belton House in Lincolnshire (450,293).<\/p>\n

In total, 24.5 million people – both members and non-members – visited National Trust sites that charge an entrance fee, while there were an estimated 200 million trips to the coastal and countryside sites that can be explored for free.\u00a0 Mr Parker said the National Trust was \u2018truly unique\u2019 because it looked after a vast array of historic places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – from archaeological remains, coastlines and forests, to entire villages and even 39 pubs. He said:<\/p>\n

\u2018That suggests the country’s love affair with its heritage and great outdoors has never been stronger.\u00a0 In the busy, noisy world we now live in perhaps it’s never been more important to escape.\u00a0 A visit to a trust property can be a real tonic – you get to see real beauty, not virtual beauty\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ten most popular National Trust sites<\/p>\n