English Heritage/National Trust

When I presented a couple of medieval music gigs for EH at Mount Grace some years ago, (and it's a gorgeous place, well worth a visit), the management explained that NT and EH owned/ran different parts of it, and tickets for one might give more of tour, including or excluding main buildings, gardens, than tickets for the other.

I don't know the current situation, but they regarded it as a pain, because it made their job more complicated, between sorting out which tickets which punter needed, and visitors getting confused about which bits were open to their ticket.

As a general rule, if it's got a useful amount of roof on and furniture inside then it's probably NT, if not it's EH. There are of course exceptions!

I will try WN. I don’t think there are many to be honest. Hardwick Hall is an anomaly. There are two Halls, the old and the new on the same Site.

Top tip from me.....don’t rush to join EH, but look at CADW, the Welsh properties section. You get a much better deal, it’s around half the price of EH, and you get a discount in the shops. You only get half price entry into EH and HS for first year, so timing joining with a Wales holiday is perfect. Second year everything is free entry. We are considering becoming life members of CADW, if we can still get into HS and EH. 

(I used to be a volunteer for EH, and did feel a bit of a traitor. But I also know that there are a few “vanity” and not particularly public supported projects that get allocated cash from EH.)

Not sure if it is still the case, if you are a member of the NT and the cc or ccc had sites on the property ,  then you got members rates for your stay on production of a current NT members card,  

From the historical interpreters' point of view, EH, has sadly declined - they used to have a real interest in presenting history which was at least reasonably well informed.
Then with government funding cuts, it became ever more important to turn footfall into money, regardless of practically anything else.
With more gov't cuts and ever tighter "business plan"  thinking, it got worse. I worked, over 12 years, at a major castle, making a series of annual week long visits, each  time drawing in hundreds of schoolchildren for workshops, with teachers booking repeat visits year after year.
One year I commented to the manager that all these kids must be good news for EH future; his response was that sadly they meant pay cuts for him & his staff. He loved having them there, but the new regime meant that staff pay depended on productivity bonuses. He showed me the chart on the wall - number of visitors, percentage who took membership, %  who bought the expensive guides, etc. School week: 600 extra visits, none of them joining EH, none of them buying guides. Result - no bonuses, so pay cuts.
There are some lovely sites, and still some devoted and passionate staff, but monetising it all has not helped the quality of experience.

One thing I think EH do well is the iPod thingy. It's has been available at quite a few properties we have visited and is normally included with your card entry. Most have a little screen on which maps and explanatory pictures are displayed. I particularly like the fact you can get just general information by inputting the location number and then more detailed facts, about particular items, by inputting suggested codes, but only if you want it. We have come across similar systems at NT places, but they are few and far between. Chedworth Roman Villa had one that was particularly good. 

HH, the split hasn’t been good, and we so feel for the staff. Long hours, often long periods alone in Summer, very much reduced hours in Winter. Rather sad. We were very early members, in fact we joined first when it used to be Historic Monuments Commission, and one payment got you into all Country’s sites. (Still got a lot of the old blue guides, and a good number of the originals when it was first split into EH, HS and CADW. As a volunteer, I got a pass that got me and OH into EH sites, but we kept our membership as well, mainly because we liked to visit Scottish and Welsh places. But membership fees soared, so my last year as a volunteer, we didn’t renew. OH had to pay to get in touring alone anyway, as I was caring for my parents.) We joined CaDW at Caerphilly, we were astonished at price difference, and the good discount in shops. Retained it ever since. We do support EH by using cafes, and buying stuff in shops.

We love the special events, re-enactments etc..... I volunteered as a gardener, and occasional house steward. Did twelve lovely years until I had to start caring for my parents.

Mount Grace is indeed very interesting. We think the recreated Monk’s cell is superb. Gives a clear insight into how they lived up there. The house bit is good as well. The garden resurrection wasn’t going well last time we were up there, as the Winter had held things up. We shall get up there sometime this year and hope to see it finished. Preferably with the dog in tow!😁

Can't resist posting this from Mt Grace, and  I'm shocked to find it was more than 15 years ago.  (So I guess those children are no longer children needing permission to post pics!)
And I still had colour in my hair....  :-)
But it was the most gorgeous Easter weather, positively glowing, and a wonderfully picturesque setting.

And I still had colour in my hair.... :-)

Talk about blowing your own trumpet!

You look like Alan a Dale, big mate of Ribbon Hod!😁 One of our favourite EH places, stunning setting under the Cleveland Hills, just a shame about the A19 being so close. Lovely photo.