I'm a lifetime member of the NT, purchased many years ago. I now have a dog and am so bitterly disappointed with the NT attitude to members with dogs. They say they are dog friendly, however the are not and the approach across the properties is inconsistant. At a very few NT places dogs can go in the cafe and in the shop, at most they can't and very rarely if ever can they go in a garden. Many other places have no problems allowing dogs in cafes, shops and gardens i.e. many English Heritage sites, arboretums, other gardens ive visited, so why not the NT too. My recent visit to Powys Castle was very restrictive as the dog couldn't go anywhere except in the courtyard! Later i walked all round the garden without the dog - absolutely no reason i could see as to why the dog couldn't be allowed on a short lead in the garden - all gravel paths. Very very disappointing.Just had the usual response back from NT ie its a balancing act between members wth dogs and those without blah blah. Well i have a few suggestions to improve the balance because at the moment it is much more geared to NON dog owners. These suggestions are not rocket science and are applied with no problems by many other organisations1. Provide sectioned inside cafe space for dog owners and non dog people2. Allow dogs in shop on v short lead3. Allow dogs in garden on v short lead4. Do an all member survey to see what the actual views of the majority of your members are. You might be surprised to find that the balance lnce might be tipped the other way if you were more inclusive of families with dogs. Currently it is VERY difgicult to provide any feedback - you dont even have standard feedback or comments forms at your properties.
