I just got an email reminding me that my Historic Scotland membership will expire this month, so I thought I should discuss my opinions about it and reflect on whether to renew my membership.
Last year, Nikki convinced me to get the membership, which for students costs 36 pounds. It’s a lot of money, but if you consider that going to Edinburgh Castle costs 16 pounds, it actually doesn’t take that many castle visits before you start saving money. So, I bought the membership and that did a few things.
First, it encouraged me to go to more castles. I could take day trips to castles and all it would cost me is the transportation costs. Shortly after getting this membership, I bought a railcard, which further encouraged me to travel more.
Second, as a result of more traveling (and also probably living with the history buff is Nikki), I became so much more passionate and knowledgeable about Scottish history.
I also feel like I’m a sort of expert on castles. I think I’ve seen a few more castles than the average person and I know what to look for when I go, which I think is because I understand what I’m looking at. It’s a lot easier for me to understand how the castles would have looked in their prime and how they would have been used.
I wanted to quickly mention all the castles I’ve been to that are run by Historic Scotland because that will really show how great of a deal this was for me.
Since I’ve already mentioned it, I’ll start with Edinburgh Castle. Both of these pictures are from the first time I went there. It’s still the only time I’ve been there, but I’ll definitely go back. I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I wanted, so I still need to go back. (full post here)
view from the cannon |
I think Linlithgow was one of my first castles and the reason that I bought the Historic Scotland membership to begin with. I’ve been there twice, but below is a picture from my first visit. (full post about my first visit here)
view of the castle from the other side of the loch |
me standing in the window where they filmed a scene in Monty Python |
Also in the category of castles I didn’t go to for free, this summer I went on another spree of old ruins. I went around the Borders and the North of England. The first place we went to, the place in England, was Lindisfarne Abbey. It’s an English Heritage site, which has a deal with Historic Scotland, so I got half off, so I did still save money. (full post here)