Marvels like the National Railway Museum in York must start charging to survive - Andrew Vine
THE queue to get into the National Railway Museum, in York, was quite long and the staff on reception were being rebuffed by almost everyone in front of me.
Politely, they asked every adult going into this magnificent museum to consider contributing a suggested £5 each towards its running costs. And rather less politely, every person I could hear was refusing, which I found infuriating.
Entry to the NRM is free, as it is at all 15 national museums and galleries, but visitors making voluntary contributions is essential in enabling them to remain such wonderful places.
But that obviously cuts no ice with the people I saw. They either gave a curt shake of the head or a blunt “no”, and just headed inside. I even heard one idiot say to his companions that he thought the staff had a cheek to ask.
All of us in my family party happily stumped up £5 each, which is terrific value for money.
You can’t get into a cinema or theatre for that, let alone gain admission to a stately home in either private ownership or the care of English Heritage. And if you fancy an afternoon at an elite football, rugby or cricket match, a ticket will cost many multiples of £5.
Yet by handing over a fiver – not a great deal of money in today’s terms – you do just a little bit to safeguard the present and future of a museum that is regularly voted one of the top visitor attractions in Yorkshire, a fascinating and inspiring place where it’s easily possible to spend a whole day, and is more dynamic than ever since its recent revamp.
We’re fortunate to have three of the national museums in our county. Besides the NRM, there is the National Science and Media Museum - which did so much to help Bradford have a spectacularly successful 2025 as UK City of Culture – and the Royal Armouries, in Leeds.
All invite contributions from visitors, and I’ll bet the staff in Bradford and Leeds are as familiar as their colleagues in York with getting a rude shake of the head in reply.
Which means it’s time to stop relying on a polite invitation and the goodwill of visitors to keep these great institutions in healthy financial shape, and start charging visitors for admission.
The regrettable fact is that the era of maintaining free entry to the country’s national museums is long past. Failing to charge is encouraging people like those I saw in York to take these places for granted, instead of valuing them as the marvels they are.
This year marks a quarter of a century since admission charges were abolished, and what was affordable then isn’t any more.
The year entry became free, 2001, was the last in which Britain recorded a budget surplus. There was plenty of money sloshing around and Tony Blair’s government found an additional £60m to fund museums and allow the public to enjoy them at no charge.
But 25 years on, the country has sunk up to its eyeballs into debt, grants have diminished, and rising costs for everything from staffing to energy place increasing pressure on the budgets of the museums that do so much to tell Britain’s story.
Earlier this year, a report by the National Audit Office warned that the funding of museums looked increasingly precarious, with income failing to keep pace with expenditure and some having to dip into their financial reserves to balance the books.
And a review of Arts Council England chaired by the Labour peer Baroness Hodge floated the idea of charging overseas visitors for admission to help plug funding shortages.
But it shouldn’t be up to people from abroad to keep our great museums on track.
It’s our heritage and it’s up to us to look after it. If, in the long term, we are to avoid cuts which would slowly erode the excellence of places like the NRM, the NSMM and the Royal Armouries, the public is going to have to reach into its pockets.
Entry needn’t cost much. If the £5 suggested contribution was made compulsory, that would be perfectly affordable for most visitors and make a massive difference to the museums.
According to the government, the NRM welcomed more than 650,000 visitors last year. A modest charge would raise millions towards its work and if it was explained that every penny goes towards preserving the country’s heritage, people would happily pay.
Europe makes admission charges work, and has seen no drop in visitors to its great museums. Last week, a list of prices for this summer showed entry to the Louvre, in Paris, will cost 32 euros and the Palace of Versailles 35 euros.
Compared to those, a fiver for the national museums which are among Yorkshire’s finest attractions would be an absolute bargain and a lifeline.