I have indeed forgotten how brilliant and cheap London can be as its been so long since that was my experience. There are probably bargains to be had but as far as I'm concerned not when you really want them ie Bank Holidays and peak holiday times. Joining something like the National Trust or EH is indeed a good idea so we will probably look at that this summer- at least we can get out somewhere every weekend. There is a cluster around Sevenoaks and the M25 which is still fairly accessible however it is still fairly difficult to get out and about cheaply. I did use to belong to a group called Red Rope which was egalitarian and inclusive about trips to the countryside so may look into that again too.

Overall , its still a very crowded island and I hate having to be competitive when trying to organise a leisure break. Its so difficult to just get up and go anymore in the UK without planning weeks ahead which for most of us is probably not the way we really live.