Survey: Simple pleasures provide antidote to recession in Britain

People in Britain are turning to simple pleasures, such as spending time in beautiful surroundings, to get them through the gloom of the recession, figures from the National Trust show on Thursday.

Faced with a barrage of bad news about the economy, and the need to find ways to make their money go further, more and more people are turning to buildings and gardens such as those owned by the National Trust.

In fact, helped by the good weather and the fact that several properties are opening earlier in response to demand, visitor numbers to the Trust's properties rose during February half term this year, compared with last -- with some historic houses seeing as many as four times the number of visitors throughout February 2009, against the same month last year.

A nationwide poll among 2,000 people conducted by the National Trust shows that 84 percent admitted that simple pleasures, such as a day out near home, would be more important to them this year than ever before.

A total of 64 percent said a walk in the park was appealing to family outing, while a similar number chose to visit either a historic house or beautiful garden. In addition, 36 percent opted to visit a museum or gallery.

The quick but more costly thrills offered by theme parks and sporting events were both markedly less popular, being selected by only 26 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Despite living in a society where more than 55 percent of people acknowledge there is less beauty than there once was, 90 percent want their days out to be in beautiful places.

Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust, said: "We all need quality time to relax and recharge our batteries, whether in a recession or not. However it seems that having less money to spend on treating ourselves is focusing our minds on what really matters."

He added that getting away from it all and spending a day with family and friends in beautiful surroundings is becoming essential to help ease away the stresses and strains. And contact with nature and history clearly provides what people need.

The desire to ensure that leisure time is well spent seems to be strongest in the East Midlands, where visitor numbers across all the area's National Trust properties rose by 137 percent. The North West of England saw a rise of 91 percent across all its properties, while visitors to sites in Northern Ireland rose 68 percent.

Croome Park in the West Midlands has seen the most dramatic rise for an individual property, with more than four times the number of people visiting this February compared with last year. Calke Abbey, near Derby, saw an increase of 225 percent, while Ham House -- where parts of the film The Young Victoria were filmed --saw a rise of 118 percent.

The National Trust looks after 300 historic houses and gardens across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.