THE NATIONAL Trust state that visitors’ numbers have increased since it has been in charge of Tredegar House, so, of course, the nihilists of Newport have risen to grumble about Newport City Council’s stewardship of the house. However, that is not the full picture.

As Mr R. B. Williams correctly said in his recent letter, the National Trust is a nationwide organisation, and produces an annual guide book for members plus regular magazines which have featured Tredegar House, and, no doubt, this has encouraged members in nearby areas to make day trips to Newport, as well as others staying in South Wales.

In fact, it would be interesting to know how many of these increased visitor numbers actually paid the full entry fee and not just waved their membership cards as they float through the door, as do my wife and I.

As members, we have frequently visited, but we also did when the house was under the aegis of various Newport councils, and it is worth pointing out that there were actually more rooms open for inspection then than there are now under the NT.

Ian Jakob Llanwern Street Newport