I was thinking of having a little trip to Glastonbury to do some filming at the Tor.The drone map shows no restrictions so good start,then I looked on the National Trust website.They don’t allow unauthorised flight over their properties and count any such flight even from non trust land as trespass so I emailed them to seek permission.
I told them the flight would be non commercial,covered by article 16,I have the relevant I.D.s and would not be under around 100ft so shouldn’t represent any sort of disturbance to eith er wildlife or any other visitors who might be there.
To be fair to them,they did reply within about 1/2 an hour but the answer was no so my plans for today have had to be modified 
Shame really because a lot of the good stuff near me seems to be National Trust so it looks like I’m going to be fairly restricted unless I travel further afield which isn’t a problem but finding the time is
That’s such a shame. That would have been a great flight. A big BOO to the NT 
my thoughts exactly
National Trust policy doesn’t override the law. They manage the land, they don’t manage the airspace. If it’s not a no-fly zone, you can fly, even from private land, unless someone in authority asks you to leave.
Similar experience. I was looking to shoot video of Souter Lighthouse in South Tyneside. Map shows surrounding area as unrestricted but is owned by NT. Land below high water mark, however, is not owned by NT so TOAL should be ok when tide is out.
problem is NT don’t allow overflight of their property.There are plenty of places to TOAL around Glastonbury Tor which is public but you can’t overfly their property
it’s not just their policy,it’s a by-law backed by government.the only permissions they give is for commercial purpose such as surveying or film and tv
Only the CAA can control access to the national airspace.
A bylaw is a local law, and it can control access to the land. Not the air.
Imagine if small planes, helicopters, airliners, had to get permission from the National Trust / the local council to fly over…
All of that said, I would just fly somewhere else personally. You would clearly not be very welcome there.
so basically what you are saying is that even though they said so,they can’t stop me flying around the Tor as long as I TOAL from public land?
Correct. It’s all about money, theres loads of unmanned, unmanaged national trust-owned land around Cheshire. No one is there to object.
I think you are probably right about the not being very welcome bit,is it really worth the arguments you just know are going to happen?
The mistake is asking for permission that you don’t need, it invites them to say no.
Yes I admit is was a mistake but being still fairly new to drone flying and not totally conversant with rules regarding such matters,I only did what I thought was right.I do however think they have got hold of the wrong end of the stick (as I did about the permission thing) and denied permission to TOAL on their property which I had no intention of doing
We, responsible drone flyers, always prefer to do things right, but knowing the drone laws is always an advantage.
I totally agree. I think I’m ok on drone law but I think I was being a bit over cautious on the permissions bit and read more into it than there really is.I have read elswhere of people complaining about NT and how they try to intimidate
I am not a legal expert. NT does “not authorise” non-commercial drone flying over its properties which is understandable in respect of stately homes etc., so maybe a bit of respect & common sense is in order there. But just because it does “not authorise” flight does not mean you can’t particularly if your TOAL is outside the NT site.
As for bye-laws, NT refers to this very generally in its ‘Fly drones at our places’ section on its website.
I’m happy to carry out a bit more research on this topic & it may help if someone else checks it out so we can compare interpretations.
this is the reply I received from NT
Dear Rob
Thank you for your email requesting permission to fly a droneat Glastonbury Tor
We only permit the use of drones at National Trust places if we have specifically commissioned a contractor to do so on our behalf.
We do not allow any other drone activity for a number of reasons.
It is not practical for us to check that private drone operators are in compliance with CAA regulations.
Our members and visitors value the peace and tranquillity of our places. The presence of drones can impinge on the quiet enjoyment of our places by other visitors and therefore potentially presents a public nuisance risk.
Many of our places have wildlife or farm animals which are sensitive to disturbance, such as birds and deer herds, which could be alarmed or stressed by the presence of drones, especially at breeding times.
Many of our places are the homes of our tenants or donor families or include holiday cottages occupied by paying guests. We respect and value their privacy and drone use could potentially be an infringement of that privacy.
Most drones have cameras attached the use of which could contravene National Trust rules on commercial photography and filming which are designed to protect our commercial interests.
If a drone causes damage or harm, pilots who are members of the general public rarely have the correct insurances, or level of insurance, to adequately compensate those affected.
Consequently we regret that we are unable to grant you permission to fly at Glastonbury Tor but we hope that you understand our reasons for this refusal.
Kind Regards,
Customer Enquiries
National Trust South West
I think NT keeps it a bit ambiguous on purpose to throw people like me off the scent. I think after all the other replies,they can’t stop flights in the airspace above,only from their land.
I have emailed the CAA for clarification so if I do decide to go fly there,I’ll have something in black and white to show anyone who decides to get shirty
Well said:united_kingdom:
as an aside,I did a bit of checking for Tintern Abbey.The attitude of the powers that be there seems to be crack on but don’t be a pillock or TOAL on our property