£1 per data view and £3 for an image view

That's a cheek. Isn't National Archive supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund? They certainly won't let local record offices charge to view items. There is only a nominal charge to produce reader tickets and to make photo copies which pays for the paper and ink. This does not cover the admin time to collect the items or lend assistance which is covered by rate payers and funding from organisations like HLF.

ALERT shameless promoiton follows: I work at Essex Record Office. Go to your local record office. There is nothing like seeing the actual documents and having an archivist or assistant on hand to help direct your search. A list of independent researchers is usually available if you want to pay for in depth searches.

While I am at it...

If you are sitting on:
old letters, diaries which provide good illustrations of what life was like
journals full of great grandad's prose or poetry
great great aunt Martha's household book (showing budgets, recipes, notes to coal supplier, etc.)
old old photos, sound or video recordings of family or local events that have desriptive docuements with them

DON'T throw them away, don't just sit on them until they moulder away. Contact your local record office and ask if they are interested in housing them.