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Britain’s historic houses are changing. They are attracting an ever wider range of visitors, most of them unversed in art and architectural history. The appeal of costume dramas and Downton Abbey has encouraged an interest in who lived in these houses and what such living was like for all involved. People want to understand the family dynamic, to understand how a great house worked. They also want to be welcomed as guests, not tolerated as outsiders, to return time and again, not visit once and then ignore. The National Trust and other custodians are grappling with this challenge. One of our best-known journalists and chairman of the National Trust, Sir Simon Jenkins, explains how.