'We want people to sit, pause, relax': National Trust to open its libraries for public use

Charity plans to make stately homes more welcoming by inviting visitors to use furniture and reading roomsThere was a time, not so long ago, when a visit to a National Trust stately home could be a staid affair and sitting on the furniture tended to be discouraged, with pine cones or teasels often placed on chairs to remind people not to perch.This year, one of the aims of the conservation charity will be to make people feel more at ease in its grand houses and, where practical, allow them to sit on historic chairs and use libraries and reading rooms rather than simply peer into them. Continue reading...