The new ‘set jetters’ might just help save these money pits…

Are you a set jetter? I love this new descriptor for those, mostly 20somethings, who have started spending their weekends gleefully touring big houses, including Stowe and Petworth, which have starred in Bridgerton (set visits, geddit?). People scoff about the silliness of the TV show (I do, frequently), but if it’s encouraging younger punters into stately picture galleries I’m all for it. My grandmother was a big one for National Trust properties, and much of my childhood was spent in the back of her Peugeot before being dragged around the panelled rooms, trying to look interested in ancient chamber pots and portraits of people in wigs (for a child, the chamber pots were always the highlight). If the youth are now visiting with genuine enthusiasm, how lovely – for them and the coffers of these money pits.