If you’ve spent the past year vowing to improve your culinary skills but haven’t managed to get much further than banana bread, a cookery break might be the solution. Is your dough a disaster? Are your rolls rock-hard? Then sign up for a three-day Rustic Breads & Sourdough course at The Bertinet Kitchen, a cookery school in Bath run by baker, chef and cookbook author Richard Bertinet. The focus is on breads that require fermentation, and you’ll learn how to use this process to add flavour. The school is a short walk from Royal Victoria Park, where you can offset the inevitable carb overload with a stroll through its botanic gardens. The course costs £615pp. Stay: Foodies will love the Bath Priory Hotel, which has a Michelin-starred restaurant. Rooms cost from £215 a night. If you love fish but struggle to cook it at home, a one-day Fin & Shell course at The Cook’s Place in Malton, North Yorkshire, is for you.