Cooks, The Carlton School of Food

Basic ingredients: Not many cookery schools are set in the Downton-style kitchens of a country house. Carlton Towers, as the name suggests, is a grand, 17th-century pile, located near Selby in Yorkshire and surrounded by 250 acres of parkland. Despite the prestigious setting, courses here promise to be fun and informal, ranging from seasonal and wild cooking to The Art of the Chocolatier and Artisan Bread. The kitchen itself combines heritage with modern style. Range Agas and a butler’s pantry sit alongside smart new facilities and furniture from the local Main Furniture Company. Courses start in May 2014 and currently cost £170 each. They are open to all abilities and take in morning coffee and a full-day’s tuition and lunch during the six and a half hours. Many of the courses are lead by Richard Walton-Allen, who worked for 12 years as executive chef at Harvey Nichols, and Elaine Lemm, a food and drink writer and former chef and restaurateur. A soupcon of celebrity is given to courses such as Better Baking, guest run by Great British Bake Off finalist, Brendan Lynch.

They say: Learn to grow, cook, photograph or write about food. Come to bake, butcher, forage, preserve, get back to basics or further hone your skills. Explore the kitchen wisdom from the past or the daring foods of the future. Be prepared for a good time.

We say: The Carlton School of Food reveals its full course programme in the next few weeks, but whether foraging or preparing picnic and teatime favourites, courses will be enriched with historic flavours. Residential packages will be available at special rates for guests attending the cookery school.