Get crafty
Sawcliffe Manor (sawcliffemanor.com, from £80 a night), a newly opened luxury house and cottages in North Lincolnshire, offers accommodation for groups of between two and 46 (perfect for a big celebration) beside a 400-acre nature reserve. Guests can learn how to make a traditional willow basket or sculpture with head gardener Alison Walling (lincolnwillow.co.uk, full-day courses £300), one of the few willow weaving experts left in the UK. It also offers wool felting with housekeeper Jana Hesselmann (from £50pp) using natural wool fibres from Sawcliffe’s own herd of sheep.
The Stained Glass Museum (stainedglassmuseum.com) in Ely, Cambridgeshire runs a variety of workshops (from £120pp a day) in everything from glass painting to fusing and copper foiling inside Ely Cathedral (one of the seven medieval wonders of the world), in which it is based. Poets House (poetshouse.co.uk), a boutique hotel just a few minutes’ walk away, has rooms from £230 a night.
You can learn the Tiffany style of stained glass making at the Amberley Museum (amberleymuseum.co.uk) in West Sussex with friendly tutor Steve Clarke (from £75pp for a one-day course) and stay nearby at Amberley Castle (amberleycastle.co.uk, rooms from £260 a night) at the foot of the South Downs.
Woodcarving enthusiasts can learn the skills of letter cutting, relief carving and sculptural work with woodcarver Glyn Mould (glynmouldwoodcarvingschool.co.uk, courses from £59pp) at Sacrewell Farm in Peterborough, where blacksmithing courses are also available. Premier Cottages (premiercottages.co.uk) offers three-night self-catering breaks at nearby Hall Farm Kings Cliffe from £189pp (for two).