Q // I’d like to sign up for a two- or three-day bread-making course in the UK or Ireland. Where would you suggest?

Respected cookery school Ashburton, on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in Devon (just a short drive from nearby Newton Abbot), runs regular Artisan Bread Weekends.

It’s an excellent place to learn how to cultivate poolish, a yeast-cultured starter used for sourdough, baguettes and ciabatta. Other recipes include beetroot and walnut bread, overnight brioche, olive burger buns, and raspberry and white chocolate brioche mu–ns.

Best of all, you get to take home everything you baked. Courses start at £350 per person, with accommodation at the attached Ashburton Court at a special rate of £74 per night, B&B. ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk

Riot Rye Bakehouse &

Bread School, in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, County Tipperary, Ireland, has one-day courses for beginners right through to experienced chefs. Think you’ve stretched your sourdough to its limits? The advanced (Level 3) course might prove you wrong, and you’ll get to take a fresh starter and selection of breads home with you. Courses start at €135 (£115), with various dates throughout the year. riotrye.ie

If you want to stay over, try Django’s in the Ecovillage, where residents cultivate their own crops. Private en suite rooms start at €35 (£30) per night, including breakfast made with ingredients grown on-site. djangoshostel.com