"Where better to kick off a night’s revelry than in a former brewery? This rather stunning Georgian set of townhouses sitting in the heart of the Chilterns in a pretty-as-a-chocolate-box 12th century market town attracts the smart set on the Big Night. Think classic English public rooms, on-point modern style in the bedrooms with contemporary sparkle sprinkled liberally throughout. The hotel is right in the heart of the town with dozens of pubs and restaurants within a bread roll’s throw so make a mini-break of it to really feel the Henley love. On December 31, there’ll be a black tie four course dinner (with that HdV signature emphasis on top quality menus), champagne and dancing with live music to see in the new year."

"The Ridgeway is a splendid 87-mile track from the standing stones of Avebury, Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. In ancient times this was a trading route that crossed England and it has the advantage of keeping mostly to high ground. This means that unlike many National Walks, you are up on the crests of hills much of the time, looking down on the patchwork wonder of England’s farm land. At one point you even pass Chequers, the country home of the British prime minister where, if you can wave at the security cameras as they chart your progress. At Nuffield, a village that stands halfway along the Ridgeway, it’s a welcome relief to get off for a break. The village itself contains Nuffield Place, the home of William Morris, the celebrated British car manufacturer. This is a perfect moment to stop and seek out the National Trust tea shop. Even better ring for a taxi to take you into nearby Henley.

Henley on Thames is one of the sweetest– and most expensive – towns in Britain famed for its Victorian Regatta (an annual tea party on the river ) and Brakespear’s brewery which for many years sat close to the Thames embankment. Apart from making ale Brakespear is famous for its distant connection to Nicholas Brakespear, who became Adrian IV in 1154 — the only English pope.

In 2002 Brakespear ceased production in Henley and its sturdy Victorian brick premises became a Hotel du Vin. It took several years to convert this listed building but the painstaking work has paid off. As a group Hotel du Vin specialises in converting heritage properties and in Henley they have kept the brewery’s old iron girders and pillars and made a feature of them. You’ll probably find you have a great black girder rising up next to your bed, and the original white glazed bricks have been kept on the bedroom walls as well.

Here baths are to be found in all sorts of places. One is in the winch housing that used to lift barrels up into the brewery and there are two rooftop baths in the “Thames View” duplexes named after the champagnes Laurent Perrier and Ruinart. Both suites also have interior baths but at the end of a long day’s walking I know where I would like to sip my champagne: in a hot bath overlooking the Thames.

Downstairs, Hotel du Vin Henley has an atmospheric, spacious dining room typical of the brand with cream walls that seem to have been painted with a century of nicotine stain.

In the morning you really will feel very ready to hit the Ridgeway again."