Book a Canal Boat Holiday from Aldermaston and explore the Kennet And Avon Canal and visit Newbury.

Spend a day at Highclere Castle which was once the home of the 5th Lord Carnarvon who together with Howard Carter in 1922 discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Enter through into the Shrine Room and the Treasury to observe closely some of the extraordinary works of art.

Designed by the famous 18th century landscape gardener Capability Brown the Castle is set in 1,000 acres of sweeping parkland with breathtaking views across the rolling downlands of North Hampshire and the Kennet Valley.

The rooms and the grounds will seem very familiar to fans of the ITV drama Downton Abbey as the house was used for much of the filming.

The award winning drama follows the Crawley family around the time of World War I and stars Hugh Bonneville and Dame Maggie Smith.

This Christmas Day sees the drama up against the BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing as the two go head to head in the annual battle for millions of festive viewers.

ITV are set to put up their ratings when the winning drama is set to be shown at 9pm while the BBC Strictly Come Dancing is set to air at a slightly earlier time .