Before I married in November 1973, I had a big gas-fired kiln (built by my Engineer husband), and I was in very active production, never needing to advertise, because by word of mouth I received so many orders for jugs, vases, pots, mugs etc that I was kept busy. I felt that a casserole dish was not good enough and was about to throw it out, when Joy Stewart (my husband’s mother) saw it and so took it – after she died we got it back again, and it is shown in the third row of photos.

About 15 years ago I had a big octagonal electric kiln, shown in the second row of photos below, and the big ancient-style pot is 63 centimetres (25 inches) tall – clay shrinks during firing, so it began at probably 70 cm tall, which easily fitted inside the kiln.

Now I have the biggest kiln that operates on one phase, drawing 15 amps at top temperature (up to 1235 degrees centigrade), and you can see this kiln in the first row of photographs. It is very convenient to use, because it requires only a small time to assemble a full load, and that suits my pottery students, who get the joy of quick turn-around.