Mommens came to South Heighton in the early 1950s, after a tip-off about a house, described to her as “a ruin that could be mended” the lease of which specified it “could only be let to potters” at a rent of £2 per week. She told me: “The walls were green, there was no proper floor”.

Chris Lewis was invited to join Mommens in the mid-1970s. He converted some farm buildings into a show room and workshop, and built the kiln. Mommens and Lewis have worked together since in what he calls a “fantastic partnership”. When Lewis came to South Heighton, Mommens was generous in sharing her knowledge, glaze recipes and customers. In the early 1990s, they divided her house into two and Lewis moved in. He has been able to return her generosity to him as a young potter by offering domestic support. Mommens says she likes the continuity of the thread of teaching that has gone on through the centuries between potters, and the fact that you can still see the finger-marks of the person who made pots 4,000 years ago. Lewis has adapted what he learned from Mommens, also getting inspiration from his time in Africa. He also admits there is something of the pyromaniac about him. He has built his own kilns, taught others how to do it, and what he loves about flame kilns is their inherent unpredictability. He has some sleepless nights over firing and can lose a whole kiln-full of pots when it goes wrong, but prefers it that way. It produces some disasters but also something unique. EC