Large bottle-shaped brick kilns are a landmark feature of the Potteries area of Staffordshire. In past times, ovenmen would carry up to 50 tons of ware into the kilns each day, in an environment fraught with danger.
Intense heat disrupted their circulatory system, scorched their lungs and sometimes led to blindness. Lead poisoning was another risk due to glazing used on the pottery.
This was the environment that