At the height of its popularity, there could have been few homes in the district which didn't have a piece of Larbert pottery on display or stacked in cupboards.

Although she admits the days are in the past when demand for her products was greater than they could be produced, Barbara still gets a sense of fulfilment from working at her potter's wheel.

She said: "My emphasis has always been on producing quality items which are not expensive. To make things which are then used by people and become part of their life is incredibly satisfying."

She faces up to the current recession with a stoicism of someone who has seen it all before – but admits the scars from previous economic downturns are still raw.

However, she is a leading member of Falkirk Business Panel and firmly believes that people should work together, particularly during a credit crisis, to help the local economy survive and flourish.

A youthful 61, Barbara has now reduced her working week – to six days, but is still very much hands on with all aspects of the business.

Her interest in pottery started as a child when her family travelled from home in Argyll to Wales for a holiday.

"I saw someone making pots and watched them for ages. I thought it was unbelievable," she said.

Back home she did pottery as part of her Higher art and craft exam at Oban High before going to Glasgow School of Art. However, after her mother told her she would never make a living as a potter, she went to Jordanhill, trained as an art teacher and became a member of staff at Cumbernauld High for two years.

By this time she had met her husband Brian and in 1969, while she was still teaching, the pair set up a pottery in the former Bonnington dairy in Main Street, Larbert. Four years later they expanded, embraced the 'cottage industry' image and purchased nearby Muirhall Farm.

Barbara added: "Brian's an engineer and I'm still using the potter's wheel he made me, although the motor has been replaced a few times over the years.

"From the start we made useful things: mugs, plates, lamps and other items people would use daily. Salt buckets, cress hogs and curling stones which were jam pots were a few of the more unusual things we made that were incredibly popular.

"When John Lewis put in a big order for cress hogs we had to expand. We were also supplying all the craft shops that were opening up across Scotland."

She recalls the time that 300 pots, left overnight on trolleys to go in the kiln, were smashed when a mini earth tremor hit the area.

As the business expanded, the Barbara Davidson Pottery brand was used for all the hand thrown items and Larbert Pottery for the industrially made products.

In the mid-80's the industrial side of the business was moved to a new base at Denny but after several successful years, the recession, which left the business with just two weeks to hand back all the money it had received in funding, saw the factory's demise.

"We just couldn't survive," said Barbara. "It's a time that I'd rather forget about. A lot of other businesses didn't survive either, including some of our customers. However, we have retrenched and are now concentrating on the hand thrown pots. There are four of us employed here now, whereas at our height we had 25."

Although she admits to just being a small cog in Falkirk district's giant manufacturing wheel, Barbara is saddened that this type of industry is on the decline.

"It seems such a shame that things physically created by people are no longer in demand."

In 2002 she launched the 'Scotland has spoken' dialect range of mugs bearing such well known phrases as 'Haud yer weesht', 'Help ma boab' and 'It wisna me' which really captured the imagination. And her latest range of mugs bearing Scottish artist Ken Lockhead's work is already attracting lots of interest, ensuring that the pottery continues to be a valuable asset to the area's economy.

It may not be the case that every home still has a piece of her work lurking somewhere, but who's to say that one of her cress hogs won't turn up on the 'Antiques Roadshow' one day!