I have been visiting my local antique center for many years but this lovely old Winchcombe Pottery mug was my first real find, at last a reward for all those fruitless visits.

I'm calling it a mug rather than a tankard because it holds slightly less than a pint. My guess is that it is from the early fifties. In pre-dishwasher days, earthenware pots would have struggled to survive daily washing in ceramic sinks so this is a rare survivor.

The mug only has the Winchcombe mark but I asked Ray Finch and he confrmed from the fish design that he had made it.

The Worcester Antique Centre has since closed down.