As the ovens glow at more than 1000xC, a young craftsman manipulates a long metal rod with a blob of molten glass on the end. As he works, he relates the mysteries of glass-blowing to a dozen Year 7 pupils from Kingdown school in Warminster. “The ovens are special - they stay hot day and night,” he says, centring his blob of red-hot glass on the rod and blowing until a bubble appears out the end. “We never turn them off.”

Letting the rod sink, he keeps blowing, then stops and turns it against the pull of gravity until the glass is perfectly shaped. “It takes two days for a new piece of glass to cool down properly,” he says.

The children are wide-eyed. It’s not every day you see a true craftsman at work right before your eyes. But at Bath Aqua Theatre of Glass, it’s all in a day’s work. The company creates its signature pale blue glassware in a stone-built workshop that dates back to the Middle Ages.

Based in Bath’s old artisan district in Walcot Street, the space is rich in activity, with displays, a small glass museum and a children’s activity area.

Annette Martin, who set up the firm four years ago, is an artist and businesswoman with a mission to educate. “Bath is a Roman city, and this is the kind of glass they would have blown, so we thought that was a good starting point,” she says. “It’s important we show children how you can mix art and business. Here, science and art are two sides of the same coin.

“Glass is a magical thing, the truest form of colour, and the kids are always mesmerised when they see what we do with it.”

As she speaks, the Kingdown group moves to the “cold floor”, to watch stained glass being made. “Window glass used to be blown, cut and then leaded up to make pictures,” says Adrian Dolan, the theatre’s education officer.

By the time they reach the activity table, the children have blown glass themselves, designed a piece of stained glass, watched it being made and received it to take back to school. .

“Though it’s less than two hours, it’s a great visit,” says their teacher, Cathy Marsden. From explaining that you can stretch glass to one molecule thick - for fibre optic technology - to demonstrating medieval stained glass, there is plenty to think about here.

“It’s amazing how they blend all the colours together,” says Kingsdown pupil Grace, getting down to a stained-glass window of tissue paper at the activity table.

“We want to spread the word about the subtlety and craftsmanship of glass,” says Annette Martin. “And the astonishment on the kids’ faces makes it all worth it.”

Book your place

School workshops take place by arrangement, and can be tailored to suit the needs of the students. These sessions include glass blowing and stained glass demonstrations as well as a tour of the the Glass Museum, a 15-minute talk by an expert and some hands-on activites. There is a small gift shop. Admission charges: children pound;1.50; adults pound;3. Contact Bath Aqua Glass, 105-7 Walcot St, Bath. 01225 428146