In London, Mason told me, you can always spot Cluny knock-offs on the tube, lace made with the efficient raschel machines that have forced every other East Midlands lacemaker out of business.

Thankfully, because we are doing well with the Raschel lace, we can afford to recondition the Leavers lace machines. Some were built more than 100 years ago, so it’s expensive to maintain them ...

Cluny sold off its modern Raschel machines - the huge, computer-driven automatons which now make mass-produced lace a relatively cheap product across the world.

He sold off his raschel machines in 1998, keeping 16 Leavers, and hacked his workforce down to a skeleton crew. Cluny is now an artisanal brand, making lace on a small scale for couture designers.

Sakae Lace started in 1958 with just two Leavers lace machines. It has nearly 90 machines today, maximised with a small lot production strategy that enables the company to create elegant lace designs.

Cluny sold off its modern Raschel machines - the huge, computer-driven automatons which now make mass-produced lace a relatively cheap product across the world.