It is not often one sees the launch of a new pen show in the United Kingdom, and moreover one which deliberately aims to be different to what has gone before. Such a show is the brand new Midland Pen Show, which took place in Lichfield, England over the weekend 21st-22nd June 2008. As Pentrace's roving reporter in the UK, I was fortunate enough to be invited to cover the event.

The show, which is the brainchild of Ian Williamson and Jeremy Collingridge, two well-known British pen collectors and prominent members of the Writing Equipment Society, was planned as "a weekend to remember, a weekend of pens, pens and more pens!"

The idea was to create an event more along the lines of such gatherings in the USA, with less pressure and more opportunity to relax in good company.

There would be "plenty to see and do with extended trading hours, 'How to do it workshops', auction and socialising". The concept behind the weekend was to create "the friendliest little pen show in the world!" An event where you could really get to know the dealers and other visitors to the show.

Jeremy and Ian were both part of the team that organised the highly successful London Writing Equipment Show on behalf of WES last year. They were keen to make the event a social occasion as well as a buying and selling opportunity, something not practical with the usual one days shows which are usually the norm in the UK. This inspired them to set up a cosy weekend in a place not normally known for such events - the ancient and beautiful city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, England.

Lichfield is a small city, most noted for its 800 year old Cathedral:

...its famous former resident, the 18th century physician and scientist Erasmus Darwin (grandfather and inspirer of Charles Darwin) whose house is now a museum:

...and last but certainly not least, the legendary lexicographer and man of letters Dr Samuel Johnson, who was born and lived in Lichfield for many years - his birthplace is now also a museum, and a bookshop:

But what of the Midland Pen Show's venue itself? This was the luxurious and historic George Hotel in Bird Street. A substantial and well-appointed building, the George, which was built in the 18th century as a coaching inn, is an ideal venue for up-market events and conferences:

I had originally planned to attend the Midland Pen Show on both Saturday and Sunday, but as luck would have it, I was only able to attend on Saturday in the end.

The day dawned dripping wet, as is occasionally the case here in England but I stepped out philosophically and in due course took the bus from Walsall to Lichfield, which deposited me in the city about a half hour before the show was due to open, so I had a wander around and then made my way to the George Hotel, where I found Ian Williamson getting a breath of fresh air on the doorstep.

Of course, on the first day, the show's exhibition and trading room was open to trade only between 10.00am and 2pm, so I did not expect to see many members of the public at this stage, and this was to be the case until well after lunch.

Ian cordially welcomed me to the show, and we had a chat about what was going to happen that day. Unfortunately it seemed that there had been insufficient pre-bookings to make the morning's pen repair and calligraphy workshops viable. However, Ian told me that he and Jeremy Collingridge had sought out the top dealers in the UK to take part in the event and had been very pleased with their response. The Writing Equipment Society were also exhibiting, as well as the UK importer of Retro 1951 pens and accessories, plus a skilled pen restorer would be able to work on visitors pens and talk to people about restoration. Excellent, I thought!

Ian led me upstairs to a large, elegant Georgian room, replete with glittering chandeliers. Impressive! He then introduced me to Jeremy Collingridge and a few of the other exhibitors who were busily setting out their displays. As we chatted, I spotted old friend Sarj Minhas and his family making their way up the stairs, so I said hello and left Ian to continue setting up while I began to make a circuit of the room to see what was going to be on show before I spoke to the exhibitors.

The room:

I decided I would have a good chat to the dealers and other participants before the public arrived in the afternoon, taking photographs as I went, and it was clear that the exhibitors were also taking the opportunity to renew old friendships, make new contacts and sell a few pens - no surprises there then! Obviously this was going to be a "game of two halves" as soccer fans here in England call it. Much socialising as well as negotiating would be had in the relaxed atmosphere before lunch, then the commercial business would really get underway when Joe Public arrived at 2pm.

I followed my usual procedure of circulating clockwise around the outside tables before seeing what was going on in the centre of the room.

First up was the very helpful and enthusiastic UK importer of Retro 51 pens, Mr. Ian Jeffery:

I made a point of saying, from a personal point of view, that I was glad to see Retro 51 in the UK as I had heard good things about their pens from my US friends. Ian was pleased to hear that, and proceeded to point out some of their latest offerings.

I was particularly taken by Retro 51's range of Classic and Scriptmaster Corona desk sets as well as the Double Eight series of fountain pens, all of which have a very art deco look to them.

One of their latest pens is, rather intriguingly, decorated by means of covering it with old postage stamps then lacquering over it, making it ideal for the 'snail mail' enthusiast! The packaging is also postally themed. This pen is called the Tornado 'Postmaster':

Judging by Retro 51 UK's catalogue and website (http://www.retro51.co.uk) there is much to interest pen enthusiasts in their range, especially at affordable prices.

Mr. Jeffery can be contacted by email at: sales AT retro51.co.uk

A little further along, I found Mr. David Bentley, a well-known collector and dealer who specialises in gold vintage pens:

While this sort of thing is a little beyond my own budget, there is no doubt that Mr. Bentley's display had some very beautiful examples of both the pen-maker's and the jewellers art on show. More in my line, but sadly also beyond the reach of my wallet, was a wonderful Dunhill Namiki maki-e fountain pen, which Mr, Bentley kindly showed me.

I could see that David was wheeling and dealing throughout the day but he gave me the impression that he had spent more than he had sold - I think as fountain pen enthusiasts we all know that situation and feeling very well!!

He told me that his website is still in preparation, but he can be contacted by email at: mail AT bentleygoldpens.com

Next to David Bentley was the ever-enthusiastic but laid back Sarj Minhas, who will be very familiar to pentracers. He had brought his entire family with him, and it was my pleasure to meet them for the first time:

L to R: Daughter Kavina Minhas; Jas Minhas, Sarj's good lady wife; Sarj himself, and daughter Jeevna Minhas.

Some of Sarj's modern pens which were on show:

Sarj is of course an enthusiastic collector of vintage pens who has grown to become one of the UK's most prominent dealers, and due to his travellings in search of perfect pens he has become well-known at pen shows in the USA and elsewhere. A satisfied customer of Sarj, I also consider him a friend and really enjoyed the opportunity to see him in his true environment with his family in support!

Sarj told me later that he had a very successful weekend. Had my credit card been less stuffed he would have had a few hundred quid off me as well, after I spent a considerable amount of time drooling over his remarkable range of oversize Parker Vacumatics!

Sarj can be contacted by email at: sarj_minhas AT uk.ibm.com

Moving along, I met up with Joe Gracey and Deryck Rogers of MK Pens of Milton Keynes, whose website I have frequented from time to time. They are a well-known internet pen dealership here in the UK.

I had a long chat with Joe about the pros and cons of Nikon and Canon cameras and the best techniques for photographing pens, from which we both learned something useful! They also had some great pens on show

Deryck and Joe

MK Pens sell both modern and vintage, and they had a wide range of both on show. They can be contacted by email at: mkpens AT btinternet.com

The last dealer on the left hand side of the room was Mr. Brian Toynton of Antique Pen Services. Brian is a very knowledgeable collector, well-known for his expert knowledge of manufacturers such as Onoto, Parker etc. He had a vast range of vintage pens on display, some in a very attractive vintage Parker display unit.

Brian Toynton and his display:

Brian deep in conversation with Ian Williamson:

The last exhibitor I shall cover in this section of the report is actually that rare beast - an English pen manufacturer, the Worcester Pen Company:

Bryan Lucas and his partner Estelle.

Though Bryan Lucas would be the first to admit his operation is not on the scale of Parker or Pelikan, he is nonetheless able to offer a good range of beautiful pens made in his own workshop by himself, each barrel and cap being individually lathed from a range of beautiful resins and the nibs sourced in Germany and England. He is also happy to make custom pens to special order.

A few of his pens:

Contact Bryan Lucas at the Worcester Pen Company via this email address: sales AT worcesterpencompany.co.uk

I began the second part of my circuit around the room by meeting another prominent collector, Mr. Mike Selway, and his wife Carmel:

Mike and Carmel are from Warrington in Cheshire, in the north of England. As with so many pen dealers, Mike got into dealing through collecting, and he had a wide selection of vintage fountain pens on show. We had a long chat about the differences between modern and vintage pens, and the same with old and modern cameras - two almost completely different worlds!

Mike can be contacted by email at: mike.selway AT yahoo.co.uk

Starting down the right hand side of the room I immediately spotted my old friends from the Birmingham Pen Room Museum, Larry Hanks, Chairman of the Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association, and Colin Giles, the museum's Curator:

They of course have a much wider remit than just foutain pens, as you can see from this section of their display:

The Association, now a registered charity, was first formed in September 1996 as an informal meeting of people interested in the Birmingham pen trade. Membership was drawn from former employees of the trade, collectors and people interested in history. The interest has broadened over the years to include writing implements and accessories and forms of writing including, Braille and moon, calligraphy and shorthand. The membership has increased to over 80 and now includes calligraphers, cartoonists and local people.

The Pen Room, their museum in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, was opened in April 2001, and the learning centre was established in an adjoining unit in June 2002. I have written about it for Pentrace on more than one occasion.

The Association has its own website: http://www.penroom.co.uk

Next door to the lads from the Pen Room was someone well known to Pentracers, especially those with a penchant for Conway Stewart - Mr. David Wells:

David is an experienced pen restorer, and his personally speciality is Conway Stewart pens. He also raises money for a Cystic Fibrosis charity, by sale of donated pens and repairs.

David operates a very interesting website at: http://www.old-pens.co.uk - apart from his charity sales, there is much of interest to the collector, notably a detailed guide to vintage Conway Stewart fountain pens.

Mr. Wells can be contacted by email at: daviddwells AT btinternet.com

Next door to David Wells was the well set out stall of the show's co-organiser, Mr. Jeremy Collingridge, who was there with his wife Andrea

Jeremy is a very knowledgeable specialist in antique pens and pen restoration. At the WES meeting in Birmingham earlier this year he gave a fascination talk on fountain pen filling systems. Like Ian Williamson he is a prominent member of the Writing Equipment Society and was on the organising team for the last London Writing Equipment Show. He was showing a wide range of vintage pens.

Adjacent to Jeremy Collingridge was Mr. Ian Williamson, the show's co-organiser, assisted by his wife Anne:

Ian is on home turf in Lichfield. His internet-based pen shop, Cathedral Pens, is named for the city's most famous landmark, of course. As with many other dealers, Ian's business has developed out of his fascination for collecting and using fountain pens.

A wide range of modern and vintage fountain pens were to be found on the Cathedral Pens stall.

Mr. Williamson can be contacted by email at: info AT cathedralpens.co.uk

Coming last but not least amongst the dealer/collectors in the room were well-known collectors Shabbir Solanki (of Grays Antique Centre in London) and his friend Thierry Nguyen of Geneva, Switzerland:

Mr. Nguyen, who specialises in collecting Mabie Tood, Swan and vintage French pens, was working on a very small laptop, and in inverse proportion, was showing an enormous fountain pen, which was as big as the laptop when posted!

I understand from Mr. Nguyen that he knows Pentrace, and in particular the organisers of our Sunday Topics, JeanB & AlainD. It's a small world!

Mr. Nguyen can be contacted by email at: nguyen.t AT bluewin.ch

Who now was left? Well, all the dealers have been covered, and last but not least, in the centre of the room I found the Writing Equipment Society and Dr. Jim Marshall.

The Writing Equipment Society was being ably represented by Dianne Smith and WES Advertising Manager Mike West, who will be familiar to many:

Their smart display was also replete with bottles of WES Imperial Blue Diamine ink, posting tubes and souvenir ballpoint pens - it would be nice if they also had WES fountain pens for sale too, though I suppose a biro does just about count as a writing instrument

Clearly the sight of the ballpoint pens didn't put off potential new recruits, as I understand that seven new members were signed up by WES over the weekend - not bad!

If you think you might like to join WES, or are just curious about what they do, why not check out their website at:

http://www.wesonline.org.uk

Finally, still in the centre of the room but towards the rear end was Dr. Jim Marshall of the Pen & Pencil Gallery, who was putting on an impressive display of fountain pen repair equipment and techniques:

Dr. Marshall was also promoting and selling the new book written by him and Dr. Laurence Oldfield, "PEN REPAIR: A Practical Repair Guide for Collectable Pens & Pencils.'

Written in honour of UK pen guru the late Arthur Twydle, this is a comprehensive 194 page guide to the subject, laid out with detailed "how-to" information and large colour photographs throughout. Looks like a must-have for fountain pen collectors just wanting to improve their collection and make basic repairs as well as for 'pro' pen restorers.

Dr. Marshall can be contacted by email at: ppgallery AT aol.com

So much for all the excellent exhibitors - BUT what happened when the doors finally opened to the public at 2pm?

So, having had fun talking to the exhibitors during the trade-only part of the day, what happened next? Well, the room rapidly became busy from 2pm onwards, as you can see from the selection of photos below:

I was unable to attend the Sunday part of the show, though I understand that was expected to be even busier from a selling point of view.

Later that week, I contacted Ian Williamson to see how the weekend had worked out, and what the prospects were for more such shows in the future.

Ian told me that the weekend was a great success as an event, even though financially they didn't come close to breaking even; but they would do it all over again, and he and Jeremy Collingridge have already started planning the next Midland show. They are also talking about holding one in the West country, probably based in Bristol or Bath. Personally, I think one in central Birmingham could also be successful.

Over the weekend there were around 100 visitors - not in the same league as the London or even the Northern pen shows, but not bad for a small event with a deliberately informal and friendly atmosphere.

The organisers were not looking for huge numbers, in fact - they wanted a show that was relaxed and friendly with plenty of time to chat and they feel that was achieved especially judging by some of the comments on FPN from visitors. It was certainly my impression that this aspect of the Midland Pen Show was a definite success.

All of the dealers did good business and the Writing Equipment Society signed up seven new members as I said earlier - apparently a record for a show!

A sign of the good feeling generated by this event was when visitors and dealers came up and thanked Ian and Jeremy for putting on a great show. Ian says this made all the stress worthwhile - something I can identify with, having organised some pretty big events in the past.

Jeremy and Ian believe that there is a need for small, intimate, local pen shows, and they also feel that it is a great medium for spreading the word about the Writing Equipment Society and the benefits that it brings to its members.

What do I think? I think these small shows have a lot of potential but they need more support from the fountain pen community to make them a financial success. It was disappointing that there was not enough interest in the calligraphy and pen repair workshops. Hopefully visitors will be more adventurous next time, and I wish the organisers great good luck for the future.

I have to say that, despite lusting after all those amazing pens for several hours (I could easily have broken the bank!), the most enjoyable aspect of the show was meeting and talking to fellow enthusiasts, and being able to benefit from the knowledge and expertise that was freely offered and gratefully received.

I'd certainly be only too happy to attend future Midland Pen Shows, and I'd recommend them to UK pen collectors and users looking for a more social side to their hobby in a convivial setting with like-minded folk.

My thanks to Ian Williamson for inviting me to attend the Midland Pen Show, giving me the opportunity to bring it to the attention of Pentracers worldwide

. Stuart Williams