The Pen Museum, in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, is a must if you're at all interested in the history of pens. It's free to enter and is run by volunteers. A very knowledgeable young man guided us round the rooms filled with cabinets and cupboards packed with writing implements, from quill pens, to steel nibs and fountain pens. Using the original equipment, he assisted us in making a steel nib and writing our name using a Braille-writing machine.
We learnt that during the 1800s there were over 100 companies in Birmingham making pens. I had no idea that nibs were manufactured advertising firms and occupations. We saw typewriters throughout the ages, such an assortment of ink blotters, travelling writing cases, inkwells that the mind boggled.
A really fascinating place to visit – and do allow at least a couple of hours to do it justice. We shall return, I'm sure.
