Two Pens, One Temptation: The London Pen Show

This particular blog post has nothing to do with any of my Brompton bicycles. This weekend was the London Pen Show, and being rather keen on all things fountain pen, I decided to head down to Hammersmith, where the event has been held for the past few years.

Getting there was pretty easy and plain sailing, and I arrived at the Novotel London West at around 10:30 a.m. It was pretty busy when I got there, and I made my way inside.

I had no expectations of buying anything at all. I was merely there to have a good look around, take in the atmosphere and, hopefully, catch up with a few of the old regulars who used to meet once a month on Saturdays at a German-themed pub near Liverpool Street Station to show off their pens and ink.

I was halfway around the many tables when I stopped to chat with Dave (check out his YouTube channel, as it is rather good, to say the least CLICK HERE). Dave and I caught up on things and, later, on perhaps my third or fourth lap, he showed me the two rather lovely pens he had bought. One was a pocket pen, while the other was full-sized.

Further along on one of my many laps, I stopped to speak to Anthony with his daughter. Anthony used to write an excellent fountain pen blog, UK Fountain Pens. More recently, he appeared in Simon Garfield’s new book, The Pen, and also gave a short interview on Radio 4. I have told him before that he should start his own podcast or resurrect his blog. I suspect he would have a sizeable audience if he did.

I spotted the ‘Black Forest Pens’ table, with its offerings all the way from Germany, and was rather taken with quite a few of their pens. I picked up and looked at some before I went for a wander to mull things over. It was then that Rupert (another writer of a great pen blog CLICK HERE) spotted me, and we caught up on things.

It was lovely to see some of the old crowd again. After speaking to Rupert, I returned to the “Black Forest Pens’ table and bought one of their stainless-steel pocket pens. It felt wonderful in the hand and when I got it home and inserted an ink cartridge, wrote like a dream. I was definitely hooked on their designs!

I left it at that and, very, very happy with my purchase, headed to Clerkenwell, where I met Mrs Orange and the Organette’s. The timing was impeccable: as I entered the establishment where they were eating, my meal was being put down on the very table they were sitting at, just as I was about to sit down.

Once home, I had a good writing session with my new pen and loved it. This is where that terrible thing called temptation played its part. One of the pens on the Black Forest Pens table was something called the ‘Duo.’ This was a stainless-steel pen with two caps and two #6 Jowo nibs, arranged end to end. Now, I have seen versions of this idea before, but none as good as this one.

I slept on it, but knowing that day two of the Pen Show was the following day, I woke up knowing exactly what I would be doing.

Mrs Orange came with me and waited while I nipped into the Pen Show and bought a Duo. Lydia and Denis at Black Forest Pens were wonderful. They had not packed a box large enough for the Duo, so, despite me saying that it was not a problem, they gave me a rather lovely, branded pen sleeve, in which it will now live forever.

My new pens stayed with me all day, and when we visited the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery, I could not resist taking a photograph of my new Duo near the grave of Douglas Adams. I suspect he would have loved a pen like this!

At some point in the future, I will write a mini review of these pens, but at the moment, they are both quite simply wonderful.

The next Pen Show is at the end of February 2027. This is also around the time when the group night rides to the coast resume, so I have both of those things to look forward to.

In the meantime, I will be using my Duo with enthusiasm. It is very practical having two fountain pens, each with a different colour of ink, in a single pen.

Until next time, stay safe out there, people.