#270

NOW SOLD

NB Birchills Oak and Chrome Twist Ballpoint Pen

(25% of the selling price of this pen will be going back to the Black Country Living Museum to help with the upkeep and refit costs of NB Birchills)

EUROPEAN OAK - Quercus robur

Usually straight-grained, the heartwood of European Oak varies in colour from light tan to brown. Quarter-sawn pieces show attractive flame figuring. The wood is fairly hard, heavy and dense, clean but with the occasional knot. European Oak is a beautiful timber and with an oil finish, the grain will turn a deep golden brown.

This particular piece of oak (probably English rather than European) is just a little bit special though. It comes from the rear cabin side gunwales of Narrowboat Birchills. I was given a few off cuts by the superb craftsmen who were carrying out a little light refurbishment to this historic boat, in fact the guys had cut the whole back cabin off!

Birchills is an historic, ‘Joey’ boat with a small day cabin, built in 1953 by Ernest Thomas of Walsall, ‘Birchills’ it is one of the last wooden day boats made and was used to carry coal to Wolverhampton Power Station. This boat is double-ended and the mast and rudder could be changed from one end to the other. This enabled its use in narrow canals or basins where there was no room to turn the boat around.

The rotten parts of these rebuilt boats are usually used to stoke the fires that steam the new planks for bending to the hulls shape so half a day later this flaky gunwale would have been burned. I wasn't sure how deep the rot would have gone and how deep I would have to delve into this piece to find stable wood. The pens I make from historic boat materials have been thoroughly tested by me to make sure that they will give pleasurable daily use.

That old flaky gunwale went on to make a few very nice pens and I was lucky enough to be given some more wood by Ade at A P Boat Building in Alvecote. This time a piece that appears to be from the old red cabin hatch surround.

Pen #270 found it's new owner rather quick, in fact it was in the mini photo studio having just had it's last buff with microcrystaline wax when Jenny from PJ Fenders (and organiser of the Roving Canal Traders Association) popped by to have a look at my pens and this one suited her needs perfectly.

I am sat on the back deck of our boat on Friday 22nd May typing this blog entry on a lovely sunny and warm afternoon at the Burton On Trent floating market organised by Sandra (from Golden Boyz Doggie Gifts) and other members of the RCTA. Below is a list of other markets organised by the RCTA.

Markets Poster