The Pen Makers Boat: #428

Now Sold

NB Birchills, Oak and Gun Metal Ballpoint Twist Pen

(25% of the profits from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Black Country Living Museum, the Custodians 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 and roof hatch 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.

We left Bumble Hole a day early. The weather forecast was looking grim again with higher winds and a whole day of rain forecast. Before getting the pram cover built on the back of the boat I used to have to turn pens on the good weather days and move on the nasty ones, now we had the luxury of the choice of days.

Today's cruise was going to be a nice shortish one in cool winter sunshine. We didn't even have any locks to slow us down and as soon as we were through, the large and easy to navigate, Netherton tunnel it would be New Main Line all the way to Brum city centre to meet up with our fellow traders for The Narrowboat Traders Association Winter Floating Market.

There was a great turnout with several boats down on the cancellation list. Friday was going to be a long, and hopefully, busy day for us as it was our first NBTA late night illuminated market with all of us boaters displaying Christmassy lights and opening until late. I had heard a whisper that we were going to be open from 10 til 10! At least I will have time to catch up with the last of my commissioned pens.

Pen #428 was turned on Thursday 10th December 2015 just outside the car park of the Barclay Card Arena in Birmingham.