The Pen Makers Boat: #513 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and Chrome Premium Ballpoint Twist Pen

(£4 from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the Custodians of NB Dane)

EUROPEAN ELM - Ulmus procera

European Elm has is a light to medium brown, sometimes with a hint of red. With an oil finish, it can turn a beautiful golden brown colour. Unless, of course, it's been kept at the bottom of a canal for an awfully long time.

The rotten parts of these rebuilt boats are usually used to stoke the fires that steam the new planks for bending to the hull's shape.Luckily these pieces of elm were too important to burn and have been properly stored. 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.

Narrowboat Dane was built by the Mersey Weaver and Ship Canal Carrying Company and used as part of their fleet. She was built in November 1946 and first registered on January the first 1947. Ade from A P Boatbuilding is currently restoring her on behalf of The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the work being done is re-bottomed with new chine planks, kelson, stem post and soon to receive two new bow planks, gunwales, decks, new back cabin and engine room. The pens that I will be making from Dane are all from a heavy lump of Elm bottom plate.

Ordinarily we would have spaced out a journey like Norbury to Fazeley (our next market in ten days time) to seven or eight short days travelling. Even though the weather at Norbury Junction wasn’t very nice to say the least we did sell quite a lot of pens and I’d need to get some serious hours on the lathe to replace the stock. The decision was made to get some long days in and try and condense the eight days journey into five to give me some work time. We arrived at Fradley Junction and moored above Shadehouse. Lock by Thursday afternoon and three days longish cruising including a stop off for shopping in Stafford and visiting boat trading friends who had managed to get a spot at Penkridge market.

Luckily the weather was firmly on our side and we had a marvellous few days cruising and the weather for our four day stop off was just about perfect and pauses in long days pen making were punctuated with sitting out under the dappled shade of the trees watching other boats on their journeys.

Pen #513 was turned at Shadehouse Lock just above Fradley Junction on May 7th 2016