Pencils: an update

Those of you who can stretch your minds back to Pencil Anecdote of the Day way back in the mists of time (well, June-ish) will no doubt be very excited to learn that on a recent trip to the Lake District, I visited the Cumberland Pencil Museum! Next to this masterpiece of pencilly joy, all other museums seem suddenly pointless (oh dear, an inadvertant and terrible pun... argh, I hate those). If you're ever in Keswick, I strongly recommend that you visit the Pencil Museum, or face the consequences. (These consequences include: missing out on the Pencil Museum; suffering eternal regret that you missed out on the Pencil Museum; facing the scorn and ridicule of your friends for missing out on the Pencil Museum.)

As the sign outside proclaims, the Cumberland Pencil Museum is "an all-weather attraction". Fortunately, it was pissing down with rain when we went, so we didn't have to test this claim - I'm sceptical of whether many people would spurn rowing on Derwentwater, tea gardens and pleasant walks for a day inside the Pencil Museum if it was gloriously sunny. (Fools.)

So, what did you see inside the Pencil Museum, I hear you cry. Well, for a start, we saw those funky prisoner-escape wartime pencils that were in the Pencil Anecdote - complete with detailed maps of Germany and tiny compasses. I can honestly say that this was one of the most brilliant museum exhibits I have ever encountered. We also saw several outsize pencils (when I finally get my hands on a data cable and things, I'll upload photos of Mark next to the World's Largest, and a slightly smaller one with a sign next to it saying "This is me at the Cumberland Pencil Museum"). Verily, it was the Grooviest Museum Ever.

I don't want to spoil the many pencilly surprises that await you in the Pencil Museum in case you ever go, but just in case you're not yet convinced that this is a funky place for a day out, I'll leave you with the text from one of the little information board thingies in the exhibition about the history of pencil making.

"1751 - REDCOATS ARE STATIONED AT BORROWDALE MINE FOR ITS PROTECTION.
PENCILS ARE S C A R C E."