I have enjoyed fountain pens for as long as I can remember. At primary school in London in the 1960’s our first experience of ink was with dip pens. Our wooden desks had a recess for the inkwell and the teacher came round the classroom filling our inkwells from a small jug with a spout. We had to empty the remains at the end of the lesson.

Later I appreciated the convenience of a self contained, portable pen with its own ink supply, generally an Osmiroid or Platignum. 

Moving on to my secondary school, I used a succession of Parker pens.

In the late 1970’s through college I used Sheaffer No Nonsense pens which were inexpensive and generally wrote well and were reliable for lectures or exams. 

Now, for work and pleasure, I enjoy trying new pens, experimenting with different combinations of pens, inks and papers and using pens from an expanding collection.