2020 has been a memorable year, mostly for the wrong reasons as we all know. There were one or two good things, too. I bought a digital microscope which has saved my ailing eyes and helped enormously with my work.

I finally made the decision – long considered – to confine myself to Mabie Todd pens. I sold off my Waterman, Parker and Conway Stewart spares. I have yet to go through general spares and clear them off, too. Why did I concentrate on Mabie Todd pens? They’re our favourites, they’re a pleasure to work on and they sell well.

I had, and sold, some of the best pens ever this year, all Swans; L245B/62, L112/60, SM205/65 and a glorious rolled gold Swan set – I could go on! These may just be numbers to you but you’ll find most of them in my blog. Whenever I have pens like those to work on, especially the Leverlesses, I am reminded of why I do this. The Swan designs are so well thought out that they are a delight to restore.

Of course throughout the spring and early summer we closed down the sales site and sold no pens. Later, when we risked opening it again, the sales more than made up for the earlier dry period. So many pens sold, so many new friends!

We always wish for better days ahead. There are hopeful signs for 2021 and for everyone’s sake I hope the various vaccines will allow us to return to some semblance of normality. However, when I look back on 2020 it wasn’t all bad.