Pen Museum — Local services in Birmingham

This was a really fun place to visit, I love that the place is run by volunteers, you can really see the passion.

The first room has a lot of great info, a timeline and some really impressive visuals made up of different nibs. You can also get stuck in trying your hand at calligraphy using a whole host of different nibs.

The second room had an introduction via a ten minute video, with various people talking about the Birmingham pen nib industry (including some lovely old women who used to work in them, one was particularly endearing to watch) After that, one of the guys showed us step by step how to make a nib, we each got to try it ourselves and ended up with a nib each that we created (in fact, we ended up with three! One we made, one that we just did the final cut on because ours hadn't gone through the hardening process like they need to, and a third because they usually have some hardened ones for people to cut and keep, so instead we got a totally different - fully useable - one for free as well!) In this room there were also loads of fun things to look at, including various different ink wells and bottles.

The last room is tucked off to the side, we got shown through and were greeted by the local historian volunteer. He talked us through various things, going off on interesting tangents about other historical Brummies of importance in the process. You could really tell he loved what he did. That's the only downside though, he talked about a bunch of things then said 'ok, now I'll show you the exit' rather than giving us time to actually explore that room. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the map that I realised we completely missed out the typewriter and graphology section (the latter I think would have been really interesting) Now, maybe these two sections weren't open - I do know the site said some things, like the nib process, need specialists in, so when they aren't there you can't do them. But we didn't even get to have a proper look in the cabinets because he stood in front of each when he explained stuff to us so a bunch of it was blocked from view.

So all in all a great, niche place to visit if you're interested in pens, calligraphy or even steelworks, but maybe the enthusiastic historian - as great as his insight was - should remember to let the visitors experience the room after he's finished his talk.

I grabbed a postcard and nib in the gift shop, both were...

TLDR: This place is an absolute must stop for any pen enthusiast. Particularly if you are a fountain pen enthusiast. If you like cool pieces of history, check it out.

The facility is entirely volunteer run so that makes this place even more special. The entry fee is a donation and goes to keeping doors open.

Walking through the doors takes you on a journey through time. The front area is all display cases and some interactive items that children and adults may like. there is a giant wheel of nibs that can be rotated and infographics on the walls explaining some history of pens. There is a writing station in one corner but that was underwhelming. However, it is exactly what you would expect in a relatively public space for anyone to test pens (Picture what you would see in a budget stationery store in the pen section with practice pads). The paper here was particularly poor quality. But chances are, if that might bother you, you already have your own collection of pens and paper to use anyway.

Moving along through the museum you enter another building that I would like to call the wonder of the universe. This building was at one time a nib factory and is mostly preserved. The building is lined with an original nib assembly equipment, and you get to MAKE YOUR OWN NIB! This building is filled with so many antiques, ink blotters, pens, nibs, advertisements. I could spend hours looking at all the ways that pens have changed over the years. The most interesting item in this room for me was the still functioning braille printer/typewriter.

I have been told that calligraphy classes also happen here, but I can't speak to that. The final building/room has a small theatre set up showing a documentary that i did not watch and has more little pen related trinkets like pen wipes and pen holders.

The volunteers/staff were fantastic. When I went, the person who helps with the nib making was out. I explained that it was one of the reasons I came. They were accommodating enough and allowed me to come back another day when he was in. I was staying just around the corner.

I recommend this place to anyone who appreciates pens, or anyone looking to learn some things and see cool stuff.

No stars removed because this place exceeded...

10 stars out of 5! As someone who admires calligrapher, I have been fond of pen, ink, quill, parchment, letter paper, envelopes, wax, seals and anything related to writing since I was a child. Before coming to Birmingham this time, I was looking forward to this place the most. The museum was built across the street from a pen factory whose early pens were sold to Disney. The first room is devoted to art made with nibs, with magnifying glasses for a closer look at the nibs; The second room is not only for displaying more nibs, pens, inks, pens cases, stamps, ink bottles etc, but also to introduce the making of the nib. The guide will take the visitors to operate the equipments for making the nib. Although you can't use it without burning the nib yourself, they will give you a free fine nib. The third room displays not only nibs, but also pen holders, ink containers, nib cases, and old typewriters which allows you to type. In addition, the museum also has calligraphy classes, which can be booked online. Love this museum, definitely one of the most unique and interesting I've seen...