Home of the Pencil

By Linda Tancs

England’s Lake District might be best known for its inspiring vistas, but it’s also the home of the world’s first pencil. The North Lakes region, in particular, boasted a graphite mine in Keswick which would have served as the source of the pencil industry over three centuries ago. Nowadays you can enter a replica of that mine to visit the Derwent Pencil Museum. Inside you’ll find gems like secret WWII pencils with hidden maps, the Guinness World Record for the largest color pencil (measuring almost 26 feet), the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pencil and miniature pencil sculptures.