Pencil Spotting 1

Watching Neil Oliver's series "The Age of Iron" on BBC2 the other evening, I could not help but notice another Staedtler user:


This is Steve Brooks of the Natural History Museum. He is a research entomologist who researches climate change from midge larvae found in lake bed sediments.


Whilst he counts Chironomid midge larvae in the eyepiece of his microscope, I count one pencil with distinctive black and red stripes, white band and black end-cap.

These Staedtlers can be found everywhere - in the laboratory, and perhaps even in ancient lakebed sediments.

Alternative Uses for a Pencil 1

Watching Gardeners' World on BBC2 last night, I couldn't help but notice this gentleman, Ken Stock, and his novel use for a Staedtler tradition 4B pencil.


Mr Stock grows dahlias (pictured top) in his garden in Bournemouth, and he uses his Staedtler as a dibber when planting his cuttings.


But whilst this may be news to stationery fans, it's not to gardeners, apparently. When I pointed this out to my wife, who is the gardener in our household, she wasn't surprised, and said that she'd used a pencil as a dibber, too.

Still, it's always nice to see a pencil on the telly, and Mr Stock's dahlias are beautiful.