Manuscript #22 | Farewell to our friend Henry Simpole

July 04, 2020By Ed Adams

5 minute read 📖

In this issue you will read about:

Farewell to our friend Henry Simpole
The 3rd pen in the Churchill Heritage Range – ACTION THIS DAY
The Turing-Welchman Pen and the link to Winston Churchill
The Series 58 Lever Fill Indiana Jones Replica pen
NEW single pen case in Brown leather
NEW CS 18ct Gold Nibs
YouTube reviews by Michael Jecks – the English author of over 40 novels

Welcome to the 22nd edition of Manuscript - the newsletter of Conway Stewart and Bespoke British Pens

Henry Simpole

1951 - 2020

It was with much sorrow that I learnt that my friend and talented pen maker Henry Simpole had passed away on 12th June 2020 from natural causes. I had the pleasure to work with him over many years, and developed with him several beautiful silver overlay pens. I can honestly say he was a real gentleman. Conway Stewart and Henry had a special relationship, and the 2005 Conway Stewart Centenary Pen and the subsequent giant Great Exhibition Pen in 2006 were not only highly regarded but both pens had designs that carried the C & S initials subliminally incorporated into the design of the overlay, something that many owners today still haven't been made aware of! His legacy lives on in the pens he made that are instantly recognisable as his art, see more here.

The last few months have been the strangest of times as the whole world closed down, air travel ceased, and the daily news is dominated by the awful global virus COVID-19. On the 23rd March the whole of the UK was put into lockdown with all pubs, museums, theatres and restaurants closed, and many shops and factories also shut. However, we were lucky as our workshop in Emsworth, Hampshire could be run by husband and wife team, Peter and Liz. Our silversmith, Andy, and our engraver Mike both have home workshops, and my son and I could also operate from home computers. Also I must thank the delivery companies who continued to collect and deliver our pens world-wide. So we have managed to carry on working throughout this period, even managing to launch some new pens and accessories! We have also spent this time improving the new www.ConwayStewart.com website to offer you more options and even better service.

If you enjoy reading the 'Manuscript', please forward a copy to your friends and colleagues. My son Ed also asks you to help spread the word by following us on our social media – you will find all the links at the bottom of this email.

Wishing you health, happiness and a great July/August/September

P.S. If you have any suggestions to help improve our service or products please get in touch

The Launch of the Churchill Heritage “ACTION THIS DAY”

Since the last edition of Manuscript in December 2019, we launched the 3rd pen in the Churchill Heritage range; Action This Day

Famously Churchill stamped red “ACTION THIS DAY” labels on thousands of official documents during WW2, urging the recipients to act with speed and efficiency.

One well documented occasion was in October 1941, Churchill received a letter from under-resourced code breakers Alan Turning, Gordon Welchman, Hugh Alexander and Sturt Milner-Barry at Bletchley Park asking him for help. Churchill forwarded the missive to his chief military advisor General Ismay, attaching a note with the words “ACTION THIS DAY. Make sure they have all they want on extreme priority and report this has been done.”

Within one month, Stewart Menzies, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, reported the needs of Bletchley Park were being met. The rest is history!

This third pen in the Heritage Series is available in 2 colours; either Classic Black and 9ct gold, or Bordeaux and 9ct Gold.The launch of the 4th pen in the Heritage range will be launched in August – The Churchill Heritage “KBO” Pen. Take me to the product page...

The Turing-Welchman Pen

What better introduction to the Turing-Welchman pen than the above letter written by Winston Churchill requesting the necessary resources were given to the Alan Turing and his Bletchley Park code-breakers. Their success in deciphering the Nazi codes probably led to shortening the WWII by 2-4 years. This pen is brought to you in partnership with the National Museum of Computing based at Bletchley Park, England. An amazing museum which is home to the world’s largest collection of working historic computers; from the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, to the rise of personal computing, and culminating with mobile computing, the internet, video games, and robotics. A proportion of each pen sold is given to the Museum to help with their running costs. Take me to the product page...

Each Turing-Welchman pen has a solid silver disc in the top of the cap that rotates representing the drums on the Bombe, and there is a hidden compartment to keep your secret messages in!

The Series 58 Indiana Jones Replica Lever Fill

For our latest release, we have produced a replica of the pen used by Sir Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; a classic film which believe it or not has just celebrated its 30th anniversary.

In the iconic scene inside a Panzer tank , Connery’s character Henry Jones Sr., uses the lever-fill mechanism to squirt ink into the eye of a Nazi tank operator, to save his friend’s life, and that of his son’s, Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford. The scene finishes with Dr Marcus Brody’s humorous comment (played by Denholm Elliott) “Henry, The Pen. Don’t you see? The pen is mightier than the sword!” Take me to the product page...

New colours for our single pen cases

Air Force Blue, Tan, Burgundy, Brown and Black all edge with hall-marked Sterling Silver. Take me to the product page...

NEW Conway Stewart 18ct Gold Nibs

In addition to our FLAG 18ct Gold nibs, we are offering these NEW Conway Stewart 18ct Gold nibs on a limited range of Conway Stewart pens including the Winston and some Churchills.

If you wish to have a Conway Stewart nib on your chosen pen please leave a comment in the Special Instructions at checkout

Michael Jecks reviews Conway Stewart pens on YouTube

At the beginning of lockdown, the English writer Michael Jecks contacted us and suggested reviewing some of our pens on his weekly video “WriterlyWitterings” on YouTube. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity , so take a look at his last 3 reviews: