Six members of the London Pen Club hit the road on Saturday, June 13 for a one-hour drive to Cambridge. We left London at 7:15 am and were in downtown Cambridge at Phidon Pens Limited by 8:30 am. While the store does not open until 10 am on Saturdays, the owners of Phidon, Baldeep and Mano Duggal, were kind enough to invite us in for a private viewing and light breakfast.
Baldeep & Mano Duggal, Owners of Phidon Pens Limited
The store is a very cozy but chock full of every type of pen, ink, paper and leather goods that you can imagine.
Looking from inside front door to back of Phidon Pens
Looking from back to front window
Many of us brought shopping lists and these were quickly filled – plus extras. I bought several bottles of ink – Private Reserve Fast Dry Midnight Blues, Diamine Umber, Parker Quink Green and Pilot Blue – a funky fountain pen that was recently released by Faber-Castell – the Mondoro – some Miquelrius paper and finally some art supplies for my daughter. We were all suitably impressed by the quality and selection and even more so by the attentive and friendly service of Baldeep and Mano. Mano and Baldeep are just about the friendliest people you will ever meet and try exceptionally hard to make you happy. Unfortunately, because of time (and monetary) constraints, we had to leave just after 9:30 am; however, we will be back!
Several more pictures can be found here
Next stop, just five minutes away to the Galt View Restaurant for a hearty breakfast and hook-up with the Cambridge Pen Club. Actually, it took almost as long to find a parking spot at the restaurant as it did to drive there – the Galt View is a very popular spot on Saturday mornings.
Inside, to the back we joined up with between 15-20 Cambridge regulars who were in the midst of enjoying a great breakfast and pens, of course. The room was a hive of activity with the waitress buzzing in and out and lively conversation, show and tell, sampling inks, you name it – it was busy, busy, busy. The Cambridge regulars were very happy to see us, with many approaching us to say hello and introducing themselves, showing us their pens and asking us about our interests. We could not have felt more welcome! The downside – just not enough time to renew acquaintances with those we knew and meet everyone else. The only solution is to come back again – very soon!
The Cambridge Pen Club meets once a month. If you are interested, I suggest that you send an email to Terry Shepherd at terryshepherd@rogers.com.
