Lake District Photo Gallery - Derwent Pencil Museum

With thick clouds and grey skies over Keswick, I needed an indoor activity for the morning. Who would have thought the pencil was invented in Keswick? And there is even a museum about it! Graphite was discovered in the area back in the 16th century. Shepherds found this black substance in an upturned tree's roots and used this to mark their sheep. It was referred to as "black lead", although scientists in subsequent centuries were above to discover graphite as a separate substance and not lead. Keswick would go on to become a pencil manufacturing centre. The first factory opened in 1832, which is the predecessor of the Derwent Cumberland Pencil Company, which is now home to this museum. The way you visit this small museum is unique. It is shaped like a scavanger hunt with a paper questionnaire and off you go hunting for the answers in the exhibition. I suppose that way, it forces you to read all the boards. At the end of it, you will get a small prize. I was particularly interested in the company's old product packaging as well as their World War II pencils, which were commissioned by MI5 in 1942 with maps inserted inside and given to RAF fighter pilots to help them escape from behind enemy lines.