View source for UK Pen Shows

The UK Pen Shows (Ltd) is a group in the United Kingdom that aims to share the excitement and knowledge of fountain pens via pen shows to connect vendors and pen enthusiasts.

The shows were owned and organized by "two friends who share a love of fountain pens", Jeremy Collingridge and Ian Williamson<ref>From the official about page of UK Pen Shows https://ukpenshows.co.uk/about-us/</ref>, both members and council members of the Writing Equipment Society (W.E.S.). 

==History==
The first show was held in London in 2007<ref>From the official about page of UK Pen Shows https://ukpenshows.co.uk/about-us/</ref>. In June 2008, a concept of "Provincial Pen Shows" tested an event in Lichfield titled the "Midland Pen Show" to expand to more shows a year<ref>Archived frontpage from 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090521103043/http://www.ukpenshows.co.uk/</ref>.

The Society helped organize events, and eventually Williamson and Collingridge stepped aside in 2010 to work on other projects. W.E.S continued to run several events a year.

As of the final event of 2019, the UK Pen Shows Limited was sold to Vince Coates and John Twiss of TWICO.

==Regional Shows==
As of 2019/2020, the group puts on several shows a year in various locations in the United Kingdom:
* '''South West''', held in Bristol, generally around February
* '''London Writing Equipment Pen Show (LWES)''', now with dates in the Spring and Fall.
** An "Eastern" pen show had run in Cambridge in the Spring, until the Spring London show replaced that event in 2019.
* '''[[Northern Pen Show|Northern]]''', held in Chester, in April.
* '''[[Birmingham Pen Show|Birmingham]]''' (formerly the "Midland"), around June.
* '''Newcastle''' around September.
* '''Yorkshire''' held in Sheffield, in November.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Pen Show Series]]