When Peter Sandford of Victory Leathercraft saw a piece of oak timber for sale in an auction house, it sowed the seed of an idea that has been 3 years in the making.
That piece of timber had been removed during restoration works on HMS Victory. Dating from 1759, Victory was the flagship of Horatio Nelson & was instrumental in the English navy’s crushing defeat of the combined fleets of France and Spain during the Napoleonic war.
Since 1922, Victory has been on display in the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth, England. Several major renovation works have taken place since then. Timbers that were cut out & replaced during these renovations were sometimes offered to craftsmen who would fashion small souvenirs or pieces of furniture from them. This is no longer done but fortunately for Peter, after much research he was able to locate a section of timber that he was able to purchase.
The plan is, to turn this oak into beautiful writing instruments that can be used on a daily basis by incorporating European made clutch pencil mechanisms & lathe-turning the wooden bodies.
Peter says that there was something quite magical about holding the very first, finished prototype. He said “to think what this little piece of oak has been through is amazing in itself but when you consider that this wood will have been growing & maturing long before the Mayflower set sail for America carrying the Pilgrim Fathers – that’s mind-blowing!”
As an add-on to the pencils, Peter is offering some beautifully crafted moulded-leather cases. These are hand-made, like all Victory Leathercraft products. Made from premium veg-tanned leather, they are hand sewn and the edges are dyed to match & then burnished to a shine.
Like all new Victory products, Peter is launching this via a Kickstarter campaign.
