The pencil may be a humble object, but it's created countless masterpieces in the hands of artists and writers since the 16th century. The discovery of a large graphite deposit in the English town of Borrowdale in 1564 got the pencil ball rolling. Though the graphite was originally wrapped in string before the invention of the wood-cased pencil... All right, it sounds as dry as dust, but it turns out this is just the tip of the hugely entertaining pencil story! It's a labour of love by British academic and stand up comedian Brian Mackenwells. Lynn Freeman first heard him enthuse about pencils in a BBC podcast ironically entitled The Boring Talks.