Fountain pens. Notebooks.
Letters worth keeping.
A small shop on Green Street stocking Lamy, Pelikan and Pilot, forty-odd inks, and the kind of notebook that survives a satchel. Online too, if you can't pop in.
A pen shop,
not a stationer.
Pages & Parchment opened on Green Street in 2013 with one fairly simple idea: a proper pen shop, run by people who actually use the things. We're Cambridge's only dedicated pen specialist, and we've been quietly converting biro-loyalists ever since.
You'll find Lamy, Pelikan, Pilot, Kaweco, Sailor and TWSBI on the wall — alongside about forty bottled inks, a long shelf of Italian and Japanese notebooks, letter sets, sealing wax and a small case of vintage pens we've picked up at auction.
Every pen sold over £40 comes with free nib tuning on the bench — we'll adjust the flow, smooth the tipping, and get it writing the way you like. Try before you buy is the house rule; the dip-test desk is always set up.
Four shelves worth your time.
Pens, ink, paper and letter-writing — curated rather than stacked. Every line here has been used, tested and signed off on by the shop. If we don't rate it, we don't stock it.
Fountain Pens
Lamy Safari, Al-Star and 2000. Pelikan M200, M400, M800. Pilot Custom 74 and Vanishing Point. Kaweco Sport pocket pens. Sailor Pro Gear in Japanese exclusives. From £24 to about £600.
Bottled Inks
Forty-odd colours, including the full Diamine 80ml range, Iroshizuku from Pilot, Pelikan Edelstein, and a small case of small-batch UK inks from Robert Oster and Krishna. Dip-test desk in the corner.
Notebooks & Journals
Leuchtturm1917 in every size and colour. Rhodia in black and orange. Midori MD paper. Hobonichi planners. Field Notes by the box. Paper that fountain pens actually like writing on.
Letter Sets, Wax & Seals
Original Crown Mill cotton stationery. G. Lalo Vergé de France writing pads. Sealing wax sticks in twenty colours, traditional spoons, and brass seals cut on order.
Diamine Oxblood
A proper deep red — somewhere between claret and old leather. Wet, well-behaved, and a touch of sheen in the dry-down on Tomoe River. Pairs beautifully with a cream stock and a broad italic nib. We've got a 30ml bottle on the dip-test desk all month — come and have a play.
What you get when you walk in.
Free Nib Tuning
Every pen over £40 comes with a free tune on the bench. We'll adjust the flow, smooth tipping and set baby's-bottom right. Bring in pens from elsewhere too — £15 a tune.
Dip-Test Desk
All forty inks available to try, on Tomoe River and Rhodia. Bring your own pen or borrow one of the shop nibs. No pressure to buy.
Try Before You Buy
Every pen on the wall can be dipped or inked for a test on the desk. We'd rather you walked out with the right one than buyer's remorse.
Online & In-Store
Full range on pagesandparchment.example with next-day Royal Mail. Click & collect by tea-time if you're local.
Look after it,
and it'll outlast you.
A few rules of the road we'll talk you through over the counter. None of it's complicated, but a half-hour now saves a clogged feed in six months.
Flush every fill
A quick rinse with cool water when you change ink keeps the feed clean and the flow honest. Tap water in soft-water areas; distilled if you're anywhere with limescale.
Keep it horizontal, nib up
If you're putting it down for the night, lay it flat or stand it nib-up. Nib-down and it'll start dribbling into the cap — no fun the next morning.
One ink at a time
Mixing inks in the same pen is a quick route to a clogged feed. Flush, dry, and refill. We'll show you the bulb-syringe trick at the counter.
Travel with it full or empty
Half-full converters are the enemy of aeroplane cabins. Either top it up before you fly or run it dry. Pelikan and Pilot fly best — Lamy can be moody.
Bring it in for a service
Every two or three years, drop the pen in for an ultrasonic clean and a nib check. £15 for shop pens, £25 for everything else. Tea provided.
“Went in for a birthday present and spent forty-five minutes at the dip-test desk being talked through inks I'd never heard of. They tuned the nib for me on the bench while I drank a coffee. A proper shop, run by proper people.”
Pop in,
have a dip.
We're a two-minute walk from King's Parade, just off Green Street. The dip-test desk is always set up — bring your own pen or borrow ours. Online orders ship the same working day if you're in by 2pm.
Call the Shop →Cambridge CB2 3JU
Sunday · 11:00am – 4:00pm