There’s a bit of a cuckoo in my pen collection right now. A summer visitor has flown in and for a short but interesting residency before heading home. It’s another Cross fountain pen – this time, the Cross Townsend, which is very much like my own Cross Century II but with a sneaky little dose of those powder supplements you can get from health food shops which bulk you up a bit but, honestly, aren’t steroids.
I’ve been doing a little bit of a favour for a friend by cleaning out the pen and checking that it doesn’t leak. It had got into a bit of a state and I think my friend was feeling a little guilty. When another friend suggested I just take it home and sort it out, I leapt at the chance, which either makes me a very good person, or a bit of a mug, depending on your point of view.
The pen did need an extensive clean-out. There was a significant amount of dried ink in the converter and in the nib, but it was time-consuming rather than difficult to get it all clean again. There is a little staining on the barrel which I’m not sure I can do anything about, though I’m still pondering. Once clean and dry, I filled the pen with Waterman Absolute Brown ink to test it out. My friend had put brown ink in it, so I just went with the same option. So far, so good – no leaks that I can see,
This Townsend has a steel nib, though gold options are available. As with my other Cross experiences, this is a true medium nib and lays down a decent amount of ink, giving a solid line. That’s where I tend to start disliking medium nibs as my writing looks heavier than I generally like it to be. With this pen, the ink behaved well on the Stamford Notebook paper (shown below) but was just a hint too much for the more absorbent paper in my journal. One thing which surprised me was that the Townsend uses the push-in converter from Cross rather than their screw-in version. I think of the Townsend as one of the more premium offerings from the brand and I see the screw-in converter as the more up-market version, but perhaps that is not the case.
I’m into the watch and wait phase of my remit now, with regular checks to make sure all is okay, and doing the occasional bit of writing. The pen will return to its rightful owner next week, hopefully ready to be used a bit more than it has been of late.
Pam Alison Knits 
4 responses to “A late summer visitor”
Talking about Cross, this past week I purchased a Concorde Cross in a presentation box unused but sold as used. It was a complimentary gift for those who flew with the Concorde. It is a quicksilver chrome finish model. On a closer look I found that this model is a Townsend the same as you have posted. Filled it with Montblanc cool grey and it writes perfectly. It is the first time that I have used a Cross pen and I am really chuffed. Thanks for your post.
Oh, wow, that sounds like a really cool pen to have in your collection. Concorde was such a special plane and it’s such a shame they were decommissioned. It’s good that the pens have outlived them!
This sounds a good arrangement whereby your friend gets a clean pen and you get to try it out for a while. Beware that if you bond with it for too long, you might find that you need one, although as a Cross fan, a Townsend is a nice addition!
I think I’m safe – the matte black finish isn’t one I’d gravitate to, though I am kicking myself about never buying that Year of the Rat Townsend when it was available!