There are two types of people in the world - those who love stationery and those who do not. We feel kind of sorry for the people who just don’t get it, but who are we to judge?!

As you are reading this blog post, we are confident you join us in the first category and as a fellow #stationeryaddict, you are very welcome here at Ryman!

You have joined us at a time when we are gearing up to celebrate all things stationery as we welcome the return of National Stationery Week (Monday 20 April to Sunday 26 April) with open arms.

Pens come top of the list in stationery surveys time and time again and is it any wonder? They are such trusty little sidekicks! They are the unsung heroes of our everyday lives. Hardworking, always by our side and here for us when our technology fails us (damn you, smartphone battery!).

As huge fans of all things Stationery, we decided to delve a little deeper into our ever-faithful favourite pen to find out why it is the nation's favourite.

#1 Ancient Egyptians created the first pens in 3000 B.C

#2 Left-handers have a genuine love for ballpoints because they dry quickly and therefore smudge less across the paper

#3 An average pen writes around 45000 words before running out of ink. That’s a lot of writing!

#4 The first ballpoint pen was invented by Laszlo Biro in 1938.

#5 Contrary to medical TV myth and legend, emergency tracheostomy procedures (trapped airwaves) cannot be fixed with ballpoint pens. Sorry to any disappointed Grey’s Anatomy fans!

#6 Buzz Aldrin used a felt tip to replace an engine switch on Apollo 11 after it malfunctioned. Without the trusty pen, they would be unable to return to Earth! Yikes.

#7 A ballpoint pen produces more than 1.2 miles of writing – 4 times longer than the height of the Empire State Building

#8 Need to flash your handwriting but don’t have a fountain pen to hand? Wow, your friends using the humble felt tip. Here’s how to hack your calligraphy with a felt tip or biro.

#9 High tech gadgets such as tablets and smartphones are handy and definitely have their place for boredom busting, but for some old-school distraction, dig out your pad and pens for some simple pen, pencil and paper games. These retro games have stood the test of time (and will never run out of battery or data!)

First and foremost, National Stationery Week is seven whole days of stationery celebrations! A chance for stationery lovers and stationery manufacturers and retailers to unite. Each year social media is ablaze with images and news of the latest mouth-watering stationery trends and smart new products.

And if nothing else, it is the perfect reminder to smarten up our stationery hoard; to tidy up our desks; to add some new shiny pens and pencils to our pencil tin; to bag a bargain or simply to stock up on our reliable old favourites. Although we don’t really need an excuse, do we?

As much as we adore stationery, we don’t adore the throw-away nature of it. Stationery is a pleasure and we shouldn’t have to feel bad when we buy something new for our hobbies and interests.

That’s why we’ve launched the UK’s biggest stationery recycling programme. All of our stores across Britain have become a recycling drop off point for all pens, mechanical pencils and correction fluid pots and this scheme will continue once we are open again. We’re delighted that our scheme means that a lot less single use plastic heading into landfill.

Time to refresh your dusty pen collection? We have some awesome deals to celebrate National Stationery Week. We know you’re going to love these pen offers.