He was once an engineer in an office - but then Roger Plant twigged he'd have more fun making pencils than pushing them.

So fresh-air fan Mr Plant, of Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, ditched his day job and joined the National Trust, working on woodland conservation and coppicing.

He went on to give demonstrations at Bromsgrove's Avoncroft Museum of Buildings, including making pencil making out of bits of wood, which proved to be a hit among young visitors.

Now he goes all over Britain teaching children the craft.

"I've been very busy over the summer," he said. "I took photos of hedgehogs and got children to draw pictures of them with their new pencils they helped me make."

He can make pencils from almost anything, from old cricket stumps to a hefty length of elm.

Using a drill, he bores out the centre pith of the wood and then glues in a length of lead before using his unique three-legged sharpener to hone the pencil to a point.

He even personalises the pencils by inscribing the child's name on the side, and can make them for both the left and right-handed.

So popular is his craft, he has set up a website - www.twigpencils.co.uk - which is getting hits from all over the world, including a request for 150 pencils with a bride and groom's names on and enquiries from a firm in New York.