Vera’s penknife collection is a cut above the rest!

Eighty-four-year old Vera McKay has been collecting the knives since she was a little girl and at the last count she had over 400 different examples.

What started out as a hobby has now become something of a legend in her home village of Portglenone, with friends and family members always making sure to bring Vera a pocket knife whenever and wherever they go on holiday.

Over the years she has been given knives from all over the globe and whether it is the blue and white colours of the Munich flag, or a large bear from the hills of Canada, each knife tells a story.

Vera told the Times last week that she is looking for one more specific knife to complete her collection, a pen knife from Russia.

She now lives with daughter-in-law Susan McKay in the family home, but one room in the house has definitely been taken over, with a dedicated cabinet bursting with the collection.

The collection is quite incredible with knives of all shapes and sizes including some very unusual designs from football teams to animals, Vera’s incredible collection boasts some of the most unique knives you could ever imagine.

One small knife is in the shape of cross, which Suzan believes could have been a tool for trimming candle wax.

Such an unusual hobby does come at a cost however, as Vera spoke of how she cut herself when cleaning one.

It is clear that Vera’s dedication has rubbed off on Suzan, who has started to collect rare varieties of apple trees and plant them at the family home.

One thing is for sure, if she is looking for something to peel the apple with, she won’t be short of a knife!