Pipe Smoker of the Year was an award given out annually by the British Pipesmokers' Council to honour a famous pipe-smoking individual. Initiated in 1965 as Pipeman of the Year by the Briar Pipe Trade Association, it was presented at a lunch in The Landmark London each January, eventually transferring to the River Room at the Savoy Hotel.
The award was discontinued in 2004 because its organisers feared it fell foul of laws banning all advertising and promotion of tobacco.
The award was briefly reintroduced in 2014, by the UK Federation of Pipe Clubs, at the British Pipe Smoking Championship at Newark Showground. In a departure from previous awards the recipient was not a celebrity, but the outgoing President of the UK Federation of Pipe Clubs, Brian Mills, in recognition for his personal contribution in recommencing the British Pipe Smoking Championships.
Pipe Smokers of the Year
1964 – Rupert Davies 1965 – Harold Wilson 1966 – Andrew Cruickshank 1967 – Warren Mitchell 1968 – Peter Cushing 1969 – Jack Hargreaves 1970 – Eric Morecambe 1971/72 – Lord Shinwell 1973 – Frank Muir 1974 – Fred Trueman 1975 – Campbell Adamson 1976 – Harold Wilson (Pipeman of the Decade) 1977 – Brian Barnes 1978 – Magnus Magnusson 1979 – J. B. Priestley 1980 – Edward Fox 1981 – James Galway 1982 – Dave Lee Travis 1983 – Patrick Moore 1984 – Henry Cooper 1985 – Jimmy Greaves 1986 – David Bryant 1987 – Barry Norman 1988 – Ian Botham 1989 – Jeremy Brett 1990 – Laurence Marks 1991 – John Harvey-Jones 1992 – Tony Benn 1993 – Rod Hull 1994 – Ranulph Fiennes 1995 – Jethro 1996 – Colin Davis 1997 – Malcolm Bradbury 1998 – Willie John McBride 1999 – Trevor Baylis 2000 – Joss Ackland 2001 – Russ Abbot 2002 – Richard Dunhill 2003 – Stephen Fry 2014 – Brian Mills
Notes
British Pipe Smoking Championships The British Pipe Smoking Championship is a slow-smoking endurance contest where competitors try to keep a single pipe lit for as long as possible. References