Pipe Smoker of the Year
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 1964 as Pipeman of the Year by the Briar Pipe Trade Association, it was presented at a lunch in London’s Savoy Hotel each January. 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 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[i]
- 1968 – Peter Cushing
- 1969 – Jack Hargreaves
- 1970 – Eric Morecambe
- 1971/72[ii] – 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[iii]
- 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[2]
- 2003 – Stephen Fry
- 2014 – Brian Mills
Mark Dyer presenting Brian Mills with his Pipe Smoker of the Year 2014 award.
Pipe Smoker of the Year 2014