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 1965 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. ^[1]

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. ^[2]

Pipe Smokers of the Year

• 1964 – Rupert Davies
• 1965 – Harold Wilson ^[3]
• 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 ^[4]
• 1978 – Magnus Magnusson
• 1979 – J. B. Priestley
• 1980 – Edward Fox ^[iii]
• 1981 – James Galway
• 1982 – Dave Lee Travis
• 1983 – Patrick Moore ^[5]
• 1984 – Henry Cooper
• 1985 – Jimmy Greaves
• 1986 – David Bryant ^[6]
• 1987 – Barry Norman ^[7]
• 1988 – Ian Botham ^[8]
• 1989 – Jeremy Brett
• 1990 – Laurence Marks ^[9]
• 1991 – John Harvey-Jones
• 1992 – Tony Benn
• 1993 – Rod Hull
• 1994 – Ranulph Fiennes
• 1995 – Jethro
• 1996 – Colin Davis ^[10]
• 1997 – Malcolm Bradbury
• 1998 – Willie John McBride ^[11]
• 1999 – Trevor Baylis
• 2000 – Joss Ackland ^[12]
• 2001 – Russ Abbot ^[13]
• 2002 – Richard Dunhill ^[14]
• 2003 – Stephen Fry ^[15]
• 2014 – Brian Mills

Notes

1. Warren Mitchell did not accept his award, calling it "silly". "I smoke a pipe; I also use a lavatory brush. By the same token you could make me 'lavatory brush man of the year.'" The Guardian 13 January 1968
2. Until 1972 the award was made for the pipe smoker of the previous year; from 1973 onwards it was for the forthcoming year. Manny Shinwell, who held the award throughout 1972, was subsequently listed as the "1971/1972" winner.
3. Edward Fox accepted his award but declined the prize of three pipes and a quantity of his favourite tobacco and asked for the cash value, about £100, to be sent to help Cambodian refugees. The Times 25 January 1980

References

1. Thompson, Jonathan (18 January 2004). "Annual pipe-smoker award is extinguished". The Independent. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
2. "Brian Mills Pipe Smoker of the Year 2014". CIPC. 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
3. "Harold Wilson Did Have a Top Secret MI File". Town & Country. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
4. "Interview: Brian Barnes" . Retrieved 23 June 2017.
5. Hatherill, Chris (10 December 2012). "Patrick Moore Was the Forrest Gump of the Space Age: Watch His Greatest Hits". VICE. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
6. "David Bryant obituary". The Times . 27 June 2023. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 28 June 2023.
7. "Writer and broadcaster Barry Norman, BBC television's film critic,..." Getty Images. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
8. Murray, Scott (6 December 2013). "The Joy of Six: smoking sports stars". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 June 2023.
9. "Television - Pipe Smoker of the Year 1990 - Savoy Hotel, London" . Retrieved 2 December 2025.
10. "Moment of harmony as LSO chief wins pipesmoker award". The Independent. 18 January 1996. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
11. "WILLIE-JOHN McBRIDE Irish Former International Rugby Player and former Coach of the Ireland International Team (Voted 1998 Pipesmoker of the Year) COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo URM 0..." Retrieved 2 December 2025.
12. "JOSS ACKLAND British Actor Winner of the Pipe Smoker of the Year Award 2000 COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo ?-03a 19.01.2000" . Retrieved 2 December 2025.
13. "RUSS ABBOT CROWNED PIPE SMOKER OF THE YEAR, 2001-01-22 (photo)" . Retrieved 2 December 2025.
14. "And the Pipe Smoker of the Year for 2003 is..." BBC News. 17 January 2002. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
15. "Fry lights up pipe-smoking award". Irish Examiner. 27 February 2003. Retrieved 28 June 2023.