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My Recent Trip to Great Britain
PhilosoPiper
Connoisseur
in The Lounge
My wife and I just returned from a week long trip to Great Britain. We spent the majority of our time in London, and 2 days in Oxford.
I thought I would share some photos and some of my thoughts on my journey with you all!
This is a photo of what used to be Fribourg and Treyer, one of London's late, great tobacconists. It has now been turned into a tourist gift shop.
This is Mullins & Westley, one of the last surviving Tobaccanists and Snuff specialists in London. It is quite a small shop just enough room for 2 patrons to stand inside and make their purchase.
A photo my lovely wife snapped of me inside the smoking lounge of James J. Fox. Sadly the store front was under construction and we were unable to get a photograph of it. ( I was also unable to get a shot of the old Dunhill store as it was pretty dark by the time we passed by)
One might believe that because of London's long history as a bastion for great pipe makers and tobacconists that smoking & pipe smoking would still have some hold outs. The sad reality is for every person I saw smoking a cigarette there were 100s vaping, that may not be "sad". I am not a fan of cigarettes, however I only saw one pipe smoker my entire trip and this was in Oxford, it was an older gentleman smoking a falcon.
I went into an antique shop in London, one of the more famous ones called Alfie's. I was speaking with one of the vendors as I was looking for tobacco pipes, she informed me that no one buys them anymore, she had several pipes in her booth however she brought them home and they just sit there gathering dust because she has had such trouble selling them. (unfortunately for me it was our last day in London, or I would have had her bring them from home the next day)
Apart from her informing me that no one buys them anymore, she also was almost in disbelief that I was a pipe smoker, as she hadn't seen anyone smoke a pipe in many years!
The situation in Oxford was in stark contrast to the situation in London. The one tobacconist in town had a great selection of pipes and pipe tobacco. ( I was able to score some Garmain's Brown Flake, and Uncut Cabbies Mixture)
I say all that to say this, the pipe and tobacco industry seems to be thriving in comparison to the UK. I know many of us can at times feel like it is dying, but after this visit it has opened my eyes to the momentum that the pipe smoking world has in the US.
BONUS PHOTOS: The Eagle and Child Pub
I thought I would share some photos and some of my thoughts on my journey with you all!
This is a photo of what used to be Fribourg and Treyer, one of London's late, great tobacconists. It has now been turned into a tourist gift shop.
This is Mullins & Westley, one of the last surviving Tobaccanists and Snuff specialists in London. It is quite a small shop just enough room for 2 patrons to stand inside and make their purchase.
A photo my lovely wife snapped of me inside the smoking lounge of James J. Fox. Sadly the store front was under construction and we were unable to get a photograph of it. ( I was also unable to get a shot of the old Dunhill store as it was pretty dark by the time we passed by)
One might believe that because of London's long history as a bastion for great pipe makers and tobacconists that smoking & pipe smoking would still have some hold outs. The sad reality is for every person I saw smoking a cigarette there were 100s vaping, that may not be "sad". I am not a fan of cigarettes, however I only saw one pipe smoker my entire trip and this was in Oxford, it was an older gentleman smoking a falcon.
I went into an antique shop in London, one of the more famous ones called Alfie's. I was speaking with one of the vendors as I was looking for tobacco pipes, she informed me that no one buys them anymore, she had several pipes in her booth however she brought them home and they just sit there gathering dust because she has had such trouble selling them. (unfortunately for me it was our last day in London, or I would have had her bring them from home the next day)
Apart from her informing me that no one buys them anymore, she also was almost in disbelief that I was a pipe smoker, as she hadn't seen anyone smoke a pipe in many years!
The situation in Oxford was in stark contrast to the situation in London. The one tobacconist in town had a great selection of pipes and pipe tobacco. ( I was able to score some Garmain's Brown Flake, and Uncut Cabbies Mixture)
I say all that to say this, the pipe and tobacco industry seems to be thriving in comparison to the UK. I know many of us can at times feel like it is dying, but after this visit it has opened my eyes to the momentum that the pipe smoking world has in the US.
BONUS PHOTOS: The Eagle and Child Pub
Comments
@motie2 that was our exact experience! The rain was nothing compared to what I am used to in Texas. When people say rain I think torrential down pours. It was mostly "drizzle" there. London is an incredible city, I felt so at home there. The history and being surrounded by ancient things was awe inspiring.
@thebadgerpiper Thank you, I took hundreds more photographs. But I didn't want this to turn into a travel blog
@jim102864 That sounds like it will be an awesome time! We are heading to Munich, Vienna, and Budapest over the Christmas Holidays. Let me know how things go in Munich, and whether or not the shops are any good!
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Thank you @Corey562
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