HISTORY OF THE PIPE CLUB BOOK FOR SALE Published in December 2016, the Pipe Club of Norfolk book covers the first 40 years of the club. 54 black and white pages with 40 pictures illustrating various events in the club's history. This book represents a fascinating part of pipe smoking social history. The .pdf file copy costs only GBP £4.99 or USD $5.99 To obtain a .pdf copy, simply click on the following Paypal link and enter payment details: https://www.paypal.me/norfolkpipeclubbook  I shall email your .pdf copy as soon as I see your order. A few hard copies are available on Ebay: click here

Forthcoming events

All meetings at 8pm at the Fat Cat pub unless otherwise stated. 17 December - Xmas draw 21 January - TBA 18 February - TBA 18 March - TBA

PCN on HIGNFY

The PCN was featured on 'Have I Got News For You' - BBC1 - 14th October 2010. You can download the video here: Pipe Club of Norfolk on Have I Got News For You.mp4  More about PCN on HIGNFY here.

November : Cheese & pickles & quiz

The Fat Cat is now well established as our winter home and we would like to thank landlord Colin Keatley for making us welcome. The annual cheese and pickles is a very popular event although the secretary's choice of pickled shark as a guest pickle proved to be very unpopular indeed. An acquired taste. Mr Betts ran his quiz which was won by Tony Larner. Tony does not often win events, certainly not quizzes, so it was particularly disappointing to see that Mr Eason decided to spoil Tony's moment of glory with a childish prank. I suppose that if you haven't grown up by the time you are Eason's age, you don't have to.

Tony wins!

October : Social Meeting

The quiz set by Mr Betts was postponed due to his absence and the fact that not many people turned up so we decided to have a social evening. Apparently Mr Betts's missus took him on holiday in Cornwall as a surprise birthday present. Personally, I think that is a feeble excuse.

September : 3 grams clay

At Mr Coleman's for the annual clay competition. Well done to Len for winning.

3 grams clay Smoky Conservatory 17th September 2014 Highland mixture Contestant's choice of pipe 1 Len Ellis 44:10 2 Tony Larner 39:40 3 John Eason 33:45 4 John Walker 33:04 5 David Woollard-Kingston 30:50 6 Keith Coleman 26:40 7 Frank Gurney-Smith 24:30

Puffing away

August : Cigar Competition

At the Fat Cat and Canary again for the annual cigar competition. Nice to see Frank King for the first time this year. Well done to John Betts who achieved the remarkable length of 2.226 inches.

David and Frank developing the length of ash John Betts wins

August : Bowls

Off to Sheringham for the annual match with our friends at the Morley Club. Reg, Keith and the secretary turned up for an excellent afternoon's bowls very kindly arranged by Tony. The weather was kind to us again this year and a good time was had by all.

Tony tees off Reg at the oche

July : 4 Grams Outdoor

To the Fat Cat and Canary for the 4 grams outdoor competition. An excellent win for David who broke the club and his own 4 grams record with an excellent time of 114 minutes. Sadly, Tony and John Eason retired ill due to the tobacco not agreeing with them.

4 grams outdoor Fat Cat and Canary 16th July 2014 Latakia mixture Contestant's choice of pipe 1 David Woollard-Kingston 114:00 2 John Betts 61:25 3 Len Ellis 56:10 4 John Walker 47:55 5 John Eason 42:50 6 Tony Larner 41:20 7 Keith Coleman 33:40

Puffing away

British Pipe Smoking Championship 2014

Report: A small turnout from the club this year but in spite of that, the club came a very creditable third. The British Pipe Smoking Championship 2014 will take place at Newark Showground on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July 2014. Cost of competition entry: £45.00. Just turn up and enter on the day. BPSC 2014 Facebook page

June : Trip to Venta Icenorum

A very interesting tour of the old Roman town of Venta Icenorum with David Wollard-Kingston as the guide. We ended up walking further than some members had bargained for! Then to the Cock Inn at Old Lakenham for drinks near the river. A most excellent evening.

David explains the site Group photo including Ronnie Bobbin By the river at the Cock Inn

May : Picture Quiz

Many thanks to our old friend Ronnie Bobbin for coming along to the Fat Cat for another one of his excellent picture quizzes. Naturally, Mr Eason won (he always does).

Ronnie, David, Frank, John Betts and Keith Len and John Eason Reg and Tony John and David with quiz-setter Ronnie.

April : Annual 3 Grams Competition

Off to Mr Coleman's conservatory for the annual 3 grams competition. Thanks to Janet, Keith's wife for letting us use the facilities. A small turnout but some respectable times. Len just pipped Tony to the post. The secretary acquired a couple of dozen old tins of Player's Medium Navy Cut and Will's Cut Golden Bar which will come in nicely for competition and raffle prizes for the rest of the year.

Annual 3 grams Smoky Conservatory 16th April 2014 Best Brown No 2 Contestant's choice of pipe 1 Len Ellis 52:20 2 Tony Larner 52:00 3 John Walker 49:30 4 John Betts 35:15 5 Keith Coleman 34:20 6 Frank Gurney-Smith 32:35

At the sign of the pipe Len and Tony Frank and Keith Keith and John

March : AGM

Late in the year for the AGM. The club is now in a satisfactory financial state after the upheavals of 2013 and is firmly ensconsed at the Fat Cat. Well done to Mr Betts who won the multiple-choice quiz and a tin of cigars and now has to set the next quiz in October.

RIP

Sad to report the deaths of two famous pipe smokers, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Tony Benn.

Clarissa Benn

February : Music Quiz

Mr Coleman entertained us with his music quiz consisting of original 78s played on what looked like the original gramophones. Well done to Mr Eason who won the competition. Perhaps John is older than he looks given his knowledge of antique records.

Keith the music master!

January : Auction

At the Fat Cat again which looks like being our permanent home. We have to nip outside for a smoke. A slight re-arrangement to our usual timetable with the auction in January. This year we disposed of assorted interesting memorabilia kindly donated by Coral Garrard. Reg did an excellent job as auctioneer and raised the remarkable sum of £52.50 for club funds.

Reg the auctioneer

Rumpole uses the Common Law to defend the right to smoke

The Broads Awards 2012

The 5th Annual Broads Awards took place at the Ferry Inn, Horning on Saturday 3rd November and was a resounding success with over 100 people in attendance who all had a very enjoyable evening. The Ferry provided an excellent carvery dinner followed by the Red Carpet ceremony and entertainment from local band Hard Rain. The 'Most Smoker Friendly Pub' award (sponsored by the Pipe Club of Norfolk) was won by The Ship, Reedham.  Congratulations!

The Pipe Club of Norfolk 1973 to 2010 Miscellany

A Short History of the Club and its Activities

Amend the smoking ban

Please sign the petition

1945 Newsreel - Charatan factory

1945 Newsreel - Charatan factory

Taken from Pipeline magazine

Pipeline magazine ran from 1969 to 1978. It was published by the Pipe Club of Great Britain, 17-19 John Adam Street, London. Here are a few pieces scanned from it. Image intensive!

Pangbourne Pipe Club - 1940

Interesting Pathé newsreel of Pangbourne Pipe Club in 1940.

Advertisement

Cartoon