Astleys by Les Wood Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Astleys was one of London’s most historic pipe and tobacco shops. Like many pipe tobacconists, its owners had pipes made specially to be sold under the shop’s name. Astleys pipes, however, were made by some of the premier pipe manufacturers and artisans in the UK, such as Dunhill, Charatan, Les Wood, and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall. As a result, Astleys pipes are prized for their quality, and as examples of the very finest British pipes.

While identifying the maker of many Astley pipes is difficult—if not impossible—with some, there are ways to know for sure. Thanks to our connections with Astleys store records and some of the makers of Astleys pipes, we know that this one was made by Les Wood and Dolly Wood, otherwise known for their Ferndown pipes. It’s a very traditional design, reminiscent of a scaled-down Dunhill LC, or swan neck, billiard shape, or perhaps a group 4 120 variant. As far as Les has told us, there wasn’t any real difference between pipes made under the Ferndown name and those made for Astleys. Instead, Paul Bentley, the owner of the Jermyn St premises, would simply visit Les and Dolly at their workshop every so often (or vice versa), inspect the pipes that had not yet been stamped with the Ferndown name, and claim the ones he liked the most for Astleys. So, if you’re looking for a mythical “unsmoked Ferndown,” then I would invite you to consider that most famous line from Shakespeare: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

As indicated, this Ferndown-made Astleys is completely unsmoked. Some very light handling marks on the bowl, but absolutely nothing major.

For more information on Les & Dolly’s life in pipes, check out our recent interview with Mr Wood himself: https://www.mbsdpipes.com/from-dunhill-to-ferndown-an-interview-with-les-wood/

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.81″ / 45.97mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g