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OUT While speaking with Paolo Becker at the 2009 West Coast pipe show he told me that he was experimenting with a new wood that might prove useful in the making of high-quality smoking pipes. This wood, from the Erica family (the same family as briar), is named, in English, Strawberry Tree wood. I quote from Wikipedia: The Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) is an evergreen perennial shrub or small tree in the heather family, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe north to western France and Ireland, and south to the Algarve in Portugal. In experimenting with this new wood Paolo found that it greatly resembles briar in structure and taste. In addition the new wood is 20- 25% lighter in weight, due to its more open grain pattern. The culmination of Paolo’s experiment occurred at the 2010 Chicago pipe show when he handed out Strawberry Tree wood pipes to a few individuals in order to secure their opinions concerning taste and durability. The taste results from those chosen were indeed positive, the prevailing feeling being that the taste was at least as good as briar, while the difference in weight was noticeable. While researching what was written about the wood Paolo found that it had been used to make pipes in the past by Italian (and possibly other European) peasants. As homage to this culture he has decided to make a limited number of these pipes available in the near future. A limited number of pipes made with this new wood will first be available at the annual Tobacconists’ trade show held in August 2010 at the New Orleans, Louisiana convention center. If you are interested in obtaining one of these new pipes for yourself please ask your tobacconist to visit the R D Field booths at the show where they will be on display. (July 21, 2010) In Memoriam
William Ashton-Taylor died today. I knew Bill for 29 years, and we had a close business partnership for 20 of those years. From 1983 to 2003 Bill made Ashton pipes, and I distributed them in the United States. It was during this 20 year period that I became very close to Bill, to his wife Irene, and to his children Nicola and Spencer. I truly loved Bill, and Irene, Nicola, and Spencer are still very dear to me. I first met Bill in 1979 on what I would call a research visit to the Dunhill Pipe Factory, then located on Cumberland Road in East London, and I saw him twice more (in 1980 and 1981) when attending Dunhill Principal Pipe Dealers Conferences. Finding he had a true talent for pipe making I contacted him in early 1983, asking if he had an interest in crafting a line of pipes that I would distribute. He agreed, and began to set up a workshop in his garage. Before the first pipe was produced we had to come up with a name- a name that exuded both English hand-craftsmanship and quality. It was during a transatlantic telephone call in February of that year that the name Ashton was decided upon. My youngest daughter's middle name is Ashley, and so I suggested this to Bill. "No, sounds too much like Astley's" was his response. Then- at the same millisecond we both said "Ashton", and so it was. Bill was perhaps the most social individual I have met, and he carried this easy access in all aspects of his life. He was also one of the most stubborn people I have known, but it was a quiet stubbornness. He'd listen to what one had to say, would make no rejoinder, and then follow his own muse. He was blessed- with immense creativity, and cursed- in that he made the worst decisions, both business and personal, I have ever witnessed. I guess, in the end, this showed his humanity. He was a lovely human being. I shall miss him. (Sept. 16, 2009)
We will attend the following 2010 shows: Saturday, Sept. 11: Edwards Pipe (store show); Englewood, CO Saturday & Sunday, Nov. 6 & 7: West Coast Pipe Show; Las Vegas, NV http://www.westcoastpipeshow.com/
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