LES WOOD Ferndown Bark

England, 1990s

The story of Les Wood proves that Dunhill is not only a largest and most famous enterprise, but also a kind of a talent incubator. In the early 1980s Duhill’s master silversmith Leslie John Wood established an own enterprise similar to Alfred Sasieni many years before and Bill Ashton-Tayler a few years later.

With the help of his wife Dolly Les produced about 2000 pipes a year under brands Ferndown (most for the USA market), L&JS, L&JS Briars, L.WOOD, Elwood , Dolly. Jose Manuel Lopes writes that principal finishes were Bark (rustics and black sandblasts), Antique Bark (rustics and lightsandbalsts), Reo (dark smooths in brown or black) and Root (light or natural smooths). But  contrary to J.M. Lopes’ opinion stars on some pipes were not related to grades, they designated sizes.

Mr. Wood retired in 2019, but takes a lively interest in the pipe community life and even has kindly commented on pictures of this pipe in a social network.

This attractive pipe was made in the 1990s. Someone unsuccessfully tried to replace the tennon in the pipe, so we had to replace that replacement tennon. Now it sits reliable, but due to not 100% ideally centered air channel drilling (in the stem) it looks now a bit (about 1 mm) shifted aside, that’s unfortunately a common issue in such cases.

Pipe markings “FERNDOWN\ BARK \ L& J.S BRIARS \ LONDON ENGLAND”
Length 17.1 cm (6.73″)
Bowl Height 5.8 cm (2.28″)
Outside Diameter 4.6 cm (1.81″)
Chamber Diameter 2.4 cm (0.94″)
Chamber Depth 5.0 cm (0.79″)
Weight 74 gr.
Briar, cumberland stem, no filter.

The pipe was accurately smoked, it has been thoroughly cleaned, polished, sanitized and now is ready for a new life.