JJ Fox, London. Tuesday 21November.

[chilllucky]

My wife and I will be visiting the store, buying all the bulk Germaine's blends, and enjoying Mr Churchill's seat upstairs in the lounge. Anyone who can make it is welcome to sit with us.

Please reply to the thread or send me a PM to arrange.

 

[simong]

Winston’s seat is downstairs.
Have a nice trip!

 

[chilllucky]

In the little boardroom/museum?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Make it end of May ‘24 and I’m in!

 

[chilllucky]

I'd be happy to go back, but I don't think I could wait for you.

 

[warren]

Love that shop. My usual hotel is a five minute walk.

 

[kcghost]

You, boys, have a good time!!

 

[ParkitoATL]

Lovely shop, I was there in Sept and bought some Germain's bulk, Brown Flake and Plum Cake. Wish I had the time to sit and smoke for a while but it was our only day in London and the weather was perfect. Enjoy!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Terrific! I will miss it by a few weeks, but always stop by there.

O/T: @warren Dukes is a favorite here, too, but I couldn't believe the room prices now! Over $1200!! I am staying at the Royal Horseguards hotel, without the horses or guards for considerably less. Hope this choice works out. Within spitting distance of the river.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Terrific! I will miss it by a few weeks, but always stop by there.

O/T: @warren Dukes is a favorite here, too, but I couldn't believe the room prices now! Over $1200!! I am staying at the Royal Horseguards hotel, without the horses or guards for considerably less. Hope this choice works out. Within spitting distance of the river.

I couldn't believe the hotel prices, such a sheltered life, lol, but most looked really cool. We found an amazing holiday rental in a quiet mews in Knightsbridge for less than $400 a night - just a hop and skip to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens and a couple of great museums and for us (to keep the suitcases to a minimum), the joy of being able to do laundry, lol. Never been, now just have to get through winter once it starts, lol.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Love that shop. My usual hotel is a five minute walk.

Your tip on Roundstone House in Connemara was the best advice we got for our trip to Ireland - all ears if you have any London ideas in general.

Sorry, back to J.J. Fox . . . . .

 

[jaingorenard]

Enjoy it! I'll miss you by about five days. Worth going on a weekday as their lounge gets very busy at weekends.

I'd also recommend Segar & Snuff in Covent Garden. They only stock their own blends, but the shop is worth visiting just to see how small it is!

 

[chilllucky]

We actually planned the visit around the idea of opening a 30-ish year old tin of JJ Fox Vintage Mixture, procured at last year's Chicago Show, at the store as a kind of homecoming event. But in emailing the manager we discovered that UK law states only tobacco purchased on the premises day-of can be enjoyed in a smoking lounge.

So I'll just buy up all the Rich Dark Flake they have on hand and climb the stairs to have a bowl or three.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Well.... you could preload one pipe, and after enjoying a just-bought bowl in another...

 

[jaingorenard]

We actually planned the visit around the idea of opening a 30-ish year old tin of JJ Fox Vintage Mixture, procured at last year's Chicago Show, at the store as a kind of homecoming event. But in emailing the manager we discovered that UK law states only tobacco purchased on the premises day-of can be enjoyed in a smoking lounge.

So I'll just buy up all the Rich Dark Flake they have on hand and climb the stairs to have a bowl or three.

Yeah that's true. And if you buy cigarettes or RYO from them you still can't smoke it in there.

 

[chilllucky]

Well.... you could preload one pipe, and after enjoying a just-bought bowl in another...

We'll just save the special stuff for the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club Christmas dinner event. S'not a homecoming, but still an event worth sharing at.

 

[chilllucky]

What a marvelous time we had. I do tend to get uneasy when the staff at a place is better dressed than I am, but it was still a very welcoming environment.

We were able to meet up with a forum member for a brief but wonderful conversation. Thankfully they will be traveling to the States next year so we ought to be able to return the favor.

They had no Germaine's blends on hand save for some aromatics I wasn't into. Despite the fact that the son of the founder of JJ Fox's was instrumental in developing tobacco production in the Jersey Isles and is surely one of their oldest accounts - the clerk told me that their new arrangement with Germaine's is "they send us what they feel like when they get around to it." Yikes.

So we happily availed ourselves of some G&H tobaccos. The staff was very helpful with the complex international financing paperwork.

 

[woodsroad]

Pictures?

 

[PaulRVA]

Pictures?

 

[chilllucky]

I don't take pictures on vacations. I try not to have my phone powered on at all, if I can help it. Sorry.