London Meerschaum

London Meerschaum, despite what its name suggests, was not based in London at all but produced its pipes in the town of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The business was founded by Alistair McKay Mitchell and his wife Anne Mitchell, a couple who had worked in the meerschaum trade in East Africa before settling in Britain; the brand's story therefore begins with the mines at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

From Africa to Wales

According to family accounts, the couple had first set up a meerschaum-processing operation in Nairobi's industrial district in Kenya, and later in Arusha, Tanzania. Raw material was sourced from blocks quarried in the Amboseli region at the foot of Kilimanjaro. The Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation, which worked the same deposits, was founded in 1955 and introduced East African meerschaum to the world market; the account also links the Mitchells' venture to that name, though the relationship between the two enterprises has not been independently confirmed. The region's stone is considered harder and less porous than Eskişehir stone, and is also distinguished by tones running from deep yellow to brown. English pipe companies of the period followed this source closely; GBD's block meerschaum series is said to have arisen from the same connection.

Once access to raw blocks was cut off following Tanzania's independence, the family moved to Britain. According to the account, a Somali intermediary was found and supply shifted to Somali-origin stone; every pipe that came out of the Cowbridge workshop was worked from these blocks.

Production and Products

The workshop in Cowbridge was small in scale but relied on machinery as well as handwork. Bowl blanks were roughed out on an Italian-made copy lathe, and the black plastic stems fitted to the pipes also came from the same country. Darkening the bowl rim on a hot plate to give it a dark band was a practice carried over from the Arusha years, and it is this detail that gives the brand's pipes their recognizable look.

The product range was not limited to solid meerschaum. The workshop also made models with a meerschaum bowl set into a wooden body; such pipes are known to have found favor in England. A corncob-shaped model is also mentioned in the records.

The BELT Stamp and Closure

London Meerschaum is also reported to have made pipes stamped BELT or THE BELT. Known examples have both smooth and sandblasted bowls and carry the inscription "Genuine Block Meerschaum" on the bowl; some feature English silversmith's hallmarks on the silver bands. In line, the series recalls the fully curved shape of Peterson system pipes, and the stems resemble the P-Lip; but the smoke hole is bored at the tip of the stem rather than on top of it. The series appears to have been on the market at latest by the 1950s. Some sources link the brand to Pomeroy & Cooke Ltd., though this link has not been confirmed.

After Alistair Mitchell's death, Anne Mitchell chose not to carry on the business, and the workshop closed. The closing date is not given clearly in the records. London Meerschaum is remembered today as one of the few brands to carry the short-lived trace of African meerschaum in British pipe production.