So after watching the videos of loading a bowl I went with the "shakes hands with a child, a woman, a man" method then pushed down a bit with my thumb and rotated the bowl, don't know if that really helped but I did it anyway.
I loaded up with some Squadron Leader (thanks again Steve!), set my flame and did the false burn, let it go out, tamped a bit and then lit it. The bowl stayed lit this time, I tamped down a bit every few puffs. At first I was afraid I was tamping down too firmly but it seemed to be working. Pipe stayed lit until I set it down for a few minutes, not sure if it should have stayed lit or not but it didn't.
I know it's a long process to get it down, I think I could have actually put more tobacco in and the other thing is learning when something is smoking hot, I'm paranoid over smoking it too hot, cupping the cob bowl in my hand while smoking I could def feel the warmth but it wasn't actually "hot", I think I need to find someone local smoking a pipe and feel their bowl
Thanks to every one for all the help and tips so far
