(Page 29) Spring 2014 Newsletter

MY MERCHANT NAVY DAYS

Tony Marshall

These two stamps hold a special interest for me, as they depict ships of the company that I sailed with in the late 50s to the mid 60s. I worked in the galley of six Portline (part of Cunard) ships and two of them are shown on stamps.

The NZ one commemorating the export of lamb has the Port Auckland on- no, I didn’t ship out on the one with the full rigging; she was a refrigerated cargo carrier. Outward bound, we carried general cargo of anything from cornflakes to cars and on return to the UK, it was frozen lamb carcasses, apples, butter, cheese and wool from New Zealand.

The other stamp shows the Port Chalmers as she was during World War 2 entering Valletta Harbour, thus relieving Malta of its starvation status. The Chalmers was built in 1935 so was very old when I joined her in 1963, but the Auckland, launched in 1950, was by ship standards a very modern one.

Now Portline is no more- swept away by container carriers, though two of the company are still plying the oceans, as they were converted from cargo ships to small cruise liners in the early 70s. They were the Port Sydney and Melbourne, now the Greek owned Danae and Daphne, but after 58 years, who knows how long they have left.

Editor’s note: as shown in Tony’s article- on 10 August 2012, Malta Post issued eleven sheetlets totalling 88 stamps to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of ‘Operation Pedestal’. In WW2, Malta was the base from which ships and aircraft attacked Axis convoys taking essential supplies to Italian and German armies in North Africa, but was itself under siege and bombardment and facing starvation. Operation Pedestal (9-15 August 1942) was the final effort to get food and fuel to Malta before she was forced to surrender. 88 ships (each one featured on these stamps) took part in the operation, but there were heavy losses, including 9 of the 14 merchant ships.

Editor’s footnote to Tony’s article in the previous newsletter on the Suez Canal 8-year blockade (1967-75). The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, thus providing a short cut for ships travelling between Europe and Eastern Asia, opened in 1869. In 1888, an international convention ruled that ships from any nation were entitled to use this waterway, but it wasn’t long before conflicts began to arise, culminating in the Suez Crisis and the temporary closure of the Canal in 1956. This cover, which I just happened to find amongst my hoard, marks the reopening in 1957.

AN UNUSUAL CACHET

Alan Squires

The picture shows a cover, which my wife received recently. The cachet reads ‘Do Not Surcharge Correct Postage Raised By Nottingham Revenue Protection Treat as 2nd Class’. This has been added as the manuscript ‘1st’ has been added at the top right, but there was insufficient postage paid for a 1st Class letter.

I have not seen anything like this before and thought it might be of interest to other members who may not have seen it either.

STAMPS ON THE TABLE

Bryan Button

Amongst over 1000 rolls of fabric, mainly for curtains and upholstery, at Stayway Fabrics in Shipton, Shropshire, there was one roll of oil-cloth decorated with stamps. The roll was133 cm wide and would cost £13.95 for a metre length. Every stamp was 8 cm wide and 11 cm long. This means one square metre of the oil-cloth would contain 108 complete stamps.

THE STAMP OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO

Douglas Harvey

This all goes to show that we get good value from Royal Mail. But it does also raise the question of the postman’s dilemma in handling the payment for postage.

Source: Gibbons Overseas Catalogue, Part 4 (1978)

DERBY SCOUT POST , CHRISTMAS 2013

Sandra Poole

This year, stamps for the above rose from 20p to 25p and, consequently, according to Bruce Kilgour, one of the organisers, “people wanted their money’s worth- cards greatly increased in size and weight, some definitely being GPO 1st class ‘large items.’ Although there was a drop in sales, this was more than compensated for by an increase in income, so the Scout groups were happy.” Two charities were also supported. One new stamp was produced and this varied in colour from blue to purple. ‘The shades occur because a lot of the sheets change across the rows from blue to purple! No idea what went wrong with the printing. The other colours change slightly, particularly the orange, but the purple is the most noticeable. A lot of sheets are a uniform purple, so I assume this is the intended colour’.1,000,000 stamps were printed. Booklets, similar to last year’s design, ‘were made up using vertical strips of 4, all one shade’.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD

Sandra Poole

In the last newsletter, I showed a slogan relating to the first known Christmas card, sent in 1843. Just by chance, I found this reproduction in my collection! The original, designed by John Horsley, R.A, was lithographed in black and white and then coloured by hand. Only 1000 were produced. Christmas cards were introduced to America by Marcus Ward & Co of London in the late 1870s.

SOCIETY NEWS

WELCOME TO OUR NEW PRESIDENT ALAN SQUIRES

Alan is seen here taking over from our retiring president Brian Clayton at the recent AGM. Alan needs no introduction- he is the one who writes all the funny pieces in the Newsletter and misses out bits from the auction list! He has been a member of the Society since 2007.

lan thanked Brian for his term of office…‘I enjoyed the displays and in particular the idea of having smaller displays from several members in one evening. This is an idea I have decided to copy in my year of office…I look forward to the coming year and hope to provide as much enjoyment from the displays as the Society has become accustomed to.

TONY SIBLEY- 50 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS MEMBERSHIP

A celebration to mark this occasion took place at the AGM on 25 April.

Alan Squires: 'It was a pleasure to be able to present Tony Sibley with a certificate to mark his 50 years with the Society. Tony has a wealth of knowledge on matters philatelic and also seems to know just about everyone associated nationally with our hobby.’ Tony reported that he had thoroughly enjoyed his 50 years with the Society. The President when he joined was Wilf Hill. Wilf’s father was Mayor of Nottingham and invited members of Nottinghamshire PS to a buffet and drinks at the Council House. Tony read a report of this, got details of membership from the library and the rest is history. The Society was very formal in those days- more of a gentleman’s club- but had got friendlier with every year. Many of its members were well-known local personages and Tony likes to think that he was the first working class president.

SOCIETY MEETINGS REPORTS

France to 1940 by Howard Fisher, 17 January 2014.

An interesting analysis of the early issues of France was given by Howard Fisher. The adhesive stamps were first issued in 1849, with the introduction of a prepayment postal system. The early Ceres definitives were replaced with the portrait of Louis Napoleon, who was laureated after the Italian victory. Ceres returned, to be followed by the Blanc, Mouchon and Merson definitives, named after their designers. The Merson stamps introduced two-colour printing and are greatly admired by philatelists. The design was also adopted for fiscal use. The sower stamp (la semeuse), which appeared in 1903, was adapted from a portrait of Charlotte Roget. In the second part, the commemorative stamps of the 1930s were shown, followed by a small collection of illustrated postcards from the first world war period, together with some censored mail. Finally, a collection of postal stationery items which utilised the Paris Pneumatic Post (1866-1984) completed the evening.

Ross Dependency by Brian Clayton, 7 February 2014.

Our President, Brian Clayton, gave a perspective of the development of Antarctica, with particular reference to the Ross Dependency under New Zealand administration. During 1956, plans were finalised for the British Trans Antarctic Expedition, which took place during the International Geophysical Year (1957-8). Dr. Vivian Fuchs set off from Shackleton (base) on Coat’s Land, the Weddell Sea ice edge, in November 1957. He reached the South Pole in January 1958 and arrived at Scott Base on Ross Island in March 1958. His support camps for the 2nd leg were established by Sir Edmund Hillary, who, somewhat controversially, reached the Pole before Fuchs. NZ Post produced the first 4 stamps of Ross Dependency in 1957 and had set up a post office at Scott Base, ready for Fuchs’s arrival. Interest in Antarctica developed rapidly, and the visiting population grew, with the emphasis on exploration (land, sea and sky), documentation and research (govt universities). Air and sea transport became important. Using aircraft support, a nuclear power station was built at McMurdo station and all year round survival became possible, although icebreaker ships often had difficulty keeping sea channels open. Tourist flights began, but were brought to an abrupt close with the air disaster of 1979. Decimal currency stamps were first issued in 1967, followed by a third set in 1972, which was reprinted on chalk surfaced paper in 1979. A fifth set was issued in 1982. Scott Base Post Office closed in 1984 owing to financial cutbacks. The catalogue lists just 26 stamps (plus a few varieties) for the 28-year period- an unusually modest collection, but there was a wealth of philatelic interest in the many postal items that Brian displayed.

Past Presidents Displays (Group B), 21 February 2014.

The second group of 10 former presidents presented small displays. David Shipstone opened with a postal history of Hamburg, which in the Napoleonic wars became Hambourg. Some very early covers were shown. Chris Tennant then showed a selection of remarkable Cinderella stamps, together with taxation labels. Barbara Inger displayed early Ceylon stamps and Mick Inger displayed early United States and postal stationery. Bryan Button brought the first part to a close with Belgian miniature sheets commemorating centenaries. In Part 2, George Kirkham opened with early issues of Romania and Douglas Harvey took a thematic look at the United States Bicentenary. Gordon Low continued with a thematic collection of Olympic and other Sports stamps. Adrian Ritoridis displayed some rare examples of interrupted and returned mail from the Balkans during WWI. Finally, Allen Wood displayed some Cinderella curiosities, including labels from South Africa and railway luggage labels. This was an entertaining evening, which illustrated the wide variety of interest within the Society.

Past President Remembered, presented by Chris Tennant, on 7 March 2014.

This meeting was a tribute to the late Derrick Avery (1916-2012), who held the office of President four times and who was greatly admired by members of the Society. Chris assembled the display with help from Allen Wood, who now has most of the items. In the first part, postcards of Nottingham were displayed. Many of the city landmarks can still be recognised, whilst others have been lost. In the second part, Derrick’s collection of ‘junk mail’ envelopes was on show. Most philatelists throw away this type of mail, which includes advertisements, postage paid envelopes and licensed reply mail, but Derrick kept these items, which, after many years of storage, have now become interesting.

UK Revenues by Edward Hitchings, 21 March 2014.

Philatelists tend to ignore revenue stamps, but Ed Hitchings is a keen collector. He explained that stamp duty was introduced in 1694 to finance the war with France and the more familiar embossed duty stamps were introduced in 1870. They cover all values from an old penny to a million pounds. Adhesive stamps to show that tax had been paid appeared on a wide variety of commodities and were used for diverse purposes, illustrating the extraordinary range of collectable items.

In Part 2, licences were displayed in a wide-ranging form. Most of these are now seen as amusing, reflecting the changes in modern society, but many licences are still required and some are for very specialised situations.

Anglo-Belgian Families and War- Bryan and Minou Button, 11 April

In their social philately display, Bryan and Minou associated postal materials and ‘back of the book’ items with the various conflicts experienced by an Anglo-Belgian family. These were not all exquisite items, more those that various strands of the family had kept and acquired and are now in their collection of Belgium memorabilia. The aim was to identify the postal material issued during and after wars, battles, rebellions and occupations, together with the aftermath and commemorations, and to illustrate life during those troubled times. The periods of interest were the eight occupation periods before Belgium became independent in 1830: the Franco-Prussian War; the Boxer Rebellion the Napoleonic Wars and particularly the Battle of Waterloo and the two World Wars. A splendid presentation, which included a display of many unique items.

MISCELLANY

Meetings at Radcliffe-on-Trent and District P.S.

This Society is a small one and its chairman, Mike Siverns, also a member of our Society, is inviting members to go along to some of their meetings, which are held on Thursdays, 7.30pm at St. Mary’s New Hall, Main Rd., R-O-T. Although we would be welcome at all of their meetings, we might be more interested in those with visiting speakers. They need more visitors to boost numbers, as it is embarrassing to invite a speaker from some distance and then to have a very small audience. This is a problem facing other small societies, so why not try and pay them a visit. There is no charge and there will be no pressure to join their society.

Belgian Study Circle Congress 2014- This will have a totally different format this year. It will be held in Ypres from 11-14 July to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of World War I. This is being arranged jointly by the RPSL, the RDP and the Belgian Academy of Philatelists. Further details from Mr.V.Schouberechts, Tel 0032474848439 or email info@maselis.be . In addition to the function to be held at Ypres, there will also be a short Congress in Market Harborough, 25-27 July. It will be held at the Three Swans Hotel, LE16 7NJ and will include presentations from various speakers.

The ABPS are working on a new constitution ‘which is both effective and operable'. A fully revised constitution highlighting the proposed changes will be available shortly and will be published in the next edition of ABPS News’.(which can be read on their website Ed.)

The New Notts Philatelic Society Mini-Displays Website: Douglas Harvey. At the request of Bryan Button at the AGM, we now have a provision for members to submit short displays of philatelic interest, which can be linked into our internet website. The Belgian Study Circle has already implemented a similar idea. Each mini-display takes the form of computer generated scans of stamp album sheets. Our normal site, www.nottsphilatelic.co.uk is not large enough to accommodate the displays, but Google allows us to take a number of free sites for this purpose. Each Google site would contain one display and it should be able to accept up to 30 scanned pages. However, the preferred number of pages is about 16, i.e. similar to a competition entry. Google sites are designed for use by beginners who have no experience of making websites and they are suitable for inserting holiday and family photographs. We have prepared a short tutorial sheet with the object of encouraging submissions and we would prefer them to conform to a format. Please ask for the tutorial by email if you would like to have a go at a display site. Submissions notified will be linked into the nottsphilatelic site index. The Society webmaster (who contributed the first of two displays) is offering a cash prize of five shillings to the next NPS member who submits a complete mini-display website which can be linked to the main site. The prize is forfeited if the contestant asks him for help, which is, of course, available. We hope to announce the lucky winner in our next newsletter. (In case you were wondering, 5/- was the annual subscription when the Society was founded in 1913!).

Sad news- Bill Harpin, a member of our Society since 1994 and a former member of the GNCS PS, died in January.

Congratulations to Tony Sibley who has now been a member of the Society for 50 years. He has also just won the Society award for the best display of the year by a Society member. He achieved 85.25% for ‘Hotch Potch III. Runner-up with 84.20 was Brian Clayton, whose exhibit was entitled ‘Ross Dependency’.

Sandra Poole was awarded Life Membership at the recent AGM.

The Annual Auction made a profit of £16.90- a good result, as the auction is considered to be a service to members and not necessarily a money making enterprise. As the auctioneer pointed out, we do get rid of a lot of unwanted material and the buyers seem happy with what they receive..

Phoenix Trophy Competition- 2 May 2014. This was the 20th Anniversary of the above competition, held each year at the Shirland Golf Club. Eight of us attended, three with displays, five as support. Doug Stubbings was awarded 69% for his Postal History exhibit and Brian Clayton was winner of the Social Philately class (78). Wendy Orr, 3rd in P.H. (76), was WINNER of the Thematic category. With 81%, she was just 1 mark behind the overall winner. Photos will appear in the Summer Newsletter.

Disclaimer-whilst every care is taken in the production of this newsletter, neither the editor or the Society officers can accept any liability for views, opinions or unintentional publication errors that might occur.

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