Signing the Roll at the Royal Philatelic Society London Premesis: Left Photo : Ed Hitchings 2021 award recipient and Right Photo, Chris Tennant, 2022 award recipient.
Success at Philacuenca (Ecuador) 2019:
Congratulations to Oswaldo Ponce who was recently awarded a bronze medal in the thematic class for his exhibit entitled ‘Maps on Stamps’ at Philacuenca 2019 in Ecuador. This was the first time he had competed in a national philatelic exhibition; perhaps others will be inspired to do the same.
Covid-19 Response- Alan Squires
I am the admin for the Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Philatelic Society (SHATPS) Facebook page. As this is a private group, access is open to members only. To be able to post on the group you have to be accepted by one of the admin team (there are 2 of us).
Before we went into lockdown, we had about 200 members and were receiving about 2 requests for membership per month. Life as admin was easy. It was a race between us to see who could admit members first.
During lockdown my colleague had to go into hospital for a long-awaited operation and was not therefore available to carry on as a member of admin. I did not think it was necessary to ask other members to help in his absence.
In the past 4 months our membership has grown to 500 members with requests coming in almost daily. It would seem there are a lot of people out there with a lot of time on their hands.
I’m not complaining, as we now have a stronger Facebook group with several members posting philatelic items for us to view.(Summer 2020 Newsletter)
Family History Website- Andrew Pearson
I have a project filling my time. You may remember the 10-sheet display on my family history that I presented a few years ago at a Members’ Evening. Well, I have now become a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies and registered the name Hubery. I now have my own website where you will find some information on Frederick Joseph Hubery’s roots and I am adding information to it a bit at a time. My cousin in Australia visited the cemetery and sent me some photos of his resting place. There will be more photos to add when he visits the main cemetery in Perth as many of the children are buried there. There is still a large number of records to add and it is a work in progress. Visit the website at: http://hubery.one-name.net/ .(Summer 2020 Newsletter)
Disruption at Royal Mail Centre, Beeston - Sandra Poole
Members probably remember the gales, thunderstorms and downpours we had mid-June. One of the casualties, was the Royal Mail Delivery Office on Padge Road, in Beeston. In fact, the rain was so torrential that the roof collapsed and the office was flooded. Staff members were evacuated and the postal service in that area was disrupted for a few days, with mail being diverted to Sheffield and Peterborough.
Although I didn’t think we would be affected as we have a delivery office in Nottingham, a letter I sent locally (about 3 miles away) apparently took about two weeks to arrive and two letters from Denmark (with important philatelic material inside!) took a week longer than usual. Unfortunately, there was no cachet or label on the covers announcing ‘delayed by floods’ similar to the ‘damaged by fire in letterbox’ one that came my way some years ago. (Summer 2020 Newsletter)
Old Nottingham
Chris Tennant thought that members might be interested in a filmed ride on a horse-drawn tram in 1902 from Station Street through town and up Queen St. to Parliament St. Just Google ‘Nottingham tram ride 1902’.It’s well worth a view.
Covid Pandemic Emergency (2020-21)
The Summer 2020 Newsletter was prepared during the lockdown period due to the Covid Pandemic. Our members have also been using their time gainfully: Alan has been managing a Facebook page and has also supplied me with 4 articles; Richard is writing a book (see pp 12-14); Bill has got the packet circuit back in operation; I organised a remote AGM which members approved- my thanks to all the officers who sent in their reports so quickly; and hopefully others have written up lots of material! The Society has made extensive use of Zoom to continue with communication to the membership and there has been an interesting programme of display meetings.
A lot of jokes have been circulating during the Covid lockdown and beyond. No philatelic connection, but I make no excuse for that now. (Ed.)
It is not boring at all to stay at home. But how come one bag of rice has 7,456 grains and the other bag only 7,398?
Telling your suitcase there is no summer holiday this year can be tough. Emotional baggage is the worst.
A friend has decided she and her husband don’t want kids. They’re going to tell them at dinner.
My husband and I went shopping in masks I brought the wrong husband home
I told my wife I wanted to be cremated. She made me an appointment for Tuesday
Study finds parents can do 1/3 of their kids’ Maths but struggle with the other 3/4.
I just rang up B&Q and asked: ‘How Big is the queue? He said: ‘Same size as the ‘B’.
Uncle Bill Replies:
Daily Express,
Fleet Street, London
4th March 1935
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your letter of the 25th ultimo.
The letters which are found in the lower corners of your stamps were inserted as a means of outwitting the forger. Every stamp on each sheet was lettered differently, the top row starting with A-A, and continuing A-B, A-C, etc., until A-I ended the row. The second row started B-A, B-B, B-C, etc.,
This method continued throughout the sheet, and I hope this will help you to understand the reason for each of your nine stamps being lettered in a different way.
The value of such specimens varies, the perforation watermark, and Die all having a bearing. For instance, a mint (perfect, unused) copy of the penny value with the small crown watermark, perforated 16, from Die 1 is catalogued at £1. A similar from Die II with the large crown watermark is priced at £12. Others are very cheap, especially if they have been used.
Yours faithfully
Stanley Marshall
(Uncle Bill)
(Communicated by Val Bird via D.H.)
The Letter Box Study Group- Sandra Poole
The Letter Box Study Group (LBSG) is an independent and self-financed politically non-aligned organisation. It was formed in 1976 and has grown from small beginnings to become the recognised authority in the history and development of the British road-side letter box. It helps Royal Mail in its heritage obligations but there is no formal relationship or link. The LBSG operates completely autonomously from any other organisation.
The aim of the LBSG is to encourage research into letter box history, to undertake preservation and conservation, as well as recording and documenting Britain's letter box heritage. This includes overseas, where British boxes or box designs have been used.
Members approach letter boxes from many different directions: philately, postal history, social history, street furniture, casting and manufacturing heritage. All, however, are captivated by the romance of the iconic letter box, so central for so long to the communication network of the British Isles.
In 2005 the LBSG embarked on an ambitious project called The Guide to British Letter Boxes. It aims to be the definitive publication on the subject and is being issued part by part in full colour sections.
This is just a small section from the Letter Box Study Group brochure. For further details, visit www.lbsg.org or write to the Membership Secretary at 38 Leopold Avenue, Birmingham B20 1ES The group maintains a directory of types of boxes and details of their location. The aim is to record all 115,500 UK boxes.
German Visit
David Shipstone recently visited Wittenberg and spotted the ‘post office’of the City-Brief Kurier .This is a privately run letter and parcel service covering the central area of Germany. It has operated since 1999 and they have more than 3,000 satisfied customers (their words!) David had hoped to send a letter to himself at his hotel’s address using the City-Brief Kurier service, with the intention of then passing it on to me for my collection. Unfortunately, his visit was at the wrong end of the week and the office was closed; he was leaving soon after. The thought was there! (S.P)
Dwindling Stamp Shops.
Bryan and Minou Button have just returned from another visit to Brussels and added further comments to Bryan’s short report in the Spring Newsletter on how there were now just two stamp shops remaining there: We all realise that it is very largely due to the introduction and increasing prevalence of information technology into our lives in its many forms. Ebay and philatelic websites in reality now provide easy access to what is available and what it costs.(S.P.).
For Belgium, the facts and figures for over 5,600 stamps are available online, covering the period 1849 to 2010. Fewer stamps are in circulation for letters and parcels, thanks to the franking machines. Still Belgapost offers the new stamps whenever they are issued and are very efficient in providing them to the keen amateur.(B.L.B.)
In the shop of a thousand accessories
Under the sign of ‘Rowland Hill’
There you will find a frustrated philatelist
By the name of unhinged Lil (G.K.)
Editorial comment: This started me thinking- who now uses stamp shops? I am amazed these days, how many adults do not even know the meaning of the word ‘philately’, whereas when we were children, it tripped off our tongue as often as ‘ice cream’ and ‘bubblegum’. A neighbour was amazed to see a commemorative stamp on an envelope and wondered what it was; the machin booklets and the demise of post offices have a lot to answer for. As children, we got most of our stamps by swapping with others, from our mail, from little packets sold at newsagents and even ‘approvals’ sent through the post until we realised we actually had to pay for them! I myself rarely go into a stamp shop as it is a rare one that sells what I now collect, but I do sometimes go in for accessories. My main source is Ebay, specialist club auctions and large exhibitions Many stamp shop owners may have found stamp fairs a better source of revenue and with fewer overheads. Our local shop, however, always seems busy when I do go in. There are also long queues of dealers and collectors alike at the Royal Mail stand at Stampex. Do other members patronise stamp shops and what would the future be without them? (S.P.) (Autumn 2013 Newsletter)
Disclaimer. Neither the editor nor the Society Officers can accept any liability for views, opinions or unintentional errors that may occur in published members' reports.
PHILATELIC COMPETITIONS :
The following helpful advice was produced for competitors submitting to the Phoenix Trophy Competition (now closed). The points have been set out to act only as a guide - they do not constitute hard and fast rules and do not necessarily comply with regulations for specific competitions.
THEMATICS
A thematic entry should tell a story. About 25% of the marks are allocated to treatment and originality and another 30% for 'development' so these aspects should be taken very seriously indeed. Judges will look for an introduction, the main story itself, and a suitable conclusion. Covers and cancellations may be included if considered to be appropriate to the subject, bearing in mind that judges like to see meter-marks, slogans and similar items other than stamps. Non-philatelic items should be kept to a minimum. Blocks should be avoided unless really significant. Only genuine stamps should be included in a thematic entry.
POSTAL HISTORY
Postal history is essentially 'Routes and Rates' or 'Postmark & Cancellation' studies. Such an entry will be predominantly covers, although pieces or single stamps will be accepted if the postmark is rare. Remove dealers pencil prices. For the purposes of this competition, Aerophilatelic entries will be entered as Postal History. Such entries are based on the study of material prepared for and conveyed by airmail and may contain relevant documents, photographs, maps, leaflets and the like.
TRADITIONAL - STAMPS and/or MINT POSTAL STATIONERY
An entry in Stamps (Traditional class) may comprise Locals, Revenues or Cinderellas. Most judges frown upon mint and used on the same sheet. Sets should certainly be either mint or used but not mixed. Large sets should run on to a second sheet rather than overcrowding the one. Covers may be used if deemed to be essential to the exhibit but should be kept to a minimum number. An exhibit of mint postal stationery would qualify for this class.
SOCIAL PHILATELY
Social Philately relies on non-philatelic material (ephemera) and to this end, virtually anything is permitted. However, for practical reasons, space and security, the Phoenix Trophy competition must restrict the use of such material to items that can be mounted on a standard album page. This can include maps, photographs, prints, postcards, cigarette cards, newspapers, documents, tickets, programmes, textiles (lace or braids etc), leaflets, and so on.Non-philatelic material may be included but should not comprise more than 50% of the exhibit and should be directly linked to a postal system. Non-philatelic material not linked to a postal system may be included but should not be more than 10% of the exhibit.
GENERAL HINTS
1) Mint and used items on the same page should be avoided.
2) Black mounts can enhance the appearance of a display but should be trimmed as close as possible. They have gradually become more and more acceptable although some judges still don't like them.
3) Care should be taken to ensure stamps or covers are held securely and are mounted 'square'. Mounts hinged on one side only tend not to hold stamps as securely as double hinged mounts.
4) Catalogue numbers are no more than a reference for a commercial price list and should not be quoted.
5) Expert certificates may be referred to for rare items which would otherwise be considered forged. Such certificates should be fixed to the back of the sheet.
6) Forged items should always be accompanied by their genuine counterpart.
7) Sheets should look 'balanced' both individually and as a complete entry. Too few or too many items on one sheet can cost marks.
8) Very few judges are biased one way or another by hand-written/ type-written/ computer assisted write-ups although they will insist the entry is legible. Lettering should be clear, a reasonable size and in a suitably contrasting colour.
9) Sheets should be written up in the vertical format wherever possible and be protected by transparent pockets. If A3 sheets are used they must be in the horizontal format and will count as two sheets.
10) Part of the first sheet should have a brief introduction stating the scope of the entry. A copy of this part only may be required beforehand by the judges - in such an event, it should be submitted with your application form.
