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Our 1st March 2010 Meeting

This was the Annual Competition Night and Bourse. Entries for the Challenge Cup were "The Germania New Century Postal Stationery Card" by Eddie Shilling "Early Postal Markings of Queenborough" by Joyce Kemp For the Thematic Trophy "Not to be trifled with - the Cape Buffalo" by Rosemary Dellar There were no entries for the Cinderella salver. A vote by members present awarded the Challenge Cup to Eddie Shilling The bourse was provided by Colin McQuaid, whose very reasonably priced material from Britain, the Commonwealth and Europe ensured good sales.

Our 1st February 2010 Meeting

Brian Stonestreet's compehensive display of New Zealand definitives from George VI to date was a pleasure to see.On the stamps portraying the sovereign's head examples utilising different papers, watermarks, shades, dies and flaws were usually shown as plate blocks, all carefully and fully written up. Booklet panes and stamps from coils were not neglected. Brian described the usages of each value, and the reasons for overprints and changes of colour. The second half featured the later definitives - flowers, birds, fish, Maori artefacts, views - and here Brian's writing-up included information about the subjects illustrated on the stamps. This display attracted a great deal of attention and praise from all present.

Our 4th January 2010 Meeting

Despite the lingering snow and ice eleven members came to learn from Peter Lister how to arrange and write up their collection. There is no "right" way to do this - it is every individual's material to arrange as he or she prefers - but if the material is to be displayed or entered for competitions there are certain rules which should be followed. Paper colour and type font should be consistent and the most important item on a page should be its focal point. Peter illustrated these points both diagrammatically and with items from his own collection. Today computers are commonly used for writing up, and a setsquare and grid enable easy planning of sheets. Peter gave many useful hints about mounting - putting covers on "mats"(he recommended grey) with a layer of interleaving between, using cutting boards,scalpels and non slip rulers to make these backing items. During the second half Peter was invited to advise and comment on sheets offered by members. Both those submitting these items and all others present found his ideas stimulating and helpful throughout.

7th December Annual Club Auction

Our 2nd November Meeting

Ian Crane chose for his theme the high value "Laurel and Oakleaves" stamps of certain Commonwealth countries, which were valid for both Postage and Revenue.This, sometimes known as the "Nyasaland" design, was in use through four reigns, and it was with Nyasaland that Mr Crane began his talk, illustrating it with mint stamps, die proofs, specimens and legal documents, together with some postal covers. The British government's array of taxes was mainly responsible for the demand for high values, which paid the duty on such items as tenancy agreements or articles necessary for the setting up of a Company. Bermuda had a particularly profitable way of raising money via a "departure tax" levied on tourists, payable by stamps which were often affixed to their tickets and cancelled by shipping or airline companies. On documents in the Strait Settlements stamps were uniquely cancelled by embossing - Mr Crane showed numerous examples. In Malaysia postally used high values arose because a special dispensation allowed Chinese residents to group numerous letters to a single village in China within the same envelope. During the second half Ian exhibited material from the Leeward Islands, Malta and Ceylon, From Tanganyika, where high values were needed for airmail (and also for employees who were obliged to pay a weekly 1/- tax to their employers, utilising stamps) and Nigeria. Here stamps from 1d to £5.00 were issued valid only for Revenue, but scarcely any of these escaped official destruction. Finally we were shown some examples of what appeared to be stamps printed on very thin paper, but which were in fact cut from the identification paper used by de la Rue to wrap the printing plates when not in use.This enviable selection of "Commonwealth Rubbish" kept us all fascinated throughout.

Our 6th October Meeting

Ray Houghton displayed his exceptional collection of stamps and covers used by Allied Forces Administrations in Germany after World War II until the formation of the Federal German Republic in 1949. Even collectors of Germany in the audience had never seen some of the items on display and few people were aware of the range of issues in this period.

Our 7th September Meeting

Entitled "The Committee Entertains", the first evening of the new season produced a wide variety of material for members to enjoy. This included thematic items, notably Prehistoric Animals from Bob Higgins and Dragons from Lee Barnard, stamps from Spain (Eddie Shilling), Seychelles and Gambia (Maurice Flack) and Guernsey military {Richard Barnard). Ed Jarvis showed a variety of pages, his particular favorite being Haiti's "Sugar Queen", while Eddie Shilling rounded off the displays with a selection of postal history from both Britain (Victorian Postmarks) and Germany. These latter sheets ranged from the pre-Unification period to the 1920s inflation issues on cover, via new century postcards from 1900. Mike Thompson was the winner of the quiz compiled by Rosemary Dellar, based on recognising parts of common stamps from many countries.