November 4th
A disappointing turnout for this evening did not stop those that came enjoying a Quiz with three categories of questions and a prize of a bottle of wine for the winner of each, A fine raffle, Chocolate cake, fruit cake and Flapjacks were a most welcome addition to the evenings fun.
October 7th
Four members of the Watford Philatelic Society visited, bringing with them wide variety of philatelic displays.
First on was Vic Punter his subject was Hitler's Birthday, Hitler was born on 20-4-1889 and in 1938 a special stamp was issued to celebrate his 49th birthday in the form of a 12pf stamp with 38pf surcharge in aid of Hitler's Culture Fund. It was issued well in advance of his birthday and the many stamp enthusiasts of the time made good use of the fact with a wide variety of covers and postmarks. His birthday was commemorated each year to 1944, and although he survived his birthday in 1945 by a few days there was no stamp issue to mark the occasion, a fascinating story well documented and illustrated by Vic.
Next on was Basil Lewes showing the early stamps of Argentina with Essays Proofs and Colour trials from the American Bank Note Company and Bradbury Wilkinson up to 1888 when Argentina produced their own stamps via the South American Bank Note Company, using the recess method of printing. Basil finished with a large variety of cards celebrating the centenary of the revolution which took place in 1810
After a short break for refreshments George Goodhall displayed post cards photographs and stamps featuring Trams from all over the world, His father worked on the trams and so George was a Tram buff from a very early age and although none of the items in his display cost much more than £1, the content was both interesting and varied all displayed with great enthusiasm.
To conclude Brian Coates entertained us with his collection of "The Atlantic Puffin" and included many different items all with the Puffin featured on each piece, as well as stamps, Post Cards and covers, Brian showed a life size bird and allsorts of puffin toys, Coins, even Chocolate Biscuit rappers.
Members applauded in appreciation for a thoroughly enjoyable evening with something for everyone.
September 2nd
Our first meeting at St Barnabas Church Hall saw a good turn out with the added bonus of 3 new members signing up on the night, Members bought items for sale and a mini auction followed with 50 lots, many of which were sold at well over reserve.
June 2nd
A lively A.G.M saw the appointment of a new Secretary Mr John Spencer and sadly our Treasurer for the past 30 years Mr Roy Palmer decided to retire from all formal duties at the Society, the Chairman thanked him and proposed that he and his wife be made honorary members of the Society in recognition of their loyal work. this was carried unanimously Brian Alcock agreed to take over the post of Treasurer.
After the A.G.M. Members showed some recent good finds or buys.
May 5th - Alan Griffiths
Our members were keen to know what Alan was about to display as Alan has been our Competition judge for the past three years and his comments and advice has impressed both competitors and audience.
We were not disappointed. Alan displayed around 150 sheets from his collection of Prince Edward Island. He started by explaining that the Island was named after Queen Victoria's Father. Mail to and from started around 1790 and climaxed in 1802 with mail from merchant ships. His earliest postmark was also the first recorded, May 2nd 1814, another rarity was a Express letter from 1831 which carried a 5/- charge. The first stamps appeared in 1860 with a 2d internal rate. They were designed by Charles Whiting and were perf. 9. Alan showed us essays of these and forgeries.
The items were displayed in a perfect way and while we now had the chance to Judge Alan we were not able to fault this truly delightful evenings show.
April 28th - Pat Grimwood-Taylor, Social Philately
Members travelled to Bletchley and met up with collectors from Bedford and Milton Keynes to enjoy a display and talk by this popular collector of South Australia, Her display was centered around the aspect of Social Philately as a hobby for philatelic and non-philatelic collectors and was both vast and varied.
April 7th - Brian Sole "Go by Cycle"
Brian Sole showed a huge variety of philatelic material to explain the joys of cycling. Brian started with a rare Mafekin cover showing a cyclist and included such items as Advertising covers, perfins of Cycle manufacturers, Booklets with Advertisements, Proofs, Designers drawings, post cards, colour proofs and early receipts for Cycles bought, including one from 1886 for £1.4/6d for a brand new de-luxe cycle. in fact all aspects of cycling were covered in a most entertaining and informative way.
April 3rd - EA EM Federation Convention. Bedford
Many of our members joined fellow philatelists from the federation to boost their collections from the many dealers present and to enjoy the exhibits of collectors who competed for the various trophies on offer.
The Leighton Society was well represented but unfortunately we did not score so well this year.
February 4th
Annual Competition, A popular evening with members entries covering a wide range of subjects.
The winners were:
Thematic: June Williams, Evolution and the Penguin
One Country: Roy Palmer, Machin Booklet Panes
Postal History and Best in Show: Brian Allcock, Bombay-Aden Sea Post, Hand Stamps.
Six Best Sheets: Alan Crozier, Germany.
Winners of the three main groups will go forward to the East Midland and East Anglian Federation of Stamp Clubs annual convention to take place on April 3rd at Bedford.
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