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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