GBPS Programme 2015-2016

Featuring a stamp fair with around 20 dealers and the Midland Philatelic Federation Autumn Convention and Competitions. Other Specialist Societies attending include the Midland (GB) Postal History Society and the Scandinavia PS.

This meeting has been arranged with Gerald Marriner from the Channel Islands Specialists' Society (CISS). Displays will be presented jointly by members of each society.

Philip says: Windsor is a relatively small town which does not lie directly on any of the original major post routes out of London. However, it has a Castle which, unlike others built by William the Conqueror as an outer defensive ring round London, has stood the test of time and become one of the Monarch’s primary residences over long periods of history, from Norman times up to the present day.

As such, it has a substantial Court following; a significant church connection (St George’s and the Knights of the Garter); a major military presence (garrison town for over 300 years with a daily guard established in 1660), and Eton College. The town also has a number of influential residents attracted by the Royal presence.

The display reviews how these factors have generated considerable attention from the postal authorities, and influenced the number of postmarks issued and the development of postal services for the town, which are out of all proportion to its size. It covers the period from the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, with examples of correspondence associated with Royalty over 250 years from Queen Anne to Queen Elizabeth II.

Followed by display of Competition entries and judges' critique (entry details)

Graham says: Spoon cancels, along with sideways duplex cancels, were the first duplex cancels anywhere in the world. They were part of an experiment to speed up the mail by eliminating the process of using an obliterator on the obverse of a letter and a datestamp on the reverse. It determined the design of cancellers in England, Wales and Ireland for the next 25 years and was probably the first large-scale industrial work-study ever conducted. Twenty-eight towns in England, one in Wales and thirty-two towns in Ireland were involved. The common factor is an overlap between the obliterator with its town office number and the datestamp, from which the resemblance to a spoon is derived.

The main experiment ran between 1853 and 1859. Most English spoons were re-cut so that there are 137 different varieties. Some towns such as Cheltenham have only a single type; others such as Manchester have more than 30. Similarly big towns generally employed a large number of codes, smaller towns very few. A total of 90 Irish spoons were issued but only 82 are recorded used. Dublin spoons have a completely different history to provincial spoons. The experiment started later than in England, but finished at the same time so that Irish spoons are less common than English spoons and through poor cleaning often have inferior impressions. As a consequence Arundel’s information on Irish spoons contains many errors.

David says: The display covers early postal use of the first four 1902 issues, progressing into covers and stamps used throughout the Empire. Overprinted Departmental issues are included. The second half of the display features both the Coronation and Funeral of the King with added ephemera.

John says: The display shows, mainly by means of postal history from the seventeen century to 1922, how the mails were handle in Ireland. Up to January 1798 Irish mails were controlled in Dublin by the Irish Parliament; after this, control was transferred to London, and the Postmaster General and the Post Office had charge of the mails up to 1922. A range of covers showing the pre-1840 marks are followed by 1d Blacks, 2d Blues, and Mulreadys. The development of the Post Office throughout the 19th century, Rail and Military mail are also covered and the display ends with George V overprinted stamps on cover.

Stephen says: The display covers the Commemorative Issues of King George V and King George VI. It covers the basic stamps, watermark varieties (where applicable), control stamps/cylinders, booklet panes & First Day of Issue items including some more unusual items. The main part of the display looks at the constant varieties of the stamps—particularly the 1929 PUC issue and the commemoratives of King George VI, which will go beyond the Specialised Catalogue. I also show my copy of the ever-popular 1935 Silver Jubilee Prussian Blue. The display shows that on a modest budget you can build a worthwhile wide-ranging collection. (Yes, even including the Prussian Blue!)

John says This potted history of GB flight covers has the scene set with postcards of early British aviators, British aviation meetings prior to the First World War, followed by the Coronation Post of 1911, early RAF airmail after the War, then airmail through Africa to Tanganyika and the Cape, survey flights of Alan Cobham and foreign flights to and from the UK. The second half begins with covers flown by pioneers or by Imperial Airways to and across India, then Experimental England to Australia airmails. Transatlantic airmails are followed by UK internal airmails, one frame of assorted Far East covers, with two frames of Crash Covers to finish.

Bob says: the decision to replace embossing by surface printing for postage stamps was made in January 1855. Embossed stamps were cumbersome to produce and unsuited for perforating.

There were two main reasons why surface printing (letterpress) was chosen over the line-engraved process. Firstly, De La Rue claimed that their special fugitive inks would reduce the risk of cancellations being removed from used stamps and hence being re-used. The second reason relates to problems experienced in perforating line-engraved stamps. These difficulties were largely due to the fact that paper was dampened for line-engraved printing. Following damping variation in degrees of shrinking resulted in difficulty in perforating the sheets. De La Rue did not need to dampen the paper before surface printing. Stamps were designed, engraved and printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company. The Board of the Inland Revenue instructed and supervised De La Rue and paid Jean Ferdinand Joubert de la Ferté 100 guineas for engraving the Queen’s head used for surface printed stamps. The engraving was based on a drawing by Henry Corbould.

Essays, proofs, colour trials, specimen stamps and issued stamps show the evolution of low value stamps (2½d–2s) from No Corner Letters until the introduction of the Provisional and Temporary Unified stamps on Crown watermarked paper. Of particular importance are colour trials and essays associated with the 6d stamp with Large White Corner Letters, essays associated with changing from Large White to Large Coloured Corner Letters and colour trials for the Provisional Issue which marked the end of this series of stamps.

Clive says: the display gives an extensive display of all regions of Great Britain, mainly focussing on the period before the First World War; indeed, virtually all the material is in the first 100 years of the TPO period of operation, i.e. 1838–1938. Many early ‘missent’ items include interesting usages and many rare or unique examples. The display includes smaller feeder branches of the network, in addition to the main trunk routes. Appropriate post cards and photographs are included to enhance the display.

Peter says: the first session covers the Wilding Castle high values, issued between 1955 and 1969. During this period there were three different printers: Waterlow, De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson. Each had their own way of preparing the printing plates and this is covered in detail. There were various changes in the watermark and paper, brought about for political and technical reasons. The presentation includes the recent discovery of the imperforate 2s 6d value printed in black and the reason for the printing.

The second lay down covers the Decimal Castle high values issued from 1988 to 1999. The stamps were initially printed by Harrison, who had never printed stamps by recess before. There were problems with security which led to technical changes in the design which led to further problems for Harrison. Eventually the contract was transferred to Enschede who despite their initial confidence managed to issue stamps with errors on all values.