I hope you like the new lay-out.

I thought by now we would know where we are but those of you who came to the meeting in February or have been reading the Argus will know that the change to the new "Unitary Authorities" has been very confusing, philatelically speaking.

The Post Office advice is just to omit the Gwent. So it's just Newport... or is it? Newport Borough Council which is now the County Borough of Newport reckons it is Newport, South Wales.

It will be interesting to see how the postcard dealers cope: will they still call it Monmouthshire?

Well, the club is still "Newport and Gwent Philatelic Society" for the moment.

Federation news

By the time you read this , the annual Port Talbot convention will be over. This year it clashed with Stamp 96 at Wembley which meant that some of the regular dealers stayed in London and there were some late cancellations.

The convention coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Welsh Philatelic Society. The commemorative postcard showed the usual range of old postmarks but this time serviced copies had a 25th anniversary label attached. Not spotted by the organisers, the postcard had a printing error, showing the date as "1995" not "1996"! Programmes were not available at the convention due to a hold up in the post from the printers but I received some in the post a couple of weeks later. Please ask if you want one.

There was success for the four entries in the Convention competition: Peter Coldrey won a silver medal for his display of "GB Too Late" markings. This display was similar to one entered by Nigel McGaw of Bridgend and both had the same problem in finding a Glasgow mark on cover, displaying only a stamp on piece of this rare cancellation. John Gunn was awarded a bronze for "BIOT" and John Perry also gained bronze for "Swedish military mail" and HAFNIA 87 - the story of an exhibition".

The next convention will be on 3 May 1997, once again in Port Talbot.

The autumn day will be at the Stepney Hotel in Llanelli on 28 September 1996. Apparently it is in the centre of the town and there is ample parking. This is always a good day with the emphasis on tables run by club members. Dealers are allowed if they belong to a local club.

Barry club are organising a stamp fair on 6 July 1996 at the Memorial Hall in Barry. Times of opening will be 10 to 4.30. As event commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Barry club a souvenir card will be available.

Meetings past

Since the previous newsletter (November 1995), the club has been very active with visits to Cardiff and Hereford and visitors from Cardiff and Bridgend. With visitors, the room at the Civic Centre has often been a bit crowded.

The Cardiff team was Ivor Harrison (Tuvalu), Diane Cannard (the "Stamp" family and medicine), Ron Hardacre (covers) and Mervyn Reyner and wife (mail to the ice skater Robin Cousins and Cardiff overseas postmarks).

This was beaten by six from Bridgend: Alf Bryant (GB decimals), Nigel Mcgaw (GB too late, repeating by coincidence Peter Coldrey's competition entry), Mike Styles (GB silver jubilee) and Nancy Wornum (Cardiff postal history) were on display. Maureen Phillips and Barbara Boscott provided the moral support.

For the visit to Hereford, your secretary (Czechoslovakia) took Martyn Britton (more Fiji) and Gwen Hussey (Canada). Roy Bentley (modern Libya) made his own way from Monmouth where he is working. It was good to see Peter Coldrey and Alan Blunt, who were members of Hereford for the evening and therefore watched but did not display.

Only ten members attended the AGM on 8 May. Next year there will also be a display to encourage more to come along.

Meetings future

The programme for the new season is coming along. One of two new items for your diaries will be a non-competitive "competition" night! This will be limited to FOUR sheets in any class: thematics, GB or general as usual. No winners but a chance to get some useful feed-back from others on your material before preparing your eight or sixteen sheets for the annual competition in March. The other new item is a trivia quiz night.

Bridgend club is holding a special evening on 13 June 1996. All are welcome to see a display by Victor Short on "Sidney Turner, Philatelist and conscientious Objector". Don't worry about the title. Those of us who saw Victor's previous display at Bridgend on stamp hinges will know that the evening will be weird and wonderful.

Members' interests

I keep a list of members' interests (stamps of course). Please keep me up to date on this.

We are all getting more specialised these days. This makes it difficult to find new material but the Federation circuit box is a good way of finding something different and of disposing of unwanted items. I ALWAYS have blank books and the box is available at meetings or to study at home. The only problem with taking it home is that you do have to pass it on quickly to the next member because we have each box for only one month.

The club has a small library of books and magazines, including "ABPS news". We are members of the Association of British Philatelic Societies so take advantage of this journal, which is circulated with the exchange box and is always available at meetings.

Suggestions for new items for the library are always welcome. Please tell Gwen Hussey. If you have surplus books that you think might interest other members and might be suitable for the library please please tell Gwen.

Stamp (and postcard) fairs

There seem to be more and more of these now that dealers don't seem to have shops. Stampex moved to a new venue and a late change of date. The end of January is always a dodgy time for weather and this year proved no exception. Still, Cardiff ran a coach and those who braved the elements had an entertaining day in Islington. Dealers prices were sky high, which meant that I bought very little but I understand some bargains were to be had. Islington is to be the venue for future fairs.

Make a note in your diaries for the Autumn Stampex. This is 18 to 22 September 1996 the Cardiff members ARE once again running a coach.

It looks like the Wembley "Stamp" shows are to be an annual feature, coinciding more or less with the timing of the South Wales conventions.

Other fairs of note are the regular postcard bashes run by Anne Scott in Bristol. These have been joined by Peter Best's South Wales postcard club fairs in Cardiff (next on 12 October 1996). John Symes continues to visit the City Hall and Chris Doble the Hotel Diplomat in Cardiff. That is about as close as you get to Newport.

Nature notes

Reported in the South Wales Argus on 18 April 1996, the national museum and gallery in Cardiff is holding a unique series of stamp exhibitions, which tells tales from the weird and wonderful world of nature.

The museum is holding three exhibitions which will be held at different times. The pollination of plants on stamps is a story of the late and great Dr Mary Percival, whose search for strange plants took her across the world. This exhibition will be held on May 31. The diversity of the plant kingdom offers an insight into the world of plants. This will be on 1 June to 31 July. The final exhibition is on edible fungi: the display will be held from 1 August to 30 September.

A plea from the treasurer...

The raffle helps a lot in paying for the rooms at the Civic Centre. Members and visitors are always generous in buying tickets. It is important that we have a supply of suitable prizes. Please contact Margaret Harding if you can help.

Golden year

September 1997 sees the 50th anniversary of the club. We hope to hold a stamp fair somewhere in the Newport area.

I also will try to produce a booklet on the history of the club as a souvenir for members. Any anecdotes are welcome. I also need to borrow any good covers (illustrated with special postmarks from the past 50 years). I have a few myself but am sure that there are more. I will keep them safe and return them quickly to you.

John Perry, Secretary

01633 881068

Contents this time ........

Federation news 1

Meetings future 2

Members' interests 2

Stamp (and postcard) fairs 2

Nature notes 2

A pleas from the treasurer... 2

Golden year 2