Newport & Gwent Philately - November 2008 - Number 40

Club news

Since the May Newsletter, the club has welcomed new members Martyn Bell and Edmund Somerville.

Recent meetings

The final meeting of the 2007/8 season prior to the AGM, was the one sheet competition, which Gwen Hussey won with a display of GB ½d bantam plate numbers. The first of the three summer meetings at members' houses was a film night, with a chance to see four films on the travelling post office. Members might like to note that Royal Mail released a DVD in September under the snappy title "The General Post Office Film Unit Collection Vol.1 - Addressing The Nation". This is a two disc compilation that includes classics such as "Air Post" from the 1930's. This complements the Night Mail DVD compilation.

The first meeting of the new season started in September with the usual new acquisitions evening. The next meeting was on Postcards from from My Collection. This gave members the chance to show how they fit postcards into their philatelic collections. With an increasing number of members listing GB as a collecting interest, the GB evening attracted a wide range of material, including some unusual post office training stamp items. Our first visiting club was Barry. Alan Rosser displayed a range of postmarks and postcards from the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 and 1925, while Brian Brandon entertained members with a small part of his collection illustrating philatelic terms. It was good to see Alan returning to health after his recent illness. Unfortunately I could not attend the evening when Neil Jones, by all accounts, displayed a mouth watering selection of classic New Zealand. Four club members (John Perry, Alistair Mackinnon, Gwen Hussey and Martyn Britton) visited Bridgend on 25 September and Cardiff on 21 October.

South Wales Federation News

The club took a table at the Autumn Day in Llanelli on 20 September. Sadly attendance was poor for what was the 40th anniversary of the club. The Federation AGM on 18 October 2008 clashed with the Cardiff Postcard Club fair. This may have explained the low attendance in the morning for the pre-AGM displays. Three members from Newport attended: John Perry (Danish West Indies) , Gwen Hussey (Postal Museum Postcards of Germany) and Alistair Mackinnon (Falkland Islands Air Service). The three of us then visited Porthcawl, enjoying lunch at Pietro's on the sea front and then an Italian ice-cream on the sunny, if rather windy, promenade. For the AGM itself I stood in as chairman for Alan Rosser, who had to step down due to ill health, and was then elected Federation Chairman.A date for the diary is 2 May 2009 for the 2009 Convention at the Princess Theatre, Port Talbot. The Swansea club will host the 2009 Autumn Day in celebration of their 60th anniversary. The date for the 2010 Convention is now 22 May to fit in with national and other events.

ABPS News

The club continues to support the Association of British Philatelic Societies, with all club members automatically being members of the ABPS. The journal is available at club meetings but is also included in the exchange box to give members more time to read it. Gwen Hussey holds a back copies in the club library. The ABPS organises the biennial MIDPX exhibition in Coventry. The next date is 11 July 2009 at the brand new Xcel Leisure Centre.

Scandinavia Philatelic Society Meeting in Gwent

Your secretary is also a member of the Scandinavia Philatelic Society (SPS) and after years of prompting agreed to arrange a regional meeting of the SPS in Gwent. The venue chosen was the Undy Memorial Hall, which could also make a good venue for an Autumn Day. All of the South Wales members of the SPS attended, just for the record John Perry and Rolf Scharning, together with members from around England and two members from the Newport club. Peter Hellberg from the Hereford club and Rosemary Atkins from Bristol were also among those present and as a result we will arrange visits to and from those clubs for the next season. Your secretary will also be displaying some of this Faroe Islands collection to the Bristol Philatelic Society on 12 March 2009. The club meets at the Redland Park United Reform Church in Whiteladies Road. At least two of our members will know the venue, Neil Jones as a leading light of that club and Gwen Hussey has judged their annual competition

 


Newport Heidenheim Twinning

The club has re-joined the Newport/ Heidenheim Twinning Association. We are keeping in touch with the Heidenheim club through Dierk Lisdorf and hope to arrange an exchange visit next year.

Newport Scout Post 2008

Scout Post is a scheme that offers the public of Newport and some parts of Monmouthshire an opportunity to send Christmas Cards at 16p. This is lower than the cost of Royal Mail. Stamps went on sale in November. Each scout or guide unit participating in the scheme retains 11p and 5p is returned to the centre for the various disbursements which includes a portion for both Girl Guiding Newport and the Newport Scout District. The last posting date for all cards is Monday 8th December 2008. The 2008 designs are similar to those in 2007 but with differences reflecting the new rates (15p in 2007) and sponsors.

For 2007, there were only four sponsors for five designs, with Acorn sponsoring two designs. For 2008, there were nine sponsors, with Acorn again sponsoring two designs. The five designs for 2007 were: castle, new bridge, transporter bridge, the wave and the Civic Centre. Four of these appear again in 2008, the castle design being shown here for both years. The one design from 2007 that does not appear in 2008 is the Civic Centre design, which is also the Newport Club logo. There were a further five new locations for 2008. Both years make an attractive addition to a collection.

A New Find

There is nothing new to report on the special postmarks front but a recent search on eBay turned up the following item, which is now in my collection. The postmark is from Lydbrook but it commemorates the centenary of the opening of the Severn and Wye Railway on 26 August 1974, which passed through Tintern going up the Wye towards Monmouth.