Newport & Gwent Philately November 2011 - Number 46
News
of Members
We welcome Les Ashton-Smith as a new member.
Recent meetings
The final meeting of the 2010/11 season was the AGM.
We then had to make some changes to the summer programme due to other commitments. This meant that there were only two, the June one being at the Secretary's house and the August one being at the Chairman's House. Unfortunately, I had to miss the August meeting as the date coincided with my son's wedding that day.
The new season started in September with the usual "New Acquisitions" evening which drew a large attendance and a wide range of new material. The annual visit from the Cardiff club followed.
Work and family commitments meant that I missed the next two meetings (Welsh Theme and Bring & Buy) but I hear that they were well-supported.
The first visit to another club was to Nailsea on 12 October. The last visit had been 20 years ago, so a return was long overdue. The passing of the years meant that locating the venue was a challenge but with my driving and Dennis Martin's navigating we even arrived early. Nailsea, as with all clubs is suffering from a falling membership but we were greeted enthusiastically by the 12 members who attended.
Martyn Britton started the evening with the recent Fiji overprints and Alistair Mackinnon followed with Ross Dependency. After the break, I displayed items showing cruising on the M.S. Gripsholm (1925-1954) and Dennis Martin rounded off the evening with some early Gibraltar stamps.
Federation News
Four of us ran a table at the Autumn Day in Port Talbot on 17 September. Fortunately for us Cardiff Club could not take up their table, so we had plenty of room to lay out our material. While there were few attending the fair, those that did found many bargains on our table and as a result we had a busy day. This really is a fair that club members would enjoy. We wait to see where the event will be held in 2012.
Graham Bean who is a member of both Cardiff and Newport clubs represented us at the Federation AGM on 29 October.
The Cornwall Federation held its annual convention at Liskeard on 22 October, the day that I was returning from a holiday in the area. I took the opportunity to meet the officers and to see how they arrange a convention. Soon after arriving I was asked to judge their competition as the nominated judge had not turned up. This provided an opportunity to inspect the entries more closely than usual. The other judge turned up later and supported me in awarding the trophies including one for an excellent GB entry.
Welsh Philatelic Society (WPS)
Following on from the June 2011 meeting in Tan y Bwlch, I have been doing some research on the covers that I showed there. They were part of a small correspondence from Augusta (later Lady) Llanover and her mother Georgina relating to the last days of Augusta's sister Emelia who died at the early age of 25. A visit to Llanover Church provided the missing information and eliminated the inconsistencies in the information found on the internet. The photo below is the vault for the remains of some members of the family.
Stamp News
With no stamps or postmarks with a Gwent connection being released, it was necessary to celebrate the 125thanniversary of the opening of the Severn Tunnel using the counter postmark from West End, Caldicot. This is now the closest office to the tunnel, with both Sudbrook and Portskewett now closed.
Close examination of the miniature sheet "Celebrating Wales" (26 February 2009) also revealed a new Gwent connection with one of the illustrations on the presentation pack being the St David's stained glass window in St Woolo's Newport
The next event of note is the bi-centenary of the completion of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in 1812. The celebrations start on 10 February 2012. It was originally two independent canals, the Monmouthshire Canal from Newport to Pontymoile Basin and the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal. The latter was commemorated on the 33p value of the inland waterways issue of 1993, the bi-centenary of the Act of Parliament authorising funding for its construction.
Heidenheim Friendship
On 9 October 2011 the Heidenheim club celebrated 20 years of partnership with Döbeln.
The twinning of Heidenheim with Newport started officially in 1981. This means that there should have been a celebration of 30 years in May this year. However, the Twinning Association in Newport decided to cease at its AGM, so the only arrangement now is an informal one between the two clubs.
Dates for Your Diary
19 May 2012 & 18 May 2013 - Federation Annual Convention, Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot
John Perry, Honorary Secretary