AGM update - 26 May 2026
A well attended AGM ( thank you - full meeting minutes will eventually follow) saw the following changes and reports;

• Mick Rose retires as Chairman and Programme Secretary but remains President. 
• New Chairman Mark Postins. 
• New Programme Secretary Chris Grimshaw.
• Recent death of member Peter Richardson.
• The addition of Chris Grimshaw's 'Hinckley Project' to the website (covers produced by the Society between 1991 to 2020) - available under 'downloads'.
• Successful year for the Society, a good and varied meeting programme and all well attended
• Finances are sound - subscriptions unchanged for the new season
• we have a new member and a new associate member from abroad
• Another highly successful Stamp Fair

Our meeting on May 12th saw members tackle 'the letter C' or anything to do with numbers.
Many thanks to the various entertaining contributions including ...
 

• Brian McCoy - His collection of 311 Royal Marine Cap Badges, with matchbox labels also featuring cap badges, found on Australian buses!
• Mark Postins - Census Marks on WWII covers.
• Chris Grimshaw - The Chanak Crisis in the Dardanelles in 1922/23.
• Peter Thomas - The "Number 365" duplex cancellation of Hinckley, and Cinderella labels produced by Victor Short

To a change from the original programme, Peter Thomas stepped in on 28th March to delight us with his collection featuring Herm Island and Lundy - both fascinating subjects and very well told with stories and materials.  We learned about Puffins and Doubles, the three lighthouses of Lundy, the tenants of Herm and the suspected forced labourers who built parts of the Lundy estate.  Lundy was then gifted to the National Trust after being known for a while as the 'Kindom of Heaven' after the Heaven family benefactors.  We also discovered the tourist attraction of HMS Montague (1906).  Herm was briefly occupied by the German Army during WW2 but evacuated after their anti-aircraft guns shot down a friendly flyer.  It also briefly boasted a pigeon post, whilst Lundy's 'donkey mail' faltered when the donkey ran away every time it saw the mail boat approaching.

April 14th saw our latest auction meeting - well attended thank you and with most lots sold!

On March 31st, Dr. Ken Flint showed us his extensive collection of Canadian material including postal history and covers showing mail from the Old crow settlement in the Yukon (which was in Canada but used USA postal systems until told not to), and many examples of covers and postcards from the 'dead letter' post office - which could not be delivered for various reasons including underpayment and insufficient postage.

Kettering Philatellic Society paid us a visit on March 17th, with Terry Hughes treating us to examples of 'missile mail' and US submarines.  Gordon Tredigido completed the evening with the curious tale of the suspected murderess Madeleine Smith of Glasgow - eventually cleared of charges against her by an Edinburgh jury, relying in part on evidence of post marks!

Christmas meeting 2025 - and competitions!
Members met for the last time in 2025 for our annual Christmas competitions and get-together quiz.  Mince pies a-plenty! Both the Single Sheet competition (Herford Plate) and the Presidents Cup (open philately - 9 sheets) were won by ....... our President MICK ROSE - well done.  His displays of 'inventors' and on Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole beat allcomers. David Baxendale won the quiz - many thanks to the organiser Chris Hailstone who generously donated a chocolate prize. Kind regards to all, and see you in 2026.

Members Night 25.11.2025

Something Fun or Funny!
(see Archive#2 page below - with images)

1890 Penny Postage Jubilee - notes on a presentation on 11.11.2025 by John Davies
John Davies’s enthusiasm for this collecting area was inspired by the exhibit in the Court of Honour at Stamp World London ’90. It featured parts of the collection of the late Francis Kiddle RDP, which he later acquired. At the time, having seen the reproductions of the original commemorative postal stationery (shown below) that were also contained in the exhibition catalogue, he purchased the souvenir reproductions of the 1890 postal stationery which were available separately and copies of the original card and envelope which I sent to myself as a memento of the 1990 exhibition.

From such small beginnings, the story unfolded…In 1889 a general opinion was expressed that the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage in Great Britain “ought not to be allowed to pass without some indication of the feelings which must actuate all who looked back at the great reform introduced in 1840”.Before 1840, postage was both complicated and expensive with the costs normally borne by the recipient. A visit from the postman was rarely welcomed. By 1890, the use of the postal service had soared. By way of example: in 1840 the number of letters sent in London each day was 112,140. By 1890, it had grown to over two million. The benefits to education, the economy and social intercourse were substantial.Arrangements were made for various Jubilee celebrations to be held in 1890. Although plans for a commemorative stamp were initiated, they were later abandoned.