2012-2013

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4th September 2012

The first meeting of the Season featured a display of stamps from the Kingdom of Bulgaria, given by Club member Chris Leather. For hundreds of years Bulgaria had been a principality of the Turkish Empire, until increasing unrest and growing nationalism let to the declaration of the Kingdom, and independence from Turkish suzerainty in 1908. In its early years, Bulgaria was firmly under the influence of Russia, and the stamps reflected the style, and quality of printing, of the Russian state printing office. The first World War, and the collapse of so much of the settled order, changed the outlook and style of the stamps which became more European, with some fine examples of Art Deco style appearing in the 1930s. The final decade of the Kingdom, up to its demise in 1946, reflected the influence of the fascist states, and the struggle with the communists. Only in the Balkans could the ousted King Simeon have returned, in the early years of the 21st Century, as the democratically elected Prime Minister of the republic which had replaced him.

2nd October 2012

The fascination of stamps and philately is in the infinite variety, of material, of the ways of collecting, of price and motivation. This is all to the good, of course, as we can all learn from the collections and collecting experiences of our friends and colleagues. A discussion evening may be unstructured, but it leads in unforeseen directions, and, who knows, may trigger new interests. Mr Robinson showed some of his recent acquisitions from the Leeward Islands, Bermuda and British Honduras. Mr Koller showed Olympic material in the form of the stamps issued to commemorate the Team GB Gold Medal Winners, and the related Post and Go items. Mr Stuttard expanded on this theme with Olympic Postal History, and a display of point-of-sale posters. Mr Kipps showed a collection of GB Stamp Booklets from 1994 to date, and Mr Patterson concluded the evening with a display of First Day Covers and Miniature Sheets featuring the (second) wedding of Egypt’s King Farouk.

We all had a very pleasant time.

6th November 2012

Our President, Mr Ian Koller, is well known to members for his extensive and beautiful collections of stamps and philatelic material relating to birds of prey, whether these be eagles, falcons, owls, or other species. Many postal administrations have issued stamps featuring birds of prey, and some of the best stamp artists have been involved in the designs, so the end results vary from marvellous to magnificent.

4th December 2012

Last year, we went to the Royal Clifton Hotel for our Club’s Christmas Dinner. We enjoyed the proceeding enough to repeat the process this year. An excellent meal was followed by an illustrated presentation by Mr Stuttard of cards and other items proving that everything is related to everything else. A great evening!

Calendar for the 2012-2013 Season

To make things clearer, we've colour coded the type of meeting:

[ ] Blue is for regular Members' Evenings,

[ ] Green is for Evenings where a visiting speaker will make a

presentation, and

[ ] Red is for the AGM. Be there, or be on the Committee next year!

4th September 2012

The first evening of the new season will be an exhibition by Club member Chris Leather of the stamps of the Kingdom of Bulgaria - together with a tongue-in-cheek walk through of the history of the Kingdom.

2nd October 2012

One of the pleasures of being a member of a stamp club (or even a philatelic society) is the chance to discuss and learn about the collecting interests of the other members. Almost no-one collects the same things in the same way as anyone else, so there is always something new. This evening’s meeting will be one of those evenings!

6th November 2012

We enjoyed the discussion evening so much last month that we have decided to do the same again this month. After all, in the same way that a week is a long time in politics, a month is a long time in philately, especially when you consider how many new stamps will be issued in such a short period.

4th December 2012

We all enjoyed our Christmas Dinner last year, so again this year we will combine our December meeting with a pleasant seasonal repast at the Belvedere Suite in the Royal Clifton Hotel. As usual, there will be an unusual entertainment!

8th January 2013

Last year, we were both entertained and educated by Mr Adrian Jones, from Chorley, who gave us part one of his presentation on ‘Errors and Varieties.’ This evening, we will be making no mistake as Mr Jones presents the second part of his presentation.

5th February 2013

Mr G W Pickles, from our neighbouring city of Preston, has been collecting stamps and philatelic material relating to a number of subjects for a number of years! This evening, we will be treated to a wide range of subject from Christmas to Cricket, with not a googly in sight!

5th March 2013

One evening, each year, for the past mmm years, we have invited members to show stamps and other material relating to two letters of the alphabet. Last year we met in the middle, with M & M. This year, we can start again at the beginning, or the end, with A & Z.

9th April 2013 COMPETITION EVENING

This evening sees the competition for the Norman Barlow Cup, featuring displays of material from Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding 'local' issues from some of the less-inhabited islands!

14th May 2013 THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Not just the AGM, but also the Club Auction, where the success of the sales can have a marked effect on the subscription for the coming year! So, if you want a say in who is on the Committee next year (or even who is not!) don’t forget to turn up!

4th June 2013

It has become traditional in our Club that the last evening of the season should be dedicated to postcards. This year, the theme for the evening is Greetings Cards, whether the sweetly sentimental, the saucy, or the downright silly!

Journal for the 2012-2013 Season

A Narrative Account of our Season

The Journal

To read the narrative Journal for any meeting, just click, and we will take you directly there

Archive for the 2012-2013 Season

The Calendar and Journal of our Meetings

Even though our previous years’ programmes are now history, it can be interesting to look back at the wide range of speakers and presentations which have both educated and entertained us.

Here is the Archive for 2012-2013

8th January 2013

We were very pleased to welcome, at very short notice, Mr Adrian Jones, our third Guest Speaker for the year., who gave us the second part of his presentation on Errors and Varieties.

The display started with a comprehensive selection of miss-perfs and colour variations obtained from kiloware, highlighting that errors and varieties can be collected with a sharp eye replacing a deep pocket. We were then taken on a tour round the famous (or infamous) overprints from Guyana, where financial stringency, or an eye to the collectors’ market, has resulted in stamps with two or even three distinctly different overprints. Similar production difficulties were seen on stamps from Zambia, where the effects of overinking and underinking were seen. A spectacular error on a stamp from Barbados showed how the first edition of a stamp featuring the deep water harbour had been replaced by a second printing with the picture the right way round! The evening concluded with an examination of the effects of damage to printing plates, poor registration, and other production mishaps.

5th February 2013

The presentation for the evening was given by Mr Geoff Pickles, from Preston Philatelic Society, who gave us a taste of a ‘Philatelic Pot Pourri’ divided into four courses.

The first course comprised items from four displays Geoff has put together over 50 years of collecting. He drew attention to the changes in style of presentation, as collecting tastes have changed. Shown were Christmas cards and stamps from the Isle of Man, Old Master Christmas paintings on stamps, IOM Motor Cycling, and Transport: trains and trams.

The second course consisted of a display of Police on Stamps, as given to Preston’s twin city Rechlinghausen in the Ruhr area of Germany.

The third course consisted of a display of more than a hundred examples of the work of Maltese designer Emvin Cremona, a favourite of Geoff, dating to the period 1973-1982.

The final part of the evening consisted of items of road safety issued by the police forces of Lancashire, the City of London, and the Netherlands; an eclectic mix of unusual covers and cards which brought the evening to a close.

5th March 2013

One of our favourite evenings is Alphabetic Philately, and this season marks a return to the beginning and end of the alphabet; Members displayed material relating to the letters ‘A’ and ‘Z’

Miss Taylor opened proceedings with an extensive collection of Art from Spanish artist Zuloaga, followed by Arabian Art from Ajman, concluding with stamps from Albania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mr Kipps took us for a tour round with the AA and the AAA (Automobile Association and American AA!) while we all reminisced over the 21 remaining AA telephone boxes, all now listed buildings!

Mr Koller introduced us to the Adelie penguins from the Antarctic, before giving us a lesson in introductory Latin, with the Golden Eagle - from the species Aquila.

Mr Bretherton displayed a wide range of fauna and flora from Australia before the evening concluded with Mr Stuttard’s tour d’horizon featuring Alice in Wonderland, Alignment, Archives, Airmail, Advertising, Authenticity, Alderney and Aden with an excellent example of the QV £5 orange stamp from Great Britain, with corner letters AA.

9th April 2013

April is by now known as our Competition month, and this year we were competing for the Norman Barlow Cup. This requires a display of either nine or twelve sheets of philatelic material from Great Britain, excluding the independent issues of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and issues from non-recognised islands. This year, there were three valid entries, and one display put forward.

Mr Robinson offered a display of stamps from various Commonwealth countries featuring the great bard himself, William Shakespeare. His competition entry consisted of a display of se-tenant definitive and commemorative stamps of QEII.

Mr Stuttard presented two displays, the first being a wide ranging group of cachets from Lands End, applied to mail posted at that favourite tourist destination. The second display featured material relating to the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970.

In the event, members awarded the Cup to Mr Robinson.

The evening concluded with a detailed talk from Mr Stuttard on the history and content of his presentations.

14th May 2013

May is our AGM when the Committee is elected, or re-elected (it was!) where the Treasurer reports on the financial health of the Club (good!) and makes a recommendation regarding the subscription for the forthcoming year (unchanged at £10 for the year!)

Once again, Mr Stuttard volunteered to act as the Club’s representative to the North West Federation of Philatelic Societies, and his offer was gratefully accepted.

Messrs Eyre and Marten were elected as Committee Members.

The biggest single question facing the Club is the likely closure of the Birkdale Branch Library, where we meet. Sefton MBC have chosen to make savings in their annual expenditures by proposing the closure of all three Branch Libraries in the Southport area, despite high usage and much popular support. Members await confirmation without a great deal of expectation. Investigations into alternative venues will be made.

The evening concluded with the Club Auction, conducted in his own inimitable style, as always, by Mr Hyde.