Final two Festival of Stamps stamp shows

The last of the special London 2010: Festival of Stamps regional stamp shows are coming up…

Cornex 2010 – Cornwall Stamp Show, 23 October 2010

Organised by Cornwall Philatelic Federation

Free Admission

Venue:

Liskeard School and Community College
Luxstowe
Liskeard
Cornwall
PL14 3EA

Features:

• Annual competition and fair
• Dealers stands (18 dealers expected)
• Competitive and non-competitive displays
• Collections valued

 

Postal map of Bolton, 1824, from the Royal Mail Archive (POST 21/111)

 

North Western Stamp Show, 30 October, 10am-5pm

Organised by North-Western Philatelic Federation

Free Admission

Venue:

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic High School and Sports College
Chorley New Road
Horwich
BL6 6HW

Features:

• Dealers stands (16 dealers expected)
• Competitive and non-competitive displays
• Open competition voted for by the public for the BPMA Award

Find out about other London 2010: Festival of Stamps events at www.london2010.org.uk

Stamp Shows in Sussex and Hampshire

Philatelists in the South East of England have two stamp shows to choose from over the next two weekends…

The South of England Stamp Fair and Sussex Convention

9th October 2010, 10am to 4.30pm

Norfolk Pavilion
The South of England Centre
Ardingly
West Sussex
RH17 6TL

Presented by the Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies

Admission free

Free parking

The Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies’ annual exhibition and fair coincides with World Post Day. More than 30 dealers are expected and Cavendish Auctions are offering valuations. In addition there will be competitive and non-competitive displays (including an invited display by Pacific Islands Study Circle) and a meeting of the Pacific Islands Study Circle (1.30pm to 4.30pm).

Customers queue to use the Mobile Post Office which is situated in the grounds of an agricultural show in West Sussex, 1938.

Hampshire Stamp Show – HAMPEX 2010

16th October 2010, 10am to 4.30pm

Wickham Community Centre
Mill Lane
Wickham
Hampshire
PO17 5AL

Presented by Hampshire Philatelic Federation

Admission free

Free Parking

25 dealers are expected at this event, which will also feature competitive and non-competitive displays, valuations by Stanley Gibbons, a Junior Workshop, society meetings (including the British Society of Australian Philately) and a 36 frame exhibition The Development of the Posts in Hampshire to the Present Day.

Further details at www.hpf.hampshire.org.uk/hpfhpx.htm

Upcoming stamp shows in Edinburgh and Newcastle

Autumn Stampex isn’t the only stamp show taking place this month; for those in Scotland and the North of England member Federations of the Association of British Philatelic Societies have organised two shows as part of London 2010: Festival of Stamps.

Festival of Stamps & Postcards in Edinburgh & Lothians

Organised by the Association of Scottish Philatelic Societies – Edinburgh Group, the show takes place this Saturday afternoon at St John’s Church Hall, 140 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4BJ. There will be displays from Edinburgh Philatelic Society, Edinburgh Stamp Group, Lothian Postcard Club and the Scottish Philatelic Society, stamps and postcards for sale, and experts on hand to give advice.

A postman delivers mail at Holyrood House, Edinburgh, 1934.

Nephilex 2010

Organised by the North-East of England Philatelic Federation this show will take place on Saturday 25 September at The Royal Station Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 5DH. Highlights include dealers stands, competitive and non-competitive displays, activities for young people and those wishing to start a collection, valuations and society meetings. Other events, will take place between 5pm on 24 September and 1pm on 26 September, including the awards dinner on Saturday night. The full programme is available from www.nephilex2010.org.uk.

Upcoming stamp shows in Amersham and Croydon

Over the next two weekends there will be two further special stamps shows organised by member Federations of the Association of British Philatelic Societies.

Middlesex Diamond Jubilee Stamp Show organised by the Middlesex Philatelic Federation takes place on Saturday 4th September at Amersham Community Centre. As well as dealers and displays there will be activities for young people, including hands-on activities, competitions and puzzles.

Surrey Stamp Show organised by the Federation of Surrey Philatelic Societies will take place at the United Reformed Church Hall, Croydon, on Saturday 11th September. There will be dealers and competitive and non-competitive displays.

Admission to both shows is free.

Croydon was once home to a major airport, which was a key hub in the early days of airmail. This photo from 1935 shows a Streamline airmail van beside an Imperial Airways plane at Croydon Airport.

There are many more special stamp shows to come, with one taking place every weekend between now and the end of October. Find the full list on www.london2010.org.uk.

KentPex 2010

There have been many special stamp shows held throughout the country this year, making London 2010: Festival of Stamps a truly national event. KentPex 2010, another of these special shows, will take place tomorrow, in Tonbridge, Kent.

Postman at Tonbridge Castle, 1935

Presented by the Kent Federation of Philatelic Societies and the Royal Tunbridge Wells Philatelic Society, KentPex 2010 will feature dealers, competitions, displays, advice and valuations, and much more.

The organisers hope to “increase the awareness of the general public to the joys and benefits of collecting stamps” as well as “show by the study of the postal history within Kent, and in other areas of GB, and indeed the world, how the world’s communications have developed over the centuries before arriving at the current age of immediate communication by e-mail and the web”.

We wish them the best of luck with that and hope those who attend enjoy the day.

Visit the London 2010: Festival of Stamps website to find out about stamp shows in your area.

Solihull Stamp Fair & Midland Philatelic Federation Spring Convention

by John H Barker, Solihull Philatelic Society

Visitors to this third Regional event organised by members of the Association of British Philatelic Societies came to Solihull on a warm sunny day to enjoy the spirit of London 2010: Festival of Stamps.

Brian Goodey, Chairman of the Trustees of the British Postal Museum & Archive opened the Fair with words of encouragement to collectors about the Festival of Stamps and how it is providing a stimulus for organised philately in the UK. Brian outlined some of the developments at the BPMA in its search for new premises. After much thought and careful evaluation, a decision has been made to focus on siting the new premises in the old chain testing works at Swindon.

John Smith, winner of the aerophilately class

19 competitive exhibits were on display, each of 16 sheets. Awards were presented by John Baron, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the ABPS to John Smith of Solihull who won best in show with his aerophilatelic exhibit of ‘DLH South America’ with Laurance Kimpton, also of Solihull, coming a close second with ‘The RAF Cairo – Baghdad Airmail Service’.

Clive Jones, who won the Postal History class with ‘Halifax Postal History’

Clive Jones, Solihull, won the Postal History class with ‘Halifax Postal History’, Chris Jackson, Redditch, won the Open class with ‘ The Fishing Industry in Redditch’, John Smith, Solihull, won the Traditional class with ‘British Somaliland’ and David Gabe, Loughborough, won the Thematic class with ‘Mathematics and Philately’.

Tony Whitehead won the popular vote with GB GV Postal Orders

A popular vote by visitors to the Fair for the BPMA Open Trophy resulted in Tony Whitehead of Solihull taking the Trophy with his entry on GB GV Postal Orders and Colin Searle, also of Solihull, coming second.

The British Thematic Association held a successful workshop during the morning and the Great Britain Philatelic Society and Midlands (GB) Postal History Society both held meetings in the afternoon. A steady stream of members of the public brought in collections for valuation by Tony Lester, Auctioneers who kindly supported the event.  John Davies provided a Stamp Active Network table for younger visitors attending the Fair.

The Solihull Philatelic Society starts a new season in September with meetings every Tuesday evening at the Solihull Cricket and Tennis Club, Marsh Lane, Solihull. Our excellent Library, club packets and auctions provide members with support for their collecting interests. New members and visitors are always welcome.

For further details visit www.solihullphilatelicsociety.org.uk or contact Paul Woodness on 01564 776879.

London 2010: International Stamp Exhibition

Last Saturday the London 2010: International Stamp Exhibition opened at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.

Eagerly awaited by enthusiasts, and taking place just once every ten years, this 8-day stamp spectacular is one of the highlights of the London 2010 Festival of Stamps.

Royal Mail's stand at the London 2010: International Stamp Exhibition

There is much to see (and buy!) at the show, with over 200 stand holders, including many foreign postal administrations, plus numerous societies represented.

The centre piece is the impressive Royal Mail stand, surmounted by two arches of giant stamps. Around the exterior of the stand is a display put together by the British Postal Museum & Archive with unique items from both our collections and the security printers Enschedé.

Half the display deals with the low value stamps of King George V’s reign, including the Downey head stamps – the first stamps of George V’s reign – and declared a ‘disaster’! The display includes dies, rollers and printing plates, including some for unissued stamps.

The intaglio printing plate used to print The King's Stamps, alongside some examples

The other half of the display brings the story up to date with describing how the printers Enschedé produced the new 2010 stamps, based on the 1913 Seahorse and 1924 Wembley stamps.  This includes the actual intaglio printing plate.

Other things to look out for include the competitive displays. Over the 8 day show there will be 2400 frames of competitive exhibits on show. Each frame holds 16 stamp album sheets, so that’s a lot of stamps in total! There are many different entries on every conceivable subject, from the British Occupation stamp issues of Iraq (1917-1923) to ‘A Glimpse into the World of Beer’! The full list of entries can be seen here.

The world’s largest envelope

Hanging from the ceiling you might notice a large grey envelope. In fact it is officially the world’s largest envelope – sent by Stanley Gibbons to Brian Trotter, organiser of the show.

One of the rarest and most valuable stamps in the world is also on display; the only known example of a Swedish 3 skilling stamp inadvertently printed in yellow instead of green. It will be put up for auction after the exhibition.

The show lasts until Saturday 15 May.

BPMA Curator signs the Book of Scottish Philatelists

Douglas Muir, Curator of Philately at the BPMA, has become the 43rd signatory of the Book of Scottish Philatelists. The ceremony took place during the 81st Congress of The Association of Scottish Philatelic Societies at the Dewar’s Centre, Perth, on Friday 16th April.

The 81st Scottish Congress, Perth

The Scottish Congress is one of many special stamp shows being organised as part of London 2010: Festival of Stamps by member Federations of the Association of British Philatelic Societies. The next special stamp show will take place in Port Talbot, Wales.

A travelling exhibition put together by the BPMA appears at each special stamp show, but those visiting the Scottish Congress also had the opportunity to see some un-adopted Scottish-themed stamp designs from the BPMA collection.

Unadopted stamps designs with Scottish themes on display

Douglas Muir’s citation in the Book of Scottish Philatelists was as follows:

“In recognition of many years of research published in the form of displays at exhibitions, including Glasgow 2000; also for his initiation and encouragement of research into postal mechanisation, and in particular in respect of three major research monographs, firstly on the 19th century reforms surrounding the penny black, secondly on the evolution of the iconic Machin design and most recently on the George V issues of Great Britain”

Douglas Muir signs the Book of Scottish Philatelists

At the signing ceremony, Douglas Muir described himself as “dead chuffed”.

Douglas Muir’s book A Timeless Classic: The evolution of Machin’s icon is available from the BPMA Shop. Douglas Muir’s new book George V and the GPO: Stamps, Conflict & Creativity will be available from 7th May 2010.

A day out with a difference

The BPMA's travelling exhibition for regional stamps shows

by Jennifer Flippance, 2010 Exhibitions & Project Manager

Why not try something a bit different this year?  All over the UK, as part of the London 2010: Festival of Stamps, member federations of the ABPS (Association of British Philatelic Societies) are holding special stamp shows.  

The first of these, WestBex10, takes place this Saturday, 27 March, at Thatcham in Berkshire.  Click here for full details of the show. 

Click here to read about my enjoyable visit to WestBex in 2009

The next special show is the 81^st Scottish Congress in Perth, 16-17 April.  Click here for full details

These regional shows feature a wide range of activities with a broad appeal.  You can browse the dealers’ stands, attend a local society meeting or view the fascinating displays and some shows also have activities for children.

One highlight at many will be the valuation roadshow.  Do you have old stamp collection at home? Perhaps you inherited it from a relative. Why not bring it to be valued by the experts on hand during the day?

The BPMA Award for Favourite Stamp Display in Show

The BPMA has been getting involved by developing a small display and also sponsoring a rather unusual competition.  At each show, the winner of the ‘BPMA Award’ will be chosen by you, the visitors.  Everyone who attends will receive a voting slip to nominate their favourite stamp display at the show.  The winner of this public vote will receive this handsome trophy, engraved with the London 2010 logo.

Almost all the shows have free entry and many also have free parking.  Refreshments are available to buy.

For the full listing of 19 shows and details of what you can expect from each, click here http://www.london2010.org.uk/abps

The Association of British Philatelic Societies is the national organisation catering for the needs of federations, societies, collectors and others interested in stamps and philately throughout the British Isles.

To learn more and find out about events or your local society visit www.abps.org.uk or contact John Baron, Chairman – Executive Committee:  baronial@btconnect.com or 01235 832907.

Spring Stampex 2010

Merchandise on display at the Friends of the BPMA stall at Spring Stampex 2010.

The 2010 Spring Stampex opened today at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. The BPMA Friends can be found at stand 20 this year. They will be happy to tell you more about the BPMA, and you can also become a Friend yourself.

Next door at stand 18 is Bletchley Park Post Office, who will be hosting an event as part of the London 2010: Festival of Stamps in August – you will be able to find out more about this nearer the time.

As part of their stand on the Village Green at Stampex, Royal Mail are offering visitors the chance to make their own smilers. The image below is a Smiler sheet created by Chairman of the BPMA Friends Cyril Macey. It shows the BPMA Friends stand, with 2010 Festival Manager Jennifer Flippance and John Chapman from Bletchley Post Office.

A Smiler sheet created at Stampex showing the Friends of the BPMA stall

Admission to Stampex is free, and the show is on until Saturday (27 February). For more details visit the Stampex website: www.stampex.ltd.uk