Spring Stampex 2013

On Wednesday 20th February 2013, the British National Stamp Exhibition Stampex will open its doors again to the philatelic community and anyone interested in stamps, postal history and other related items. The Friends of the BPMA will be there again at stand no. 55, near the Royal Mail stand, to talk about upcoming events and activities, and offer a great selection of products from the BPMA Shop.

Stalls at Stampex

Stampex takes place at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0QH from Wednesday 20th to Saturday 23rd February 2013, and will be open as follows:

Wednesday - 11.30am–7.00pm
Thursday & Friday - 10.00am–6.00pm
Saturday - 10.00am–5.00pm

Admission is free – so come along to visit the Friends of the BPMA who will have more information on the BPMA’s fundraising plans towards our new museum and archive.

New Postal Museum & Archive, Calthorpe House, London.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to buy tickets for the talk by stamp enthusiast Chris West on A History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps which will take place on Thursday evening, 21st February 2013, at 7pm at the Phoenix Centre, next door to the Royal Mail Archive in Clerkenwell, only 20 minutes walk from the Business Design Centre.

There will be plenty of material on display showcasing items from our collections such as a replica of a large-size green Victorian Penfold pillar box, advertising the upcoming Pillar Box Perfection open day at our Museum Store in Debden, Essex on 6th April 2013.

Pillar boxes at the Museum Store.

We will be showing a selection of images of the Post Office Underground railway (Mail Rail) – a fascinating part of London’s postal heritage and ‘secret underground’ – as well as visuals of Post Office Magazine covers, which feature in our touring exhibition The Post Office in Pictures.

Post Office Underground Railway – train in tunnel. (POST 118/382)

As Royal Mail will be launching a set of Jane Austen stamps celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, we will also display images of the stamp issues to celebrate the Bicentenary of Jane Austen’s birth in 1975. As part of our Stamp Artwork Project, which has been generously funded by the Aurelius Charitable Trust, the Leche Trust and The Charles Hayward Foundation, these stamps and more artwork from 1975-1985 have been digitised and provided with fully researched stamp histories and catalogue entries in order to enable public access to the BPMA’s extensive collection of British stamps. They will be added to our online catalogue in April.

Finally, there will be special offers on BPMA philatelic products and the latest newcomers to the BPMA product range such as the Telegram Messenger postcard set and Chris West’s book First Class – A History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps.

New telegram messenger postcard set.

Autumn Stampex 2012

Stampex is starting again this Wednesday, 26 September 2012 and the Friends of the BPMA will be there to chat about upcoming events, activities and the latest postal heritage products.

Stalls at Stampex.

The Business Design Centre Islington in London N1 will open its doors for the popular stamp show on Wednesday at 11.30am and will be open until 7pm on that day, 10am to 6pm on Thursday and Friday and 10am to 5pm Saturday, 29 September 2012. Admission is free – so come along to visit the Friends at stand 20 and browse the various stands by stamp dealers, see the display on Australasian Philately or Royal Mail’s range of Olympic & Paralympics Games Memories, Post & Go stamp issues and much more.

There will also be information about the BPMA’s plans for the new museum & archive in Calthorpe House at the Friends’ stand as well as the opportunity to buy tickets for the talk by designer Kate Stephens and Royal Mail design manager Catharine Brandy, in which they share the journey through the working process behind the Diamond Jubilee Stamps. The talk is taking place on Thursday, 27 September 2012 at 7pm in the Phoenix Centre, next door to The Royal Mail Archive.

Stamps from the recent Diamond Jubilee issue.

Fascinating images from our touring exhibition The Post Office in Pictures will also be on display at the stand as well as more material based on our collections.

There will be special offers on BPMA products and the chance to browse through the latest publications such as Bob Wilcock’s The London 1948 Olympic Games – A Collectors Guide book, or a beautiful edition of the map of Mail Steamship routes, designed by MacDonald Gill in 1937, with an introduction by BPMA Curator Julian Stray. For the full selection of postal heritage products, see our online shop at www.postalheritage.org.uk/shop.

Friends of the BPMA stall.

The Friends of the BPMA are looking forward to meeting you there!

Spring Stampex 2012

As the days are getting longer, there are also more and more events to look forward to – including Spring Stampex, from 22-25 February at the Business Design Centre (BDC) in Islington. Come and visit the Friends of the BPMA at stand 20 and learn more about upcoming BPMA events and exhibitions, get the latest postal heritage products or simply have a chat about some exciting finds at the stamp show.

Stampex at the Business Design Centre

Use your visit to Stampex to get more information about our new Diamond Jubilee exhibition which will offer an exclusive insight into the variety of the stamps released to mark the occasion. It will be on display at the BPMA Archive Search Room from 10 May 2012. One of the world’s greatest collections of stamps is the subject of a talk by Michael Sefi, Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, on 23 February 2012 at the Phoenix Centre, for which you will be able to buy tickets at the stand, too. Another highlight of the postal heritage events calendar is the launch of The Post Office in Pictures exhibition at its exciting new touring venue. The exhibition (along with a host of activities) will be at the Lumen URC, London, from 19 May to the end of August 2012.

Among many popular BPMA products, we will offer a new postcard pack of six Mail Rail themed images at Stampex. On the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee there will also be a beautiful collector’s item for sale at the stand: a Wedgwood Jasperware plate featuring one of the most famous portraits of Queen Elizabeth II – the ‘Machin head’.

Mail Rail postcard pack

Royal Mail will again have a substantial presence and offer the full range of current stamp issues and provide posting boxes for collectors to post covers for the special Stampex handstamps. On Thursday, 23 February, Royal Mail will launch the Britons of Distinction stamps and the following day will see the issue of new pictorial Post and Go Stamps featuring British sheep. As usual, admission is free and the exhibition opens 11.30am-7pm on Wednesday, 10am-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and 10am-5pm on Saturday.

The Friends of the BPMA are looking forward to meeting you there!

The BPMA at Autumn Stampex

Stalls at Stampex, 2010

As many of you will be aware this year’s Autumn Stampex will be held at Islington Business Design Centre from 14–17 September. The Friends of the BPMA will be manning Stand 20 throughout the event, where there will information about the BPMA, new postcard packs and a selection of our other products for sale, and this year’s stand will look better than ever – decorated with a range of memorable images from our collection.

Autumn Crocus from the Flower Photographs issue, 20 January 1987

At the present time were undertaking a review of our activities and services. It is important to us to work with philatelists, philatelic traders and postal history enthusiasts to ensure we develop our services in line with what you want, and to enable us to keep caring for these collections for generations to come – and we need your help! We know Stampex is a date which will be in many of our followers’ diaries and we’d like to meet as many of you as can we while we’re there this September.

Join us for a drink at Stampex and tell us what you think!
11.30am – 1.30pm, Thursday 15 September
Executive Centre, Ground floor – full details on the Friends Stand.

Whether you’d like to find out more about what’s in our philatelic vault, how you can see it, or our other services – or simply wish to tell us what you like about us, or what we could do better, then we’d love to speak to you – please drop by for a drink and say hello!

A Timeless Classic: The Evolution of Machin's Icon by Douglas N, Muir

Win a signed copy of A Timeless Classic: The Evolution of Machin’s Icon by The BPMA’s Philatelic Curator Douglas N. Muir At Autumn Stampex

If you can’t make it for a drink, then we’d still love to meet you – staff from the BPMA will be at Stampex across the 4 day event so please do come and find us. Any visitors to our Friends’ stand also have the opportunity to win a copy of one of our most popular books, A Timeless Classic: The Evolution of Machin’s Icon, signed by the author! Just drop a business card in the pot to enter the prize draw.

Autumn Stampex 2010

 by Jennifer Flippance, 2010 Exhibitions & Project Manager

Stampex at the Business Design Centre

If your interest in stamps and postal history has been piqued by our blog posts or any the events that have taken place this year as part of the London 2010: Festival of Stamps, why not go along to Stampex next week.

Stampex takes place twice a year at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. It’s free and 2010 Autumn Stampex is on 15-18th September.

There are many dealers’ stands, including a substantial presence from Royal Mail. Get the new stamps (Medical Breakthroughs) from their first day of issue on Thursday and from Friday you can get brand new pictorial Post & Go stamps. Don’t miss the instant Smiler booth.

I like to stock up on attractive commemorative stamps I’ve missed during the year to use on my own post. It’s always much nicer for someone to receive a special stamp.

Competitive stamp displays at Stampex

Everyone who attends Stampex gets a free postcard and the opportunity to buy other special products only available at the show. There are also displays from the National Competitions of the Association of British Philatelic Societies.

The BPMA Friends will be manning a stand as usual. Pop over to say hello and pick up the brand new free 2010 postcard featuring George V. We’ll also have a selection of our postal themed products on sale, including the popular new Post Offices book by Julian Stray.

Kids auction

One of my favourite parts is the children’s auction on Saturday, which is always great fun to watch. Any young philatelists who come along get the chance to collect points by doing activities and these can then be spent at the auction on stamps. There’s always a lot of tactical bidding!

For more details including directions and opening times see –
http://www.stampex.ltd.uk/

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

Stamp Active Network

by David Rossall, Stamp Active Network

Stamp Active Network is the national organisation, under the auspices of ABPS, which endeavours to encourage young people to take up stamp collecting as a hobby. Once called the National Youth stamp Group, it comprises a small core team of dedicated volunteers to coordinate actions. It works primarily through Federation Youth Officers, plus publicity in the philatelic press, federation and society newsletter, both to encourage children in their collecting, and request the assistance of more established collectors to provide the necessary backing and expertise.

Stamp Active Network's Stamp Fun Book

One of our most successful ventures is the Kidstamp postal club, with over 800 members UK wide, which maintains contact with youngsters, provides stamps to augment their collections and keeps them informed of events and competitions. This needs considerable inputs of suitable material to maintain, and we rely on our adult and trade contacts to keep us supplied.

The Competitions committee is the organising force behind both the Stamp Active competitions and the British Youth Stamp Championships, both annual events held respectively at Spring and Autumn Stampex, and our more outstanding youngsters are encouraged to progress to international level.

The organisation of youth activities at national level exhibitions is coordinated by the Exhibitions committee, who will be especially busy with the Festival of Stamps this year. With this in mind we are appealing for volunteers to help in London in May, especially on the 8th, 9th and 15th, to provide extra hands at the Stamp Active stand at the Business Design Centre. If you are available during that time please contact Dave Armitage at davearmitage@btopenworld.com or on 01279 503 625 for further details.

Stamp Active Network is always available to give advice and assistance to leaders of school and youth stamp clubs. Our latest initiative, sponsored by Stanley Gibbons, is a club starter pack. When Gibbons are given material to auction for charity, the proceeds go into a fund to provide these packs of philatelic materials (worth over £50) to help new clubs get started. Applications for the packs should be sent on an official letterhead to Beverley Davies, SAN Secretary, The Meadows, Chapel Lane, Mathern, Chepstow, NP16 6HS.

The Young Collector's CD guide to Stamp Collecting

During the Festival of Stamps year Stamp Active Network will also be distributing, free to children, a 16 page full-colour stamp Fun Book of activities and a CD guide to stamp collecting, which we hope will generate lots of interest. These are being made available to organisers of any event linked to the Festival of Stamps where provisions are being made for youth participation.

Anyone wanting further information on the work we do is welcome to visit our website www.planetstamp.co.uk. This is mainly aimed at young collectors but has plenty of information on collecting, competitions, guidance for group leaders and a listing of all known events in 2010 which are making provisions to attract juniors.

Autumn Stampex 2009

The recreated Victorian Post Office at Blists Hill

This year’s Autumn Stampex starts next Wednesday and if you’re going make sure you look out for the BPMA. There will be displays on our re-created Victorian Post Office at Blists Hill, Ironbridge, as well as London 2010: Festival of Stamps. You will also be able to find a stall run by the Friends of the BPMA amongst the dealers. The Friends will be selling some of the products available in our Shop and can give you general information about BPMA activities and events. See you there!

Third London 2010 postcard coming soon

We will soon be publishing the third in a series of postcards raising awareness of London 2010: Festival of Stamps. The postcard is a limited edition of 5,000 and will be released at this year’s Autumn Stampex (16-19 September 2009).

The image on the postcard consists of a relief of the head of King George VI by Edmund Dulac, which was the basis of the effigy on all his definitives. In the right-hand corner is an essay dated 27th November 1937 of Eric Gill’s unadopted “Heraldic Lions and Dragon” design, incorporating Dulac’s effigy.

London 2010 postcard #3: A relief of George VI by Edmund Dulac

Artist Edmund Dulac (1882-1953) came to London from France in 1904. He was mainly known as a book illustrator, but had a successful period of designing coins, banknotes and stamps from the mid 1930s, and his designs for the British Post Office span a period of 20 years. One of his greatest achievements was his work on the definitive series for King George VI. He created the portrait as a plaster cast used thereafter throughout the reign (apart from the Royal Silver Wedding issue of 1948), working from photographs rather than from life, and the border designs used for the low values from 7d to 1/-. He also created the designs for the 2/6 and 5/- high values issued in 1939.

The first postcard in our London 2010 series was issued at Autumn Stampex 2008. It features the 1984 Mailcoach Bicentenary stamp issue, an initial engraving by Czeslaw Slania based on a James Pollard print of the 1816 attack by an escaping lioness on the leading horse of the Exeter mailcoach passing The Pheasant Inn near Stockbridge.

London 2010 postcard #1: An attack on the Exeter Mail in 1816

The second postcard issued depicts an essay of a 1s pictorial stamp for the coronation of Edward VIII, showing St James’s Palace and the photograph (taken by the GPO Film Unit) on which it was based, and is currently available from selected shows organised by member federations of the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS).

London 2010 postcard #2: St James's Palace and the coronation of Edward VIII

Please go to www.london2010.org.uk for further information about London 2010: Festival of Stamps.

For more information on stamps from the era of George VI please visit our website.