We offer a warm welcome who have recently joined:
Tony Taylor of Chesterfield
Walter Hendry of Greenford
Adrian Greenway of Dunmow
Andrew Haynes of Wells
The Reverend Paul Miller of Ashford
See the Society’s website at www.ciss.uk for more details of forthcoming meetings but the final three meeting at the RPSL for 2026 are as follows:
Please see the Society’s website at www.ciss.uk for news and dates of other events.
18 July 2026 Annual General Meeting together with members’ displays (Change of date)
4-6 September 2026 Philatelic Congress of GB, at the Jubilee Hotel and Conferences, Nottingham
19 September 2026 Room auction. Members’ Meeting. Zoom presentations on Cross Channel Mail by David Winnie and Richard Flemming
28 November 2026 Members’ Meeting – Theme: Letters A, B and C
By the time you read this, Spring will be over and we will be in the first month into Summer and the longest day approaching.
The Members’ Weekend Meeting at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Kenilworth saw 18 members and six guests attending; a very enjoyable weekend, the highlight being the 760 room/postal auction that took place on the Saturday morning. Bidding was brisk, with some of the items selling way above their reserve, but some sections, the Forwarding Agents, Red Cross Message Forms and Instructional Marks struggled to sell. Can I thank Nick Stuart, Bryan Elliston and Nick Martin for running the auction, and Jill Flemming and Gavin Wood who did all the running?
Can I also thank Jill Flemming for providing an excellent standing display of Guernsey Hotel postcards for the Friday afternoon? Two invited displays were shown on Saturday afternoon: Gavin Wood and Gerald Marriner giving a joint display titled “Captain Gussek and the Jersey First Issues during the German Occupation”, and Richard Flemming and Bryan Elliston displaying ”Channel Islands Ship Letter Handstamps”. Sunday morning was taken up with seven members showing some excellent shorter displays.
Please don’t forget that it is the Society’s Annual General Meeting at the Royal Philatelic Society London on Saturday, 18 July 2026 commencing at 14.00 BST. As per previous AGMs, we aim to have a Zoom link for those members who cannot attend in person. We have some important business to discuss so the more members who can attend the meeting the better. Further details to follow.
Unless stated otherwise, all meetings are held at the Royal Philatelic Society London, 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW with meetings starting at 11.00am. Tea and coffee is available from 10.30am in the Members’ Lounge
Please see the Society’s website at www.ciss.uk for dates of news and other events.
24 – 26 April 2026 Members’ Weekend Meeting, Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, Warwickshire
16 May 2026 Members’ Regional Meeting, Chandler’s Ford. Convenor: Alan Whittaker
18 July 2026 Annual General Meeting together with members’ displays (Change of date)
4-6 September 2026 Philatelic Congress of GB, to be held at the Jubilee Hotel and Conferences Nottingham
19 September 2026 Members’ Meeting. Cross Channel Mail
28 November 2026 Members’ Meeting – Theme: Letters A, B and C
Please remember to book for our conference at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Kenilworth, from 24 April 2026 until Sunday, 26 April.
A booking form is available at this link: Society News Archives – Channel Islands Specialists’ Society
Please contact the hotel direct on 01926 514167 and ask for Molly or Christina and quoting “Channel Islands Specialists’ Society”. You will not be required to pay a deposit, but will be asked to provide debit/credit card details as security for booking. Full payment will be required upon arrival.
Bookings are required by 24 March 2026. Bookings after this date will be at the normal room rate.
The booking form on the website should be returned to Richard Flemming: secretary@ciss.uk.
By the time you read this edition of the Les Iles Normandes, Spring will be with us and hopefully we will see a bit more sun. We now move into our 76th year, and I offer my sincere thanks to all those members who participated in the many events that took place to celebrate our 75th Anniversary.
Our 2026 members’ Competition Day has now been and gone, and can I thank all those members who provided entries for the judges to assess. Congratulations to those members who have won the relevant classes. All entries are now available to view on the Society’s website at CISS Annual Competition 2026 Archives – Channel Islands Specialists’ Society. Again, can I thank Julian Bagwell, our Competition Secretary, for his efforts in putting it all together.
I am still concerned about the number of members who have not confirmed that they are attending the Members’ Weekend Meeting at Kenilworth, Warwickshire 24 – 26 April. It is still not too late to book a place. You can find the booking form here: Society News Archives – Channel Islands Specialists’ Society (see notification on10 December 2025).
For those members who are hoping to join us for the 2026 Annual General Meeting in person at the Royal Philatelic Society London or via Zoom, please note that the date has been changed from the previously advertised 11 July to the 18 July.
Finally, one hears today how philatelic societies are losing members, making them unviable to continue. I am pleased to report that 18 new members joined the Society in 2025: a big welcome to you all.
Unless stated otherwise, all meetings are held at the Royal Philatelic Society London, 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW with meetings starting at 11.00am. Tea and coffee is available from 10.30am in the Members’ Lounge
Please see the Society’s website at www.ciss.uk for dates of news and other events.
21 February 2026 Members’ Competition Day with competition exhibits on view.
24 – 26 April 2026 Members’ Weekend Meeting, Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, Warwickshire
16 May 2026 Members’ Regional Meeting Chandlers Ford Convenor : Alan Whittaker
11 July 2026 Annual General Meeting together with members’ displays
19 September 2026 Members’ Meeting. – Cross-Channel Mail
28 November 2026 Members’ Meeting – Theme: Letters A, B and or C
Subscription renewal payments can be made through our website www.ciss.uk. ‘Paper’ membership provides a paper version of our Journal, whereas ‘Electronic’ membership gives access to the Journal electronically. In case of difficulty, please contact us by emailing membership@ciss.uk.
All members will receive a renewal reminder via email, enabling renewal online through the Society’s preferred online payment option. Members without email will receive a renewal request by letter. Members who have not renewed by 14 February 2026 will be assumed to have resigned.
If you prefer, you can pay your subscription using the same method of payment as last year, including bank transfer or PayPal, but if you pay by cheque, please make this payable to “The Channel Islands Specialists’ Society” and send this to the CISS Treasurer, Bryan Elliston, at 5 Marine Drive, Seaford, BN25 2RT.
Subscriptions remain unchanged for 2026:
Paper memberships:
UK and Channel Islands £15.00
Rest of World £20.00
Under-18 Membership £1.00
Electronic membership: £10.00
You can renew your membership by amending your profile: https://www.ciss.uk/membership-account
The Society’s 75th anniversary year is fast approaching its end, and what a wonderful year of celebrations we have had. We began the year with the President of the Royal Philatelic Society London inviting the Society to provide one of the major displays at the Royal for 2025. And what a display it was. The quality of the displays raised many eyebrows, as well as many words of praise. This was followed by the Society’s 75th Anniversary Members’ Weekend held in Guernsey, and a big thank you to those members who attended. Although numbers were down, the weekend was enjoyed by all those present.
On Wednesday 15 October we held another Members’ Day Meeting at the Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough. On the downside, only nine members and two guests attended the meeting, of whom five attendees were committee members. On the plus side, we saw some excellent displays, and the 50-lot room auction realised over £400, with some excellent bargains for those attending.
On Saturday 29 November the Society is holding a joint meeting with the Great Britain Philatelic Society (GBPS) at the Royal. The plan is that CISS members will show their display in the morning session, and the GBPS in the afternoon. Please note that as this is a joint meeting there will be no room auction on the day, allowing more time for members’ displays. Finally, on behalf of all committee members, may I wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. We Hope to see you in 2026.
By the time you read this, Summer will have come and gone, and we will start to notice the evenings drawing in. Can I thank those eighteen members who attended the 75th AGM at the RPSL in person, and the eight members who joined us via Zoom, including one member linking up from the USA. Thank you also to Mark Bailey for setting up the Zoom equipment for us.
I am pleased to report that all those committee members who had put their names forward for re-election were elected to serve for a further twelve months. A full copy of the Minutes of the 75th AGM are available to view on the Society’s website at www.ciss.uk; click on News. Please note that several of the committee members have now been serving on either the Executive or Full committee for several years, even decades, and we need some new blood for the future. If you fancy becoming a member of the CISS committee, and would like to ‘shadow’ a committee member to see what their role involves, then please contact me at secretary@ciss.uk.
Looking forward, the Society will be holding another Members’ Day Meeting on Wednesday 15 October, this time at the Three Swans Hotel in Market Harborough. Hopefully many members will be able to attend. The event is free, but there is a three-course buffet lunch available at £25 per person. The booking form is available on the website Society News Archives – Channel Islands Specialists’ Society.
Due to the high costs to members and the Society, the planned Members’ Weekend Meeting for April 2026 at Chester has now been moved to Kenilworth, Warwickshire, of which further details of dates and costings will be available in due course.
As the evenings start to draw in, it is time to think of putting your competition entries together for the 2026 Members’ Competition Day, on Saturday, 21 February 2026. Rules and entry forms will be available on the website. Remember, entries cannot be accepted on the day of the meeting. Please see Page 6 below.
