John Triggs is holding a Royal Philatelic Society London Regional Meeting at the Peninsula Hotel on Friday, 21st April from 1.00pm – 4pm. The meeting will be held in the St. Sampson Suite at the hotel. Any CISS member/guest who is not a member of the RPSL will be more than welcomed to attend.

Tea and coffee is available at £2 per person.

If any RPSL/CISS member is wishing to provide a display at the meeting can they please email John at guern1974@cwgsy.net of phone 01481 725847 with the title of the display and the number of sheets. A maximum of 36 sheets.

Richard Flemming

Secretary

Following an article that appeared in the Guernsey Press dated 30th January 2023 titled “Bailiwick ‘special’ stamps are exempt from barcode”, Bridget Yabsley, Head of the Philatelic Department, Guernsey Post, has confirmed with the Channel Islands Specialists’ Society, that Guernsey Post will not be using barcodes on its commemorative or definitive stamps at this present time. Bridget states that “Royal Mail refer to all our [Guernsey] stamps as ‘special’ and therefore they do not require a barcode.” We are indebted to Bridget for this information.

Richard Flemming, Secretary

From information received, there seem to be issues with members receiving packets once they have been forwarded on to the next recipient. A recent packet to enter circulation took 45 days to arrive at its destination from Guernsey. I am sure that this is due to the backlog of letters/parcels in the system due to the recent postal workers’ strike action and, hopefully, will resolve itself in due course. As per policy, please ensure that the sender of the packet notifies the next recipient that they are forwarding the packet, but also notify them of the date that it was sent. Can the recipient of the packet then notify the sender that they have received the packet. This way we can see if the delays in receiving packets continue. Once you are aware that the packet has been forwarded to you, be aware that it may take a few days for you to receive it, so please be patient. If there are any issues, then please contact the Packet Secretary at packets@ciss.uk.

Competition Day, Saturday, 11th February 2023, is fast approaching so don’t leave submitting your Competition Entries until the last minute, especially with the potential for further postal worker strikes.
Your entries need to be sent to Nick Martin, Competition Secretary, by Friday, 27th January.
Full details for submitting your entry/ entries are be found by scrolling down in this “News” section to the 2023 Competition Day notice published on the 8th November 2022, or the notice published in the “Competitions” section of the www.ciss.uk website. 
Remember, you have to be in it to win it! Good luck.
Richard Flemming, Secretary

Saturday 13th May 2023 from 10.30am to 3pm

To be held in St. Boniface Church Hall, Hursley Road, Chandlers Ford, SO53 2FT (free carpark by the church). All members and guests are welcome.

The meeting will start with a 50 lots room auction.

There will be a break for lunch at a nearby local pub.

For further information please contact Alan Whittaker: 01794 501382 or alan.whittaker3@ntlworld.com

I have just received confirmation that the rail strike to take place on Saturday, 26th November will go ahead as planned. As this industrial action will affect most of the rail network, I regrettably have to inform you that the Members Meeting due to be held on that day at the Royal Philatelic Society London IS CANCELLED forthwith.

Hopefully, the Members’ Competition Day to be held on Saturday, 11th February 2023 at the Royal Philatelic Society London will go ahead as planned. If you are planning to enter any of the competition classes, please visit our website at www.ciss.uk and click on the “Competitions” page, where you will find further details.

Sorry that we won’t see you on Saturday, but on behalf of the CISS committee members may I wish you all a happy Christmas and good luck and health for 2023.

Richard Flemming,

Secretary

As you may be aware, the rail unions have given due notice that they plan to call a nationwide rail strike on Saturday, 26th November 2022, the date of the CISS Members’ Meeting at the Royal Philatelic Society London.
However, the unions have indicated that the strike may be called off if they can make progress with the current negotiations they are having with the employers. 
This puts us in a very difficult situation as to whether the meeting should go ahead or not. The plan is that the meeting will go ahead as planned BUT a decision will be made closer to the 26th November as to whether we need to cancel the meeting or not, SO WATCH OUT FOR FURTHER NOTICES. We do not want to be in a position where the unions call the strike off on Thursday or Friday and the rail companies only have a limited timetable in situation so that we will still struggle to get to London.
I am in constant contact with the Chairman as to the situation, and I will send out further Mailchimp emails, as and when necessary, on the strike situation, but be prepared for the meeting to be called off at short notice.
PLEASE LOOK OUT FOR FURTHER EMAILS OVER THE COMING DAYS. I WILL ALSO POST MESSAGES ON THE CISS WEBSITE: www.ciss.uk
Richard Flemming
Secretary

Next year’s Competition Day will be on Saturday 11 February 2023 at The Royal Philatelic Society London.

In line with last year, as many exhibits as possible will be available for viewing on the CISS website, as well as on the day at our meeting at the Royal. The rules can be found on our website on the competitions page, where an entry form can be found. Scans of entries will be accepted for members living outside the UK.

Entry forms and scans of entries should be sent to the Competitions Secretary by Friday 27^th January at competitions@ciss.uk

Please feel free to contact the Competitions Secretary, Nick Martin at competitions@ciss.uk with any queries. Enquiries can be made by phone on 07703 766477 or 01285 653714.

As always, we look forward to receiving your interesting and varied entries.

Nick

David Gurney, Journal Editor, is seeking inform from any member who might have a similar type C, 24mm ST-AUBYNS datestamp used either as a cancel or backstamp. The image shown here is a type C ST- AUBYNS/P/AP 25/70 datestamp. Have you one in your collection that is earlier than 25th April 1870, or between 26 April 1870 – 30 November 1870? If you have, please contact David Gurney at nangurney1@aol.com.

Please see the image below. Sorry about the poor quality