Society News

Members and guests attending the Saturday evening banquet at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Kenilworth

Eighteen members and 6 guests, along with two Saturday day visitors, attended the Members’ Weekend Meeting and enjoyed an excellent programme of events, food and good weather. As part of the opening welcome, Jill Flemming kindly showed a seven-frame standing display of Guernsey Hotels.

Following the Friday evening buffet, the entertainment was centred around the 12 entries for the “One Sheet to Tell a Story” competition. Despite some stiff competition, this year’s winner was Richard Flemming with his exhibit titled ‘A 1941 Registered letter from Paris to St Helier (245 miles) but arrived in San Pedro, California before arriving back at Paris some 127 days later, having travelled 13,250 miles’. Sorry about the length of the title.

Saturday morning started bright and early with viewing of the bourse tables, and the 760 lots for the room/postal auction. The auction started promptly at 10.00 am, and due to some excellent team work, the auction was completed by 12.30 pm. Special thanks must go to Nick Stuart as Auctioneer, Nick Martin and Bryan Elliston who recorded the bids, and Jill Flemming and Gavin Wood who did all the running.

Saturday afternoon was taken up with two ‘invited members’ displays. Gerald Marriner and Gavin Wood display was titled ‘Captain Gussek and the Jersey first issues’, including Jersey 1940 Swastika Overprints on cover; this being the only known such cover. Richard Flemming and Bryan Elliston then showed an eight-frame display of Channel Islands Ship Letters, including a complete set of the different Jersey and Guernsey Ship Letter handstamps known to date. This included four individual items that are currently the only known examples of the specific handstamp.

Saturday evening started with a drinks reception (see above photo) followed by an excellent three-course dinner.

Sunday morning was taken up with some excellent members’ displays. Jon Aitchison: displays included 8 frames of CI perfins. David Winnie: 5 frame display was titled ‘Sark post-occupation’. Steve Wells: a mixed display of material titled ‘Post card rates from the CIs’ (12 sheets), Cl/German Mail (6 sheets), and ‘CI Court post cards’ (9 sheets). Julian Bagwell: 3-frame display was titled ‘Guernsey Philately between the Wars’. Nick Martin: ‘Iles de Chausey’, with Richard Flemming closing the weekend’s programme by showing two recent purchases, an 17 August 1940 Feldpost letter from Alderney (Feldpost No. 10772A) and a ‘Fortress period letter from the 5th battery, Reserve flak, 152 (L25262) dated 14 December 1944.

David Winnie provided the closing remarks, and advised that the 2027 Members’ Weekend meeting is in the planning stage for Jersey.

Meeting will be held at The Salisbury Room, St Boniface Church, Hursley Road, Chandlers Ford, SO53 2FT

Dear Member,

I hope you will join us once again at this our fourth Solent meeting of CISS members and guests. Last years meeting was a great success. Please bring material to show at the meeting, anything from a few sheets to a couple of frames; if possible let me know in advance. We start at 10am with coffee and tea available, and time to look at the 50 room-auction lots, which starts at 10.30am. The first displays will last until the lunch break from 12-1pm. The local pub, the Hiltonbury Farmhouse, is a short drive away with an excellent varied menu. You will have time to choose your food from their menu during the the morning session, when I will ask those wishing to join us for lunch to select their choice, so I can phone the orders ahead. If possible, please share cars to go for lunch. Please do not park outside the church unless you have a blue badge, the church free carpark is only 100 yards away. If you have not joined us before, you will be most welcome, let me know that you will be attending and I will send a location map showing the Church and car park. As a last request, could two members please handle the Teas and Coffee from 10am for half an hour, I will supply the ingredients. I look forward to meeting you all.

Alan Whittaker, Convenor

Dear member, please note that the date of the 2026 Annual General Meeting due to be held at the Royal Philatelic Society London on Saturday, 11 July 2026 has been changed to Saturday, 18 July 2026. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Richard Flemming, Secretary

ABPS News – Spring 2026 Edition attached below

Please find attached a copy for the ABPS News Winter 2025 edition

Nine members and two guests attended the Members’ Regional Meeting held at The Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough. As per the normal set-up for Members’ meetings, the event commenced with a 50-lot room auction arranged by Richard Flemming, with over 60% of the lots sold. The sum realised from the bidding was over £400. Prior to lunch, members and guests were entertained with two five-frame displays. First, Gavin Wood showed an excellent display of Sark material from the German Occupation period, including several exampled from and to the Dame of Sark, and a registered letter bearing 5 x 1d and one ½d stamps printed on French bank note, together with a SARK/No. 1600 registration label. This was followed by Richard Flemming who showed five frames of Jersey and Guernsey Feldpost mail, including an item of mail from Guernsey that managed to leave the island during the period when the Feldpost office was shut after D-Day, together with a ‘Fortress’ period letter that was sent on the 11th flight from Guernsey.

After lunch, David Winnie showed five frames of Herm material, that according to David, has not seen the light of day for three decades and was described as “work in progress”. Most of the material in the display was pre-1949, including a 1925 ‘proper’ Herm post office double circle datestamp on envelope. At this time the post office was located in the Mermaid Tavern. There was also a 2½d Herm meter mark: a meter mark that was only used for a few months to cover the sealed letter rate. David concluded his display by showing examples of the Herm Pigeon Post mail, including ‘stamps’ and genuine letters that had been flown from Herm to Guernsey by pigeon.

Next came Julian Bagwell who showed an interesting 48-sheet display of early (pre-1840) Guernsey postal history, including a manuscript “From Guernsey” on a 1799 letter and a scarce“FROM GUERNSEY” handstamp on an 1826 letter. The final two items in Julian’s display was a 1d black cancelled with a red Maltese cross on letter sent during September 1840 and an example of a ‘Mulready’ cancelled with a red Maltese cross dated 5 June 1840. This is probably the earliest know example of a ‘Mulready’ being used from the Channel Islands.

Nick Martin showed eighteen examples of mail from the Channel Islands to France, including some interesting postage rates on mail into St Malo.

Finally, in absentia, Gavin Wood showed five interesting frames of Gerald Marriner’s ‘Overseas destination mail from the Channel Islands’, including an item of mail dated May 1900 sent to Sark from the Orange River Colony, and an item dated May 1901 from Cape of Good Hope, also destined for Sark. Both scarce items.

Thirteen members attended the Members’ Meeting held at the RPSL, Abchurch Lane, London on Saturday, 13 September. The theme for the day was ‘Postcards’.

The morning commenced with a 48-lot room auction, which saw 25 of the lots finding new homes. The total achieved was £270, with one item, an 1983 cover from Sark to Austria with a £1.00 TO PAY/POST UNPAID handstamp, realising £80 against a starting price of £5! To complete the morning session, Richard Flemming showed three frames of postcards relating to the Corbière Lighthouse, followed by his wife, Jill who showed 24 sheets of Guernsey churches and hotels.

The afternoon session was taken up with Steve Wells showing an array of CI postcards described as ‘court cards’. These were early pictorial postcards dating from 1894, when it became permissible to send postcards in the mail. Nick Stuart then showed 50+ postcards relating to Victor Hugo. Brian Austin followed with 16 Jersey Liberation postcards. Next came David Winnie and his 32-sheet display of Herm related postcards, including scarce Thomas Bramley and Tuck cards. David explained that this display of postcards had not seen the light of day since the 1980s! Simon Burke described his display as “just cards”, but it turned into a near 50-sheet display of Sark postcards, the earliest dating from 1894. Penultimately, John Triggs showed 15 postcards that he described as “Guernsey”, and finally, Nick Martin showed 16 postcards that showed, or were relevant to, hotels on the island of Chausey.

Please see the link below to access the ABPS News – Autumn 2025 edition.

Dear Member, A Members’ Day Meeting has been arranged for Wednesday, 15 October 2025 at the Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough, commencing at 10.30am. The booking form is accessible by clicking on the link below.