January 9th
 Our Secretary John Spencer and Chairman
Richard Page visited the Luton Philatelic Society for their
Inter-Society exchange visit, Their
displays included -Unsolicited Mail, Falkland Islands and Birds of Prey.
February 5th
Postponed due to a heavy snowfall and
Rescheduled for
February 12th
On a cold and snowy evening only 7 members
braved the arctic conditions to partake in the Competition and Bourse,
Entries
were received from absent members and the meeting was caried out as
normal, Winers of each individual section were-
Postal History - Alan Crozier - German Postal Rates
One Country - Rory Morrissey - Thailand Postal Rates & Mistakes
Thematic - Richard Page - The British Osprey
My Six Best Sheets - Margeret Harris - Hong Kong
Best In Show - Richard Page - The British Osprey
Winners will be forwarded to the East Midland Regional Competition
February 18th
John Spencer, Richard Page and new member
Malcolm Jones traveled to Harpenden and gave a full evening
of displays with Birds of
Prey, Falkland Islands and North Atlantic Flight Mails, This is the
first recorded visit to Harpenden by our Society and we were made most
welcome.
March 5th
Three members from North Herts traveled to
Leighton Buzzard and gave
displays including France from 1900 to 1950 with a great many varieties
of the 1941 Petain Issue, Micke's display included Forgeries,
Covers and a good deal of unique material.
Reg Hansell showed his Czechoslovakia,
with material covering all of our nine
boards, and included associated material from
Hungary and Austria with Prisoner of war mail Sensors and Scout stamps
April 2nd
Our invited speaker for April was unable
to attend due to unforeseen
circumstances fortunately Keith Downing a collector of Railways and
Trams agreed to help us out with a most enjoyable evening of
Trams with related Philatelic material. The display started with the
first
trams which were used to convey coal from the mines, followed
by the first trams of the United states of America which were horse
drawn, The first trams of Great Britain were employed in Birkenhead
and Paris introduced trams to the rest of Europe. where they are
still used today as a convenient and efficient solution to the mass
movement of people.Today the Isle of man still use Horse drawn trams
mainly for its tourist trade.
The 2009 East Midland and
East Anglian
Federation of Philatelic Societies Convention Hosted jointly by Milton
Keynes and Leighton Buzzard on April 25th
The Mayor of Milton Keynes is introduced to Derek Sinfield (on the
left) and Richard Page, Chairmen of each Society
The President of the Federation, Brian Allcock shares a lighthearted
moment with the Mayor
The Mayor showed a great interest in the Competition entries
The Dealers Hall
Collectors keen to add to their collections
A Junior Member is awarded a prize for her winning competition entry
May 7th
Members were treated to a trip around the British isles courtesy of our
invited speaker David Wilson., Each Island with a post office was
illustrated on a cine screen via a computer and included a stamped self
addressed envelope with the local cancelation,
Davids trip around Britain included many photographs and was
complimented with a tale or two from some of the more interesting
Islands.
Secretary John Spencer presents a certificate of appreciation to David.
October 16th
Keith
Downing made a return visit to Leighton Buzzard this time to display
Railways, He started with the story of Casey Jones the Western
railroad hero who maned the old Iron Horse in the days when rail
fatalities were a regular occurrence, this was an introduction to
wreck mail, His display also included Air Mail carried by rail at when
flights were canceled or delayed, World War one rail mail and the South
African War train, of course many trains had Post Offices on board
which produced what collectors call T,P,Os
After the break Keith concentrated on the Underground Railways starting
in London 1863. The first of which were pulled by steam locomotives. It
became electrified in 1890 and many more countries throughout the world
followed London's example, The robot Post Office train no longer runs
underground.
Keith s material included the Channel tunnel era with special
cancellations Miniature sheets and stamps from across the world.
November 20th
Two members of the
Northampton Philatelic society showed local postal history of
Northampton, Neville Watterson (A well known philatelist of this area)
showed material from 1644 to include Bishop marks, Local posts penny
posts and many pre-stamp items,
Derek Smeathers showed an amazing insight into the works of Stacey Wise, a Northamptonshire
gentleman who set up a business producing paper supplies for stamp
production. at Rush Mills in Northampton. A detailed and extensive
display included Watermarked papers Letters to Perkins Bacon from Mr
Wise, and included all periods of which the two world wars were
of major interest.
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