Launceston Stamp Club

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				Previous Meeting

AGM - 2nd October 2025

The club AGM was held on 2nd October with 22 members present.

The Chairman (Barry Mudie) gave an overview of the past year and Treasurer Des Kent presented the accounts.

The existing officials were re-elected en-bloc and the planned programme for 2026 was outlined by Programme Secretary Dave Hatwell.

followed by

The Chairman (Barry Mudie) Entertains

Barry give an excellent 64 sheet display from his extensive Channel Islands collection. The evening's display could be said to have had two parts. The first part concentrated on Military FPO and mail posted on the first day of Liberation on 9th May 1945 (although no mail actually left the Islands until 15th May). Several examples of Official Paid Cards and postcards celebrating the liberation were on show.
The second part consisted of a display of a range of material relating to the 1948 3rd Anniversary of Liberation issue. This included Proofs, Errors, FDC (with a variety of postmarks from local sub post offices as well as from post offices from far and wide.

Thanks were given to Barry for an excellent display and talk.

3 (A4) Sheets Only Competition
Theme or Topic A-C or any combination

4th September 2025

The winning entry was by Brian Whyte:
The A B C of Travel in The Faroe Islands

The September meeting was held recently and was well attended. The members were welcomed by the chairman Barry Mudie as was the dealer for the evening Rex Eccott. A moment of respect was held in memory of past member Lawrence Plaskett who passed away recently.

The highlight of the evening was a ‘Members Display’ of up to three pages on any topic or subject relating to A, B or C or any combination of these. This resulted in a tremendous turnout of thirteen entries with each entrant introducing their exhibit and explaining its relationship to the rules, sometimes using a little poetic licence. There were entries from and about the Channel Islands, Cabs, Australia with local connections, Chillingham Cattle, Stamps, Anguilla, French Postal History, Revenues, Columbian States, Faroes Transport – Air, Bus and Car, U.S.A. Bi-centennial Stationery, Alberts who became Kings and Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. The entries were judged by the members with the winning entries being - 1st – Travel in the Faroe Islands (Brian Whyte), 2nd - Channel Islands (Barrie Mudie) and 3rd - U.S.A. Bi-centennial Postal Stationery (Dave Hatwell). The winner, Brian Whyte,was congratulated by and presented with a small prize for his efforts by the chairman. See above photo showing the first three entrants.

Neil Sargent

7th August 2025

British Internal Airmails to 1939

The chairman, on behalf of the members, congratulated Neil on his excellent display and presented him with the Club’s Certificate of Appreciation.

21 members were present at the meeting. The chairman Barrie Mudie opened the meeting by welcoming members and our dealer for the evening Neil Sargent who was also going to be our speaker for the evening. Barry outlined to members the details of the September Members Display competition and then invited the speaker to present his display – British Airlines and Airmails.

Neil explained that following the end of World War One, aircraft and flying developed very rapidly with many small airlines starting up and failing and amalgamating. The potential for the use of flying to expedite the mail had been recognised following the success of the first British airmail flights in 1911 to commemorate the Coronation of King George V when special envelopes and postcards were flown between London and Windsor.

After the war numerous small airlines such as Provincial Airways and International Air Lines were formed and Railway Air Services – a joint venture by the 4 main railway companies – won a contract from the Post Office in 1934. In 1928 Imperial Airways flew special flights between Liverpool and Belfast. Other airlines included Portsmouth, Southsea & Isle of Wight Aviation, North Eastern Airlines, Blackpool and West Coast Airlines, Atlantic Coast Airways, Irish Airlines to name a few. Some flew mail legally, others illegally and some never carried mail but all played an important part in the development of civil aviation in this country and the carriage of mail by air. Airlines were formed to service the islands and more remote areas of the country such as Jersey and Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Lundy and the Scottish Highlands and islands.

A particular aspect which enhanced the display was the inclusion of a wide range of ephemera such as timetables, correspondence, original press photos, baggage labels as well as examples of flown covers. It was also noted that many of the airlines produced their own labels to prepay carriage or for publicity which was frowned upon by the Post Office who required them to be withdrawn.

David Lethbridge Entertains

3rd July 2025

The chairman called upon Rex Eccott to propose a vote of thanks and to present David with the Club’s certificate of appreciation.

The chairman, Barry Mudie opened the meeting by welcoming the 21 members present and the visiting dealer David Lethbridge. After the formalities were completed the chairman invited David the present his display.

Members were treated to a display with a difference – rather than stamps, David showed items from his medal collection and at the same time treated members to a history lesson. David began by saying his collection was confined to medals where there was a connection with family members – the D.C.L.I., Royal Artillery and the Royal Navy. From time to time the medals were interspersed with items of stamps and postal history where appropriate.

David took members on a journey through time with actions at Syria, Waterloo, Salamanca, Lucknow where the D.C.L.I. featured, a New Zealand medal awarded to a member of the Royal Navy, the South African Tribal Wars and the Boer Wars, Afghanistan, Egypt and Sudan and finally World Wars I and II. Following the medals David showed a letter from King George VI to servicemen returning from having been prisoners of war in the Far East and letters from German POWS in Cornish camps. Then followed a selection of airgraphs, some illustrated, from forces serving overseas. To finish David displayed a Military Cross won by a Lieutenant Stanton of the D.C.L.I. together with an M.B.E. and an Order of the Condor from Bolivia which he was later awarded.

Roger Winn My Italian Job, but don't blow the doors off!! 5th June 2025
Roger (a member of the Launceston club) presented a very interesting and comprehensive display of Italian Occupation stamps covering the period 1905-1945. A few of his display sheets are shown below (again, apologies for the quality of the photos, the protective sheets cause a lot of reflection), but I could not possibly give a comprehensive write-up of his display which involved a lot of personal research to both identify and collect the stamps and postmarks on display

	Above - Two stamps used at KARKI showing both overprinted (EGEO) and standard stamps. Left - Italian stamps overprinted EGEO or Patmos used at PATMOS The Balkan War 1912-13.

Cyrenaica - Showing mint Italian stamps overprinted CRYENAICA

Italian East Africa Mint and Used stamps	Italian Occupation of the Ionian Islands Italian stamps overprinted ISOLE JONIE
Roger receives his Certificate of Appreciation from club chairman Barry Mudie

One Page Competition - 8th May 2025
see Club Competitions page

The Four Kings
by Bob Wheeler

6th February 2025

Bob (right) receiving his Certificate of Appreciation from club chairman Barry Mudie

Bob treated members to a display of material not normally seen by members, covering the period encompassing the reigns of Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI. Material included Essays, Proofs, Colour tests, artist's drawings, printer's wate, etc. most of which material could be classed as scarce with some items unique outside of Museums and/or the Royal Collection. There were at least 128 sheets of material all written up in the same style over many years, a truly wonderfully eclectic collection.