Tonight we had a zoom meeting and Stephen Kennedy gave a presentation on 'Postal History of the United States of America'. The presentation covered the Postal Service from 1639, when America's First Post Office was opened, to the present day.
Some of the topic covered were: - The Boston Post Roads, The Franklin Years, Local Post, First National Postal Stamps, New York to California Steam Ship Route, The Pony Express, Confederate States of America Postal Service, Railway Post Offices, Autogiro / Helicopter Mail, AirMail and Postal Stationary.
Also included were details of all the major definitive Stamp Issues.

Mike and his wife Marie braved the elements to give his display to members.
The first part of his display was given over to the Zepplin airship and the history of Count Zepplin. The first attempt, the LZI proved to be underpowered, but successive Zepplins proved to be more successful. Mike showed postcards, covers and stamps depicting the history of the Zepplin that included the first airmail flight cover. After WWI Zepplins were built for the allies and in 1931 there was a flight to the Arctic.

The second part showed the first UK Aerial Post to celebrate the 1911 Coronation of KGV. The covers were printed in different colours with the purple being reserved for "privileged mail". However, the cards and covers proved to be very popular costing 61/2d and 1s1d respectively when the average wage was £1 per week. There were covers and stamps depicting female aviators and later aircraft. These included both allied and axis aircraft. The display ended with examples of the Red Arrows, Battle of Britain anniversaries and information on the Swordfish aircraft that were pivotal in the sinking of the Bismark.

Tonight we had a zoom meeting and our guest Adrian Pearson gave us an excellent display with the title 'Crimean War Postal History' Part 1

As well as displaying a wide range of material it also provided us with a very interesting history lesson.

Adrian begam by giving us a bit of background to the war followed by a detailed description of the postal arrangements set up to convey the mail to and from the Crimea.
His display included detailed maps showing postal routes, as well as the location of Post Offices created for handling the mail. In addition to details of postage rates and postmarks there was also a wide range of stampless and stamped covers within the presentation.

We are all looking forward to part 2 of the presentation, which will also be a zoom meeting, on the 22nd February 2024.

Before tonights main meeting a SGM was held to discuss proposed changes to the Constitution & Rules. proposed revisions were accepted unanimously and a copy is available in the members area.

As is customary the President began the new session with a display, and this year's President Norrie Kelso displayed a excellent collection of material consisting of "Revenue Stamps of the Canadian Provinces".

In part one Norrie displayed an impressive collection of Saskatchewan Law stamps and Documents. Included in these were Court Documents, Sales Documents and Financing Agreements. To finish off part one Norrie also included Revenue Stamps of Alberta and the Yukon Territory.

In part two Norrie displayed Revenue Stamps of Quebec and Saskatchewan Electrical Revenue Stamps. This consisted of a selection of Revenue Stamps, Legal Documents, Sales Documents and a selection of Electrical Documents.
Norrie's display consisted of some very rare items and was an excellent start to a new season.