May Edition of Gibbons Stamp Monthly
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75th ANNIVERSARY OF
SEAFORD AND DISTRICT STAMP CLUB
Celebrating 75 Years of Stamp Collecting
To celebrate the 75th Anniversary year, the Club is holding an all day event on Saturday 24 May 2008. Two highly respected philatelists will be exhibiting and they are Mr Chris Oliver, President of the N.P.S. who will display a portion of the reference collection of fakes and forgeries held by Harmers of London, and Mr Dickon Pollard of Murray Payne Ltd who will display a range of stamps of the reign of King George VI. We have endeavoured to encourage anyone and everyone to come to this Anniversary meeting whether they have or haven’t so far found the interest that philately brings. The meeting starts at 10.00 am until about 4.30pm and will be held at the Cross Way Hall on Clinton Place in Seaford. To repeat, everyone is welcome and we are sure that both these displays promise to give a stimulating day’s entertainment. They will be supported by two other static displays – one is of postcards illustrating ‘Olde Seaford’. The other includes all forms of collection – traditional, postal history and thematic – with a display of the postal history of Brighton being included.
History of the Club
It is always difficult to go back and find out when and where a group of people first met, who they were and what they did after having decided to meet again. After all, seldom do those people imagine that, in 75 years’ time, anyone will be interested in their activities and exploits. Also, the formality associated with meetings often comes later in the social life of a group of people sharing a common interest. And so it is with this Club, for very little is known about the beginnings of The Seaford and District Stamp Club except that there is evidence that people did meet in the middle of 1933 and decided to form themselves into ‘The Seaford Philatelic Society’.
Seaford is a town on the south coast of England that was created early in the 13th century as a subordinate of the Cinque Port of Hastings. Visitors have to learn to pronounce the name correctly – not ‘C-fud’ but ‘C-fawd’. There are those that say that the founders of Brighton and Eastbourne were so desperate to be a part of Seaford that the town dignitaries eventually had to insist that those towns be built equidistant east and west of Seaford.
Unfortunately, the war brought a halt to the activities of the society and no doubt whatever records were kept were entrusted to one of the members – never to be seen again. Surviving members of the Seaford Philatelic Society started meeting again after the war and the society’s activities were eventually formalised in 1948. Since then and through to the present day there have been regular meetings and events with membership levels of between 20 and 30. It appears from the records that a number of churches in the Seaford area have allowed us to use their facilities over the years and this hospitality has been greatly appreciated. In 1991, members decided that the name of the society should be changed to ‘The Seaford and District Stamp Club’ – a name that seemed more in keeping with current times and this has certainly been successful as new and active members have joined and remained with the club.
Despite being a relatively small group in philatelic circles, an interesting and varied programme of displays has always been enjoyed by the members. On one occasion a display of ‘Penny Blacks’ and other early GB stamps worth nearly £400 000 was shown while on another evening we helped to judge a display by budding juniors aged 8 years and upwards probably worth about £10. But as all collectors know, it isn’t about the value – it is the spectacle and the interest and effort put into another person’s collection that inspires.
Relationship with the Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies
Soon after ‘the reformation’ in 1948, the then society became a founding member of the Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies (ASPS) and it has supported that association ever since. As an association of societies, ASPS holds conventions twice a year and the club has taken responsibility for running these successfully on three occasions. The club is also interactive with other ASPS member clubs by exchanging visits and displays regularly.
In 1963/4 a member of Seaford, Col J.S. Freeland, was appointed President of ASPS and at the end of his term of office he presented two cups for the society’s competitions. The honour of holding the presidency of ASPS is replicated this year (2007/8) in that Roy Ferguson who is Seaford’s own Chairman is President of ASPS having been vice-President last year. Other members of the club have held various honorary positions with ASPS.
Col J.S. Freeland was a strong supporter of Seaford Club and took the unusual step of initiating a symbolic and very ornate collar and badge that was to be available for the President of the club on official occasions. The club has also benefited from the generosity of two other past members who presented trophies for members’ annual competitions – the Foxton Cup for a traditional display and the Wood Cup for a thematic display. The standard of members’ displays is always very competitive and encouraging for the future of stamp collecting and of the club. In recent years, the top two entries in each class have been entered into the annual ASPS competitions and in October 2007 success was achieved as Brian Livingstone and Maurice Shorten won first place for the club in the thematic competition and were awarded the cup. It shows it can be done and our future competitions promise to bring forward even more interesting entries from the depths of members’ collections.
Another member of Seaford who is well known in the international philatelic world is Mr Philip Beale. He is a member of the Royal Philatelic Society and a Gold Medal recipient. He is a specialist in the stamps of Gambia and has written a number of authoritative books on several philatelic topics.
Meetings of the Club
Meetings of the club are held on the second Wednesday of each month starting at 7.00 for 7.30 and the venue is the hall of the Cross Way Church on Steyne Road, Seaford. New members and visitors are obviously welcome and a full and interesting programme of events is arranged each year. If anyone is interested in enjoying an evening’s entertainment with us, our secretary can give details and his phone number is 01273 516 897.
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