On Tuesday 15th December two of our members entertained us with material from their collections. We started with David Hood presenting material from Crete. He showed material from the two periods of British involvement – 1898 to 1909, and then 1940-1941 where he was clearly in his element, describing the events leading up to the German airborne invasion of Crete and the subsequent retreat by the allies, illustrated with philatelic material and a number of maps.
In the second half, John Potter introduced us to the 1906-7 Christchurch International Exhibition with a range of postcards, stamps, labels and miniature sheets from this event – the only things that remain as the entire site was pulled down soon after the event and the area returned to park land. Of particular interest was one of the advertising labels, a pink label with a Kiwi on it that was reproduced on souvenir sheets at a number of philatelic events from the 1977 on.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday January 5th (2016) at 7:30pm at Hanwell Fields Community Centre. Members will be displaying recent acquisitions and enjoying a post-Christmas mince pie. The Banbury Stamp Society can now be found on-line at ‘www.banburystampsociety.co.uk’.