Normal show...
After the excitement of the 2010 May show, 2011 saw Stampex getting back to normal. Numbers held up and it would appear from comments received that visitors were finding plenty to study and buy. The band of committed collectors seem not to be affected overly by the recession being experienced throughout the country.

Plenty for collectors...
Apart from the action on the dealers' stands, Royal Mail on the Village Green again had a First Day of Issue on the Thursday with their "Musicals" issue with a special postbox available to collect the Stampex First Day cancel.

Each visitor received a free limited edition postcard (No.20 in the series), which showed a presentation visual by Cooper Thirkell Ltd. Proposed for the 1986 Halley's Comet issue. This was reproduced by kind permission of The British Postal Museum & Archive and a special Stampex cancel was available each day.

Complementing the Post Card issue, the seventeenth Stampex Business Customised sheet entitled "Space Exploration" with the labels showing ten space-related items ranging from Sputnik 1 to Virgin Galactic. This proved very popular with collectors and were available for sale at the Information stand. In total 2,000 sheets were printed which will result in approximately 1,500 being available to collectors after sale of singles and the usual wastage.

For the first time a special First Day Cover produced by the Philatelic Traders Society was also available. This had a Royal Mail 'Classic Locomotives of England' miniature sheet with a special cancel from Vulcan Works, Newton-le-Willows where many of the BR WD locomotives featured on the 97p stamp were built. Limited to 100 numbered covers, these soon sold out.

Superlative displays...
The Village Green saw the displays mounted by The Postal History Society celebrating their 75th Anniversary. Thirty-eight members put on an astounding range of material covering a myriad aspects of postal history collecting. It was universally acclaimed to be one of the best displays for many years.

At the rear of the hall were the displays of the Juniors in the Youth Stamp Championships.

And for the future experts...
As usual there were the great and enthusiastic numbers at the Stamp Active Network stand on the Saturday. Having spent time collecting points by answering various quizzes and undertaking various tasks, they were then able to 'spend' these either in the usual noisy Saturday Free Auction, for which thanks to Michael Thompson for braving the rostrum, or on the many items otherwise available. Unusually this year the Junior Section was in action all week as for once Stampex coincided with half-term holidays.

And the rest...
There were meetings during the week-end of the Great Britain Philatelic Society, the Ceylon Study Circle, the Aden, Yemen, Somaliland Study Circle, the Egypt Study Circle, the Ascension Study Circle, the Concorde Study Circle, the Malta Study Circle and the British Postmark Society.

Our thanks are due to all those who work 'behind the scenes' to help make Stampex the Premier Exhibition, whether it be in the mounting and handling of exhibits, manning the entrances, or organising the attractions. Of special note are the supportive band of National Philatelic Society members who man the combined N.P.S., A.B.P.S. Information Stand for the duration of the show.

And so...
We now look forward to Autumn Stampex 2011, 14th. to 17th. September when the Village Green will host the National Competitions.

But one abnormal...
Item of interest during the show when we were apparently received some outer space visitors to complement the Customised Sheet. Bletchley Park Post Office brought along one of their members who managed to unearth some visiting aliens, and, what is more, he sketched them. His artwork was presented to Stampex and will no doubt feature in some future offering.

22nd March 2011
Mike Czuczman
Telephone: 01252 628006
Fax: 01252 684674
E.Mail: info@philatelic-traders-society.co.uk