Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

Ellen Currie

"A Shining Inheritance"

or, more particularly, a display devoted to stained glass.

LPs member Ellen Currie gave society an interesting insight to the world of stained glass at this meeting. She started by outlining its history; from its origins in ancient Egyptian times and its development over the following centuries, becoming a major component in church construction from around the 12th Century.

Ellen showed numerous photographs of windows from all over the world with Scottish examples including those from Mount Stuart House, Rothesay; Govan Parish Church, Glasgow; Iona Chapel; St. Magnus, Orkney and Dornoch Cathedrals. Other early windows featured included those in York Minster, Gloucester, Winchester and Cambridge Cathedrals in England; Rouen in France and Lausanne in Switzerland.

Stamps, of course, featured with ornate designs from (amongst others) Switzerland; Antigua; Great Britain; Jersey; Guernsey; New Zealand; Seychelles; Barbados and the Isle of Man.

More modern windows, particularly memorial windows which featured included the Liberation Memorial Window, Christ Church Stanley, Falkland Islands; the Piper Alpha Memorial Window, Aberdeen; the Dambusters Window, Scampton, Lincolnshire and a memorial window, in Rudesheim, Germany, to children killed in a kindergarten during a WW2 bombing raid. St Matthews Church, Millbrook, Jersey known, the world over, as the Glass Church featured, this being a memorial built by Lady Trent (widow of Jesse Boot, founder of Boots the Chemist) and constructed by Rene Lalique.

Ellen concluded her display by showing the windows of Holy Trinity Church, Auckland this being the newest cathedral in the world.

Maureen Mathieson proposed the vote of thanks to an excellent, and fascinating, display.