Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

"Society Visit"

Dunfermline Stamp Club

On Friday 8th March, Lanarkshire Philatelic Society were delighted to welcome Jim Milne and Ken Dunn, members of the Dunfermline Stamp Club, to their meeting.　

Both then proceeded to take members on a "round the world" trip with their varying displays.　

Ken Dunn set off the meeting with his fantastic display of stamps from Commonwealth Countries - both past and present. His display included many stamps from countries which once were part of the Commonwealth but have now become independent. It was most interesting to view these stamps - from countries like Cyprus, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, Mauritius - to name a few. Ken then moved to "the top of the world" - with a wonderful display of stamps, covers, miniature sheets and postcards illustrating mountains of over 8000 metres. There was a cover of Edmund Hillary, who conquered Everest on 2nd June, 1953; also stamps and postcards of K2 - "the Highest Pyramid in the World". A postcard illustrated the path up to the summit of Everest - making it look like a Sunday stroll!　Another cover displayed Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler who climbed to the top of Everest without the use of oxygen! This was in 2003. Stamps and postcards illustrated various other mountains of the Himalayas; -　 Makalu; Lhotse; Nanga Parbat; Gasherbrum 1 & 2; Cho Oyu; Shisha Pangma and Dhauligiri.　

After the break Jim Milne gave a fascinating display of stamps, covers and miniature sheets depicting volcanoes around the world. In his introductory talk he explained that there are may volcanoes under the ocean as well as on land and it is when molten rock erupts through the surface that a volcano - or, in the case of the ocean, a tsunami - can be formed. There can often be devastating results - such as the stamps from Tristan da Cunha where the population had to leave their homes and the island. Many stamps illustrated erupting volcanoes - and of especial interest was the set of stamps from Iceland which had a sparkle effect in them - this from mixing in with the dye some of the ash grains from the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull - an eruption which caused much mayhem around the world. Most interesting stamps of Caribbean, Antarctic, Japanese, Pacific, Russian & Indonesian　volcanoes were displayed. Jim ended his display with stamps etc of Geothermal Energy (Geysers) - especially those in Iceland along with a few sheets displaying stamps and covers of Glaciers and the Erosion of Limestone.

Derek Wiltshire led members in giving thanks to both for giving members such a wonderful "trip around the world" in their respective fantastic displays.　

Our next meeting in the Caledonian Bowling Club, Motherwell Road, Hamilton,is on Friday, 22nd March 2013 at 7:30pm when members look forward to welcoming Mr John Baron with his display "Scottish Banking and the Lottery".　　　　

Anyone with an interest in stamps, postal history, postcards etc is very welcome to attend.