Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

"Time"

Mrs. Margaret Morris DTP FRPSL

Time passed quickly at the Lanarkshire Philatelic Society’s meeting on Friday evening (7th November).

Mrs Margaret Morris FRPSL, was the guest speaker and her subject was "Time". This proved fascinating as, with stamps, postmarks, air letters, and postcards, the subject was wonderfully illustrated from the beginning of man’s awareness of "time". This began from the realisation that the seasons, the phases of the moon, the rising and setting of the sun and the stars were cyclical – and from this came the development of the calendar. In 1582 it was realised that the Julian calendar was out of "sync" with time and the Gregorian calendar was adopted – a miniature sheet from the Vatican explained this.

Next the development of sundials – and postcards showing the one at the Livingstone Memorial in Blantyre were displayed. A cover from St Kilda posted on the 4th May 2006 – showed that as from the 1st to 4th May ‘06 the dates were 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 – this cannot happen again until 1- 5th June 2078! Further time-keeping devices were shown – Hourglass; pendulum clock; water-clock; pocket watch.

Then the answer to how to find a ship’s position at sea – this involved determining Latitude and Longitude – and so the struggle to develop the marine chronometer. This was illustrated by stamps and miniature sheets. The acceptance of the position of the "Dateline" – when posted items can arrive the day before they were posted – was illustrated by postmarks.

After the break, Margaret continued by explaining the Prime Meridian and how the Greenwich Mean Time was accepted by convention in October 1884. The Greenwich Time Ball – and others around the world - enabled sailors to set their chronometers accurately from sea. An old postcard showed the time ball atop the Sailors’ Home on the Broomielaw, Glasgow (now long gone).

Also postcards showing various 1 o’clock Time Guns- with postcards showing the Guns at Edinburgh (fired daily) and Dundee (now defunct). Many adverts showed clocks, watches & astronomical clocks through the years. "Curious Clocks" included a grandfather clock made of clothes pins, and another made of straw. Many stamps from around the world illustrated the Millennium – marking the change of the century.

The display ended with covers depicting Star Trek – and our own Time Lord – Dr Who and the Tardis!

Ken Norris, led members in giving thanks for such an excellent presentation which showed many unusual items.

Our next meeting in the Caledonian Bowling Club, Motherwell Road, Hamilton, is on Friday, 14th November, at 7:30pm when Dr. Brian Dow will display "Poles Apart".

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

The local newspaper report is >>>>> HERE <<<<<