Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

"The Lanark Collection"

A  very variable display was presented at the Lanarkshire Philatelic Society on Friday evening by 4 members of the Society who live in Lanark. (21^st March)

Ed Archer presented stamps issued by Great Britain through the years from 1840 to 2016. It was interesting to see how the quality of the subjects presented on the stamps changed through the years – and how variable the subjects were! 

Also shown were the "Greetings" stamp booklets issued – (Rupert; Flowers; cartoons; etc) and "Occasions" sheets - and these too varied considerably. Ed also told how he had been given a set of Beatrix Potter stamps when he was 5 years old – and that had set him on the road to Stamp Collecting – for some 72 years!

Graham U’ren presented the Stamp Issue of 1976 –"Social Reformers" – Robert Owen – showing Mill Machinery and bobbin threading and, also, the Stamp Issue of 1989 – "Industrial Archaeology" – showing 2 views of New Lanark. 

The 1999 issue – "The Citizens Tale" – showed the school at New Lanark. With these were shown Covers and postmarks relating to New Lanark. He also presented a series of Postcards portraying the development of the New Lanark Cotton Mills on the River Clyde - from David Dale to Robert Owen.

Paula Cleary presented a display of her late father’s (Mike Cleary) – "History of Medicine". This was a wonderful stamp display beginning from Medicine as practiced in early times - Rome – the Hippocratic Oath – Arabic Influence – the development of Anatomy etc.Stamps and covers showed many paintings of students viewing surgical experiments. Stamps, covers and miniature sheets showed Joseph Lister and his discovery and use of antiseptic, also Sir Alexander Fleming and his discovery of Penicillin. 

In more modern times, Christiaan Barnard, who carried out the first heart transplant, also had stamps issued in his honour – further stamps and covers showing Transplants.

Frederick Spoun showed a fascinating display from Bosnia – with a great profusion of perforations on stamp sheets. Generally these were 12½ or 9¼ - but many other examples have been found e.g. 5¼; 11½; etc. and even one stamp could have 2 or 3 different types on it!  He had many sheets to view showing some of these variations.

He also gave a display of postcards and stamps showing many Austrian Composers – including – Schubert; Mozart; Haydn; Schoenberg; Strauss etc.

Graham U’ren gave a brief – and colourful - display of "Birds on Europa Stamps" – also on Covers .

Vice-President, Robert Watt, expressed warm thanks to the Lanark members for presenting five wonderfully varied and interesting displays!

Our next meeting in the Caledonian Bowling Club, Motherwell Road, Hamilton, is on Friday, 11th April 2025, at 7:30pm is a members' display evening entitled "One Board or £1". This will be the final display meeting of the session.

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