The Eastbourne & South Downs PS Newsletter

THE LIGHTHOUSE

The Eastbourne & South Downs PS Newsletter

Editor: John Wright, 12 Milchester House, Staveley Road, Meads, Eastbourne, BN20 7JX.

No.36 May 2013

Views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Officers or Committee

**********

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 13th JUNE

This is your chance to have your say on how your Society is being run. Possibly the most important date in the Calendar - don't miss it!

**********

MEMORIES OF A BOY MESSENGER

Below is a much shortened version of an article which appeared in the BPMA NEWSLETTER of Autumn 2012. The Boy Messenger was Jim (Dusty) Miller, who joined the Central Telegraph Office (C. T. O.) on 15th May 1946.

"I made a bad start by getting lost and arrived at St. Martin's Le Grand later than I intended, to be told that I should use the back door. I signed various forms, was given my weekly allocation of meal vouchers, worth 1/- (5p) each for the excellent CTO restaurant, and was told my duties. These consisted of 6, 8-hour shifts, starting as early as 7am, finishing as late as 7pm. There was a 40 minute meal break, and a 20 minute breakfast or tea break. The CTO was required to deliver on Sundays all telegrams with an EC or WC address, so I had to work 4 hours compulsory overtime every third Sunday (rising to 10 hours when I was 16).

"Starting pay was £1.07½ per week - little money was left after fares (35p) and a snack (15p) but my pay rose annually to £2.05 per week when I was 18 (but meal vouchers stopped!). An annual summer and a winter uniform, also a pair of shoes and a pair of boots, were provided, together with an overcoat and walking cape (these being replaced when out-grown). My pill box hat had my unique number, TS228, and I received a pouch belt and armband.

"The delivery room was fairly large, with three desks in a corner placed L-shaped: one of the Inspectors i/c was responsible for sending out boys on deliveries, a second booking you back and deciding on meal breaks, etc. The room also contained some wooden forms for the messengers, and some old, heavy, red Post Office bicycles, each having a number painted on the frame and being allocated to a particular messenger. Envelopes were addressed for dispatch in the next-door room, then sent to the delivery room via a conveyor belt.

"The CTO area was broken into 10 walks (or "takes"), 9 consisting of local streets, the 10th for internal mail. Walks were cleared every 10 minutes, and more than one walk was sent out with a messenger at one time: walking messengers got walks 1-4, cycling got those more distant. Although the CTO was originally a purely "walking" office, and this changed with the war, the Post Office refused to supply correct equipment and our long overcoats had to be shortened so as not to catch in the wheels. I immediately agreed when asked if I would like to become a cycling messenger; passed the necessary test; and received an extra daily 2½d to keep my bicycle clean and "ship shape".

"1947 was a very bad winter - I was the only messenger in the delivery room on a snowy day and a very apologetic inspector said he had four "Death Telegrams" to be delivered and

would I take these, and the others, en route. Aldersgate Street was not too bad but when I turned into St. John Street I was hit by the full force of the storm and I realised I had been cycling with the wind behind me. I delivered the telegrams but did not return to the CTO until 7:30pm to find the others on my shift had refused to go home until they were sure I was safe. To remove my frozen overcoat they had to chip the ice away from the button holes wih a bicycle spanner: when I removed the coat it stood up unaided in the centre of the room! For almost a week after the snow, all telegrams were delivered by foot, cycling being considered too dangerous.

"The biggest change came when the school leaving age rose to 15 - our complement dropped to 15 (8 on delivery duties, 3 on indoor work) from the 40+ when I joined, and 30-40 telegrams went out per "take" from the 10-12 previously, which led to unacceptable delays in addition to extra strain on the messengers. The problem was solved by diverting ex-forces personnel awaiting training as telephonists and making them male messengers until the supply of boys returned in about 18 months. I remained an outdoor messenger until I was about 16½ (when 6ft tall) when I was given an indoor job helping mainly in the typing pool. Just before my 18th birthday I was told I would become a Postman, and my life as a Boy Messenger came to a sudden end."

**********

THIEF SELLS HIS OWN STAMP COLLECTION TO REPAY VICTIMS

From the Daily Telegraph of 15th April 2013)

To fund his addiction to stamp collecting, Derek Klein, described as one of Britain's top five stamp dealers, stole £70,000 from the accounts of two churches for which he was the treasurer. Prosecutors wanted to auction his collection of 100,000 first-day covers to pay back the churches, but Klein persuaded Judge Jacobs to let him break up the collection and sell it on eBay as he said he could raise more money that way. The agreement was much criticised at

the time, but the last payment of £6,900 was made on 12th April, the day Judge Jacobs retired.

(The Newspaper photograph shows 11 of the Great Britain fdc concerned, including a 1937 Coronation; a 1948 Olympic Games, a 1961 Post Office Savings Bank; and three 1953 Coronation.)

**********

A. S. P. S.

A number of readers of The Lighthouse will know that these initial letters stand for "The Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies", not (in this area at least) to be confused with "The Association of Scottish Philatelic Societies" or "The Association of British Philatelic Societies" which is A.B.P.S. Eastbourne & South Downs P. S . is one of the 27 Associations in Sussex which are members of (our) A. S. P. S. (as are all the Societies in Sussex), but is not a member of ABPS, but that's another story, which will not be mentioned at this stage!

Subject to the overall control of the Annual General Meeting, ASPS is governed by its Council, which consists of the elected Officers and one Delegate from each of the affiliated Societies - the Council meets twice a season, usually in February and August / September, although sadly not all Societies are represented and some Delegates represent more than one Society (not ideal, but probably unavoidable). Eastbourne's Delegate is Graham Little; while also on the Council are our members Jennie Little, Lionel Jones and Chris Dadswell who represent, respectively, South Downs Postcard Club; Sussex Postal History Society; and both Hastings & East Sussex PS and Bexhill P. S. Michael Farrant is the Independent Accounts Examiner. And then at Ardingly, Kevin Dillistone (assisted by Jacques Jones) runs the Tombola, and Chris (assisted by Peter Gray) runs the Bid Board. ASPS has an "Executive Committee", which consists of the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary and up to four other elected members of Council. Member Jim Etherington is currently in the first year of his two-year term as President and I am, and have been since October 2003, the Secretary. The Executive meets at least four times a year to deal with everyday business. It will be seen from this that Eastbourne plays a considerable part in the affairs of ASPS.

The single thing for which ASPS is best known is the "South of England Stamp Fair and Sussex Convention" held on the second Saturday in October at the Ardingly International Showground - the date this year is 12th October, and we are hoping to have some 40+ dealers in attendance with stamps, postcards, postal history and ephemera - entries for the prejudged Competitions are displayed, together with two Competitions at which the help of the visitors to the show is requested. The AGM is also held on this day. However, there were until 1988 three Conventions a year, which were run by Societies, which became two and then the single one. One of the reasons for this decline is perhaps the cost of venues (which makes strong support from dealers vital) and the decline in membership coupled with the increasing age of those members. ASPS very much hopes to hold an event in the Spring of 2014 which will include two noted Speakers (one on philately, one on deltiology) probably at a weekend and at a reasonably central venue (one such is in mind). The loss of a Speaker at the Ardingly events was a considerable disappointment to a number of the ASPS members, but it was thought that having both the AGM and a Speaker would take too much time away from the dealers who are such an important part of the present show.

One other great benefit to Societies (although probably not known to many of their members!) is the Public Liability Insurance which ASPS has in place, and which covers all its member Societies. As far as Eastbourne is concerned, this alone is probably worth more to the Society than the cost of the per capita fee, paid by all.

ASPS has a website www.sussexphilately.org.uk and a biannual journal ASPS NEWS, although the separate future of the latter is a little uncertain as the contents of ASPS NEWS are now posted on the ASPS website. There is currently a Postal Auction (bidding in this will have closed by the time these notes appear in print) and another is planned with a closing date for

receipt of material being 31 st July 2013. Future Auctions are dependent on a new Auctioneer coming forward to take up the gavel - if you think that you might be interested, (or if you would like to get involved in any way with ASPS) - I would love to hear from you!

**********

WAS ADMIRAL NELSON TRYING TO FIDDLE LORDS EXPENSES?

(From The Daily Telegraph of 25th February 2013)

Elevated to the peerage after the Battle of the Nile, Nelson was entitled, in common with other members of the House of Lords, to send 10 free letters a day. But on 12 January 1801 he exceeded this quota and a letter put in the Lords post box to Titchfield, Hants, was stamped in red "Above Privilege", meaning the recipient would have to pay the postage of 2/4d. Letters franked at the House of Lords were popular, and it became a matter of pride to receive one -this one, due to be auctioned at Bonhams on 19 March, had an estimate of £600 which does not seem to me excessive.

jmw

**********

. . . . AND REVIEW

Photographs by Martyn Fish

24th January A bitterly cold evening, with the temperature only marginally higher inside than out, for the second part of Coastal Newfoundland, South Coast (Brian Stalker showed the first part about 4 years ago) and this show continued that story starting with the steamer service operating across the Cabot strait - a 100 mile trip connecting Newfoundland's Railway to Canada's Intercolonial Railway, between Port aux Basques (at the SW corner of Newfoundland) and (North Sydney, Nova Scotia). We also popped into "Arthur Shano's Shed"!

After the interval, we looked at the mail steamer services that served the two great bays along Newfoundland's south shore - Fortune Bay and Placentia Bay.

S S Bruce operated a year-round mail delivery service linking Newfoundland and Canadian rail-heads. Pending completion of the Newfoundland Railway, from October 1897 Bruce carried a bi-weekly mail, along with passengers and freight, between Placentia and North Sydney. Once the railway was complete, Bruce ran three times weekly between Port aux Basques and North Sydney and from the outset she was manned by a mail clerk who provided a travelling post office / mail sorting services. The date-stamps used by the 'mail officers' on the dozen or so steamers that operated the Cabot Strait TPO during the next sixty years were illustrated. Adverse weather was common, the 10-12 hour crossing sometimes taking two or three days and, sadly, Mail Officer Howard Cutler was one of the 137 lives lost when SS Caribou was torpedoed by a U-boat in October 1942. Ferries continue to run between North Sydney and Port aux Basques but the TPO service ended in 1958.

SS Bruce usually topped-up her coal bunker at North Sydney, a noisy, dirty activity that made it difficult for the Mail Officer to continue sorting the mail. Arrangements were made with the Canadian postal authorities in 1906 for a 'sorting-shed' to be constructed on the landing stage at North Sydney and Arthur Shano was appointed as Clerk-in-Charge of the Newfoundland Post Office Mail Assorting Office, North Sydney. The role of that office expanded dramatically - as did the size of the shed - and shortly after retiring in 1938 Arthur Shano was awarded an OBE personally presented by King George VI on the Royal Tour of Canada 1939. Once Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949 the Assorting Office became a Terminal Office'. Shano lived to the ripe old age of 102.

We were also treated to an overview of the mail-packet and TPOs which served the popn of about 13,000 living in 60 communities around Fortune Bay, illustrated by steamer routes and date-stamps used by the Mail Officers between 1874 and 1923, and a similar overview covering 1892-1950 for the 19,000 living in 160 out-ports around Fortune Bay, concluding with the draconian depopulation policy of the 1950s where whole buildings were removed.