Remember the Tariff Change at the end of March, when Royal Mail suddenly realised that they really ought to keep the 97p postcard and basic Worldwide letter rate? Emergency measures were taken with Post and Go machines and, after a false promise of a nationwide change in April, the NCR software was changed in June so that the 'Europe up to 20g' stamp was changed to read 'Euro 20g / World 10g'.
The special machines in use at philatelic events, and at the BPMA and NMRN also used this service indicator. Those of us who thought about it generally reckoned that with the Wincor-Nixdorf machines being replaced rapidly their software would not be changed. The Philatelic Bulletin (October p 55) confirmed that "The dual-value label was not vended from Wincor machines."
So imagine my surprise when this picture turned up this week from the other end of England to where the main action was supposed to be going on (London and Portsmouth) :
From machine number 1, so clearly not an NCR machine. In fact, Spring Blooms from Chester-le-Street's Wincor-Nixdorf machine!
We await with bated breath your reports of availability on other stamps. Brown Machins (various dates), Union Flag (also various dates), Symbolic Flowers, and possibly some of the older stock if any of it is left in Post Office branches yet to be converted.
This undated Union Flag (collector's strip) from Leeds was listed on eBay by melrider1949 *:
* Update: the same seller now also has the new Poppy stamp with this change, despite assertions elsewhere that this would not be provided to Wincor-Nixdorf offices.
Undated Machin example from Farringdon Road:
The Collectors Set shows clearly how the new caption is out of step with he others which were changed earlier in the year. The 60g stamps still have the 'wrong' size figures which means that there are three different types in one set!
UPDATE 27 October:
Cattle were in the Macclesfield machine on Monday, but when that roll was exhausted they switched to Sheep, and then Freshwater Lakes. (Thanks to Robert and Stuart for these pictures)
Meanwhile at Chester-le-Street, Freshwater Lakes are now in use (thanks to Brian for the image )
Iain reports having bought Symbolic Flowers and Freshwater Rivers, but I don't know which offices these came from.
UPDATE 28 October:
Now, here's a surprise - the Wincor machines were not all changed at the same time! Roy reports that Chesterfield has two machines, with K2 being from the previous office at 1 Market Place and retaining the branch code of 011340. Whilst K1 was changed as previously described, K2 was unchanged at 11.45 am:
This error has since been rectified.
UPDATE 3 NOVEMBER
As a result of advice from readers (many thanks all) I visited Kidderminster on Sunday and secured some Machin MA13 versions from their Wincor-Nixdorf machine. No other Faststamps were available because all old stock was returned to store when the Crown House post office closed and operations moved to the WHSmith shop in Vicars Street, about 100 yards away.
Meanwhile, as reported in the comments, Macclesfield's WN machine has been removed and is not being replaced. Fortunately Stuart managed to get me some Pigs and these (with the Machin above) will soon be in our webshop.
On this subject, these reports have been received in the last few days:
(1) Further conversions to NCR have now reduced Wincor in the Capital to a handful.
Wood Green has been NCR for some time and recent conversions are Great Portland Street and Junction Road.
Kensington (of poppy fame) has had Wincor withdrawn so NCR is imminent there.
I am sure it is not official but from today's observations it seems if a Wincor goes defective it is not been given priority for repair with Farringdon Road and also 2 of the 3 kiosks out of service at both Tudor Street and Clapham out of service.
The kiosk at Holloway is showing a Windows start up fault as it did two weeks ago, not checked were Finchley Road and Balham.
(2) I'm reliably informed that Harrogate W-N machines were removed this week (16 October)and York will be changed on 30 October.
(3) London's Baker Street's 2 W-N machines were withdrawn on 21 October.
(4) Sevenoaks NCR went live 31 October; Macclesfield W-N removed 31 October and not replaced; Leeds W-N removed 27 October; York W-N last day was 25 October.I'm trying to get up to date information from Post Office Ltd.
Dual value new font available at Baker Street on Spring Blooms and at Farringdon Road on undated Machins. Tudor street also had undated Machins in the 2 kiosks which were working, but I did not check the font due to duplication with Farringdon Road.
ReplyDeleteJust to complete my venture into London, Great Portland Street had MA14 Machins, both 1st and 2nd in all it's NCR kiosks, Aldwych had Poppies in it's NCR kiosks 1 and 4 (not sure about kiosks 2 and 3), and I can confirm that the BPMA's Machin and Union Flag stamps are undated.
At least this change was needed rather than overcharge customers sending anything 10 grams or under.
ReplyDeleteFrankie G - Baker Street's 2 Wincor machines were withdrawn on Tuesday. NCR's imminent.
ReplyDeleteClapham Common Now has 3 NCR machines as of 20 October
ReplyDeleteOrpington has 2 NCR machines as of late September
Poppy and 2nd Class MA14 (with misplaced phosphor band) at both
Wincors Machines in London can be summaries as:
Crown Offices
002001 Balham
Main Offices
042005 Swiss Cottage (WHSmith Retail operated branch)
100003 Farringdon Road Branch Office
Ludgate Circus Post & Go (aka Tudor Street)
And possibly:
074005 Brent Park Post Office (within Tesco)
Oops forgot Symbolic Flowers at Balham and Machin (undated) at Swiss cottage.
DeleteThe only Crown offices which will be retaining their Wincor machines are those which are to franchised this financial year
ReplyDeleteAberystwyth , Balham, Chester Le Street, Macclesfield.
The WHSmith Retail operated branches, despite being classed as main branches, only get Machins as a rule, occasionally getting pictorial ones.
As for The Main branches in Dorchester last time visited they had MA13 Machins and Holloway we will see when the Machin is sorted
In theory Sutton High Street (014013), which is due to close on the 8th November and Brazennose in Manchester which is due to close on 14th November due to relocation.
DeleteAs for Ipswich, The Markets branch in Leeds and Colchester don’t know
The WHSmith retail operated Post Offices with Post & Go machines are:
Delete009104 Basildon Post Office, 29 Town Square, Basildon, Essex
004202 Boston Post Office, 27 Strait Bargate, Boston, Lincolnshire
014613 Carmarthen Post Office, 7/8 Guildhall Square, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
017340 Chesterfield Post Office, 4 Middle Pavement, The Pavements, Chesterfield, Derbyshire
003206 Crewe Post Office, 13 Victoria Centre, Crewe, Cheshire
011925 Hastings Post Office, Queens Road, Priory Meadow, Hastings, East Sussex
011306 Keighly Post Office, 27 Cooke Lane, Airedale Centre, Keighley, West Yorkshire
008208 Kidderminster Post Office, 19-20 Vicar Street, Kidderminster, Worcestershire
016820 Perth Post Office, 91-97 High Street, Perth, Perthshire
015427 Southport Post Office, 22-24 Chapel Street, Southport, Merseyside
042005 Swiss Cottage Post Office, 9-10 Harben Parade, Finchley Road, South Hampstead, London
The Markets Branch in Leeds is due to have 6 NCR Machines around the 10th November, several days before
Deletethe new Winter Greenery issue, I am reliably informed. Chris
Markets Branch at Leeds, last day of use is Tuesday the 28th. Only 1 machine working, Union Flag in it this lunch time.
DeleteYork machines switched OFF, not in use today (Monday)
Thanks for all these extra notes, it seems like Wincor-Nixdorf is rapidly disappearing!
DeleteCould you say whether Kidderninster is NCR or WN please, don't want to waste my time!
Aberystwyth had its machine removed earlier this year, to date there has been no replacement
ReplyDeleteWhat about Barnsley?
ReplyDeleteConverted to NCR about 3 months ago.
DeleteHas Sunderland been converted yet?
ReplyDeleteYes Sunderland was converted about 5 or 6 weeks ago. When I went in there were 3 new NCR machines in the same place as the two Wincor machines had been but was told they
Deletewere expecting to move them to a different position and they were expecting one more .
Monday 27th October - Tudor Street (Ludgate Circus) still has the Wincor but only machines No.3 and No.4 working properly. Machine 4 has the Sheep and Machine 3 has undated Machin. Interesting that the background (wavy line) printing on the Machin is more or less invisible resulting in a 'plain white' part of the label. The typeface for the Euro 20g/World 10g as expected prints over the surface of the sheep. At Trafalgar Square the new machines have Machin Year Code 14.
ReplyDeleteDoug (Enfield)
right had side of the stamp
Adding to the thread Ipswich (2) and Colchester (4) have been NCR for some time.
ReplyDeleteGuildford with 4 kiosks has converted they are still using up older stock with 67-69 dispensing spring blooms, 70 is poppy.
Sutton due to close on the 8th November the kiosk was out of order last Friday so doubt will be repaired now.
The only other location I had as Wincor not mentioned above was Sevenoaks but I have not checked there since early June according to my records.
Doug where you say the new machines at Trafalgar Square have they had an increase to the expected 9 yet (they had not 3 weeks ago when I checked)
Both Sevenoaks and Sutton High Street still have Wincor Machines, but the upgrade has caused problems. Sevenoaks may not be sorted due to NCR conversion, Sutton should be sorted Thursday afternoon (with any luck).
DeleteWent to Glasgow which I knew had 3 NCR machines which seemed very inadequate as it was extremely busy and queues were very long.
ReplyDeleteThen went to Paisley to be disappointed to find 3 NCR machines there. Was hoping they had not been converted.
Last day of Wincor machines at York was Saturday 25th of October, not the 30th. NCR should be up and running next Saturday
ReplyDeleteLast day of Wincor machine at Leeds Markets was YESTERDAY. Man with sledgehammer and screwdriver in the Post Office. NCR machines to be installed and in use from tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWincors contents, 28 October
ReplyDelete100003 Farringdon Road
(1) Pigs
1000003 Ludgate Circus Post & Go
(2) Machin( Undated)
(3) Machin (undated)
(4) Out of Order – Card reader vandalised
002001 Balham
(1) Pigs
Sevenoaks machines were not working, even though they leave the machines on at night, it never took the new value update, so they switched them off.
ReplyDeleteI think they may be gone now, ready for NCR to be installed
Clapham has 3 NCR machines, at 13.30 on 29th Oct all 3 machines were out of service waiting for staff approval checkout. There was no staff around and just 2 serving at the counter.
ReplyDeleteAll this info with up to 9 machines in some offices,spare a thought for collectors living in Dumfries and Galloway (like me), NO machines in whole of Dumfries and Galloway,NONE to the north in Ayshire,and believe it or not NONE in the whole of Cumbria including Carlisle!. WHY,who ever chooses where machines are located,should go back to the map of Britain.
ReplyDeleteReading that Trafalgar Square has 9 machines,Iwonder about the distribution of these machines.Living in Dumfries and Galloway,we have NO machines in the whole county,plus NONE to the north in Ayshire,and believe it or not NONE to the south in the whole of Cumbria including Carlisle!. WHY?. Whoever chooses locations for P&GO machines should study a map of Britain!!.
ReplyDeleteMacclesfield's Wincor-Nixdorf machine was switched off yesterday (31st October) ready to be removed. It will not be replaced as the office is to be franchised - Stuart
ReplyDeleteFurther update to the above Macclesfield has lost Wincor without replacement, Hastings is undated Machin kiosk 2 has missing text on the left hand side giving st Class, p to 100g and part missing branch code and Holloway is still not working with Finchley Road also undated Machin.
ReplyDeleteCan confirm Sevenoaks is now NCR with 3 kiosks that went live Friday.
Have Newbury, Fareham & Hyde been changed to NCR?
ReplyDeleteAll changes to NCR
DeleteSo we’ve had most of the Post Office based Wincor machines replaced, and 31 offices gained self-service (NCR) machines for the first time, however there are still a number of Crown offices which we have not heard anything about. OK so some are planned to be franchised, but information about the following has not been forthcoming:
ReplyDeleteAbergavenny, Andover, Bangor (NI), Barrow‐In‐Furness, Barry, Beckenham, Belfast - Shaftesbury Square (NI), Beverley, Bideford, Billingham, Birmingham - Kingstanding, Bishops Stortford, Bootle, Bracknell, Bridlington, Bristol - Keynsham Bristol – Kingswood, Bristol - Yate Sodbury, Bromsgrove, Caernarfon (W), Camborne, Clacton On Sea, Coleraine (NI), Consett, Denbigh, Dereham, Diss, Dorking, Dunmow, Eastleigh, Edinburgh – Morningside (S), Edinburgh - Wester Hailes (S), Falkirk (S), Felixstowe, Glasgow - Duke Street (S), Glasgow - Springburn Way (S), Glasgow - Hecla Avenue (S), , Haddington, Havant - Leigh Park, Haverhill, Heywood, Hornchurch, Hove - Melville Road, Hove - Western Road, Huddersfield - Northumberland Street, Hull – Bransholme, Kendal, Kilmarnock (S), Kirkwall (S), Lancing, Leeds – Headingley, Leeds – Morley, Leigh, Leigh‐On‐Sea, Lerwick (S), Lewes, Liskeard, Liverpool - Dingle, Llandudno (W), London - Abbey Wood, London – Canning Town, London - Church Road Willesden, London – Cricklewood, London - Earls Court, London - Finsbury Park, London – Harlesden, London - Harringay, London - Kennington Park, London – Kilburn, London – Kingsbury, London - Leyton, London – Lower Edmonton, London - Lupus Street Victoria, London - New Cross Gate, London – Roman Road, London – South Kensington Station, London – Stamford Hill, London – Stockwell, London - Stoke Newington, London - Vauxhall Bridge Road, London – Walworth Road, London - Worlds End, Londonderry, Manchester - Barnes Green, Manchester – Eccles, Manchester – Middleton, Manchester – Prestwich, , Manchester - Walkden Central, Merthyr Tydfil (W), Middleton Grange – Hartlepool, Mold, Morecambe, Motherwell - Brandon (S), Newhaven, Newmarket, Newquay, Newtownards (NI), North Walsham, Northallerton, Northolt, Nottingham – Mansfield, Ormskirk, Ossett, Oswestry, Penrith, Pinner, Plymouth – Mutley, Pontefract, Poulton Le Fylde, Pudsey, Redruth, Romford - Collier Row, Romsey, Saltcoats (S), Scarborough, Sheerness, Shoreham‐By‐Sea, South Ockendon, Southall, St Austell, St Leonards‐On‐Sea, Stamford, Stoke‐On‐Trent - Longton, Sudbury, , Teignmouth, Thetford, Ulverston, Wakefield, Waterlooville, Wellingborough, Wigan, Wokingham, Wrexham (W)
Any updates anyone?
Dorking, Eastleigh, Petersfield, Wokingham, Wigan are NCR.
DeleteAlso Wrexham
DeleteScarborough has 2 NCR machines
DeleteAnother NCR location from the list above is Huddersfield Northumberland Street. Office code 010320
DeleteI will add Oswestry and Finsbury Park to the NCR list.
ReplyDeleteI make it more new locations than the 31 stated, I have them as Crouch End, Grantham, Beeston, Leighton Buzzard, Kettering, New St Huddersfield, Honiton, Bexhill, Finsbury Park, St Helens, Brixton, Farnham Road Romford, Harpenden, Stroud, Wokingham, Rotherham, Wigan, Oswestry, Worthing, Dalston, Muswell Hill, Chorley, Bournemouth, Cirencester, Lowestoft, Poplar, Bridgend, Sutton, Harbourne, Sydenham, Roseberry Avenue, Wrexham, South Woodford, Islington, Hoddesdon, Eastleigh and Petersfield.
ReplyDeleteSorry should have added Edinburgh St James now closed and relocated to Princes Mall shopping centre Waverley Bridge Edinburgh 03/11/14 with NCR
ReplyDeleteDorchester is following Macclesfield. The kiosk goes next week. Currently out of action.
ReplyDeleteWincors contents, 5 November
ReplyDelete100003 Farringdon Road
(1) Pigs
1000003 Ludgate Circus Post & Go
(2) Out of order)
(3) Out of order
(4) Machine working, however you can’t pay as the card reader is jammed, so you can’t use it.
002001 Balham
(1) Pigs
I am looking for some help identifying an NCR location the office code is 402511 which is a 1 counter sub post office at Rooksbridge near Axminster so this is obviously not correct.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a larger office as it is from kiosk 72 and the session number is 1985, does anyone know the correct location which must be in the West Country.
Did you ever get an answer to this?
DeleteThe 402511 branch ID is used by NCR during development and testing of the SSK. The particular session number, 1985, indicates that you've got a test label that is usually printed during initial testing and set-up of new kiosks.
DeleteFarringdon Road last night (7 November) had Machins with the 3 font anomaly as in the blog picture. I don't usually collect font differences and stick to different underprints but this was too good to resist on my way back from the BPMA for their poppies. Almost like a farewell souvenir to the old machines with the added bonus of a noticeably odd set of fonts. Interestingly no-one was using the machine despite a long queue for the counters (about 4.30pm). I hadn't used a WN for many months and found it basic and clunky and got stuck on the basket page without being able to go to pay directly so had to start again. Also no pictures to show what you're getting. The new machines are definitely a big improvement.
ReplyDeleteBaker Streets 2 Wincors have been replaced with 4 NCR Machines.
ReplyDeleteThe Post office have announced that the offices at Breck Road (Liverpool), East Dulwich (London), Holywell, Llangefni, Matlock, Melksham, Morriston (Swansea), Old Swan (Liverpool), Port Talbot, Raynes Park (London), Stornoway and Willenhall will remain Crown Post Offices, and will be modernised. Some or all will get NCR self service machines.
ReplyDeleteThe Post office has finally update their branch finder, it show that Andover, Eccleston St (London), Kilburn (London), Longton (Stoke on Trent), Pudsey, Southall (London), Stamford, Wakefield, & Walworth Road (London) now have Post & Go Self-Service machines.
ReplyDelete