From Royal Mail's Post and Go News website:
BFPO Trial
Kiosk M001 is to be installed at BFPO HQ in RAF Northolt. It will be
used as an evaluation kiosk for BFPO requirements. The kiosk is not
available to the public and initially will vend stamps for personnel on
the base. Weigh and Vend scales and other equipment will be added at a
later date as the evaluation progresses.
Royal Air Force
Machines A006 and A008 will be installed in RAF Hendon and RAF Cosford
respectively from March 2016. [These two machines will be at Spring Stampex for the last time, therefore.]
Exact dates to be advised. Both locations
will carry the overprint ‘Royal Air Force’ and will vend Machin and
Union Flag stamp designs.
..... and, no doubt, Poppies at the appropriate time. I forecast these locations a while ago, which suggests that I am spending too much time thinking about Post and Go! No more guesswork for me!
I think the BFPO stamps should be very interesting and will serve a real postal need.
ReplyDeleteI've thought for a while that a series of stamps for British Forces postal services is an area into which Royal Mail should go. One particular area of stamp issuing could be to produce stamps for the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia which is administered by military government. This territory is a missed opportunity as regards being a stamp issuing entity and since it is Royal Mail which provides the postal service there perhaps it can consider special stamp issues for the BFPOs in the territory (if the agreement with Cyprus allows it).
At any rate, after the RAF Northholt trial, perhaps Post and Go kiosks could be set up in the Sovereign bases.
Ian
ReplyDeletePresumbly the BFPO m/c has no overprint?
I take it the RAF m/cs are in the RAF Museums at those locations and accessible to the public?
John Embrey
The BFPO stamps will probably be as inaccessible as those from Royal Mail HQ's office machine.
DeleteThe RAF Museum adjacent to RAF Cosford has a small shop next to the cafe, in a building which is close to the car-park. I don't know where the P&G machine will be - that seems the best place, although it will need support from Museum Shop staff not catering contractors. Admission to the Museum is free, although parking is charged. Parking for 20 minutes was free when I went there last year, but donations are most welcome, especially gift-aided.
Anybody with an interest in military aviation, and the cold war period in particular, will be entertained by this vast site. I recommend it.
For those going by car to RAF Hendon please note the following.
Delete* SatNav users please note:
If you enter "NW9 5LL" you may be directed to a point on the M1 motorway !
Instead, please enter "NW9 5QW which will direct you to the small industrial estate that is located next to the Museum.
I understand the guys running the British Forces Postal Service now are planning to do a FDC for stamps issued by the Northolt machine. This could prove to be the best way to obtain examples at a fair price???
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Cyprus,I can see how P&G machines could be used on ships, at locations such as Gib and up at Mt Pleasant in the Falklands, major NATO locations and may even prove portable enough to service detachments such as occurred to Italy when Libya needed the attention of the RAF, the UAE at the moment etc. etc. It's easy to see how a base like Fort Bastion in Afghanistan could have used one when it was open etc. etc.
I fear my pockets can't afford the future....
They are producing an FDC
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bfps.org.uk/coming-soon/bfpo-post-go-fdc.aspx
THEY - that is the BFPO at Northolt - are not producing the FDC. It is being produced by the British Forces Philatelic Service which is a private organisation based in Fife, Scotland, raising money for forces charities.
DeleteThe BFPS website (BFPS.org.uk) will have RAF Northolt FDCs and a few collectors strips available publicly on Friday 19th Feb. The machine went live there on 27th Jan. They have FDCs for both Machin and Union Flag designs (plus a mixed cover).
ReplyDelete