September slogan postmarks and other interesting postal markings

Thank you to everybody who has contributed with images of the latest postmark. Nobody would have guessed back in February when we reported this slogan

 

that before the year was ended we would see the Prince of Wales proclaimed King Charles III and the nation's letters cancelled with a slogan marking the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Two examples which are particularly clear, JE sent one from Preston (Lancashire and South Lakes) and BM one from North & West Yorkshire, both in the same format.  I don't yet have one in the other format.

In Memoriam
Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II
1926-2022

In Memoriam slogan: North & West Yorkshire 09/09/2022

In Memoriam slogan: Lancashire and South Lakes 09/09/2022

UPDATE 14 September: Thanks to MM I now have the other layout posted in Edinburgh on 13-09-2022 on an appropriate stamp.

In Memoriam slogan: Edinburgh Mail Centre 13-09-2022

I also have an image of an envelope with this slogan, and a Chester & N Wales postmark of September 7th.  JE explains how this would have happened.

The letter appears
to have been posted 2nd class on 7 September in Chester's catchment, and
the date-block and wavy lines - but no slogan - were applied by IMP no.
236.  

As CWU strikes were scheduled for 8 & 9 September, it looks as
though 2nd class mail was put aside to be sorted and despatched after
the strike.  As it happened, the strike on 9 September was cancelled, so
the stored mail put through the IMP again for sorting and received the
'In Memoriam' which by then was in use.  

So - probably no premature use,
but an interesting item all the same. I was reminded of a similar
occurrence as few years ago when a comet landing slogan which
appeared to have been posted before the actual landing, for the same
reason. 

The slogan is not properly aligned with the rest of the postmark, indicating two passes through the machinery.  I'm not going to show it here, because the image on its own would be most misleading, and embarrasing to Royal Mail.  (It is now on eBay and sold for £30)

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The slogan which replaced the In Memoriam is another Greetings Card Industry slogan - of course if you are sending a card then Royal Mail hope that you will post it.   This year Thinking of You week is September 19-25.

Send A Card
Deliver A Smile for
Thinking of You Week
19th-25th September 2021

Thanks to MM for these two examples from Tyneside on 21-09-2022, both on PPIs, a better Tyneside example from BM.  The clearest impression, from Southampton also from MM, and the usual poor impression from Exeter from a different BM.

Thinking of You Week slogan, Exeter Mail Centre 21-09-2022

Thinking of You Week slogan, Southampton Portsmouth & IOW Mail Centre 21/09/2022

Thinking of You Week slogan, Tyneside Mail Centre 21-09-2022 on PPIs

Thinking of You Week slogan, Tyneside Mail Centre 21-09-2022 a better example

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After Thinking of You Week Royal Mail have returned to what is probably this year's default slogan reminding people to use up their non-Barcoded stamps.  This arrived today from Greenfored, dated 26/09/2022.

Barcoded stamps slogan, Greenford/Windsor, 26/09/2022

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OTHER POSTMARKS & POSTAL MARKINGS

The Westminster Collection sponsors many special handstamps associated with royalty and their latest announced one was on 9 September.  Readers will know that all special handstamps are available for anybody to obtain, and collectors also sent in their covers for that date.  

Unfortunately the slogan was singularly inappropriate following on after the death of Her Majesty.

Long to Reign Over Us special handstamp 09.09.2022

So readers may be asking why this was not stopped.  The simply answer is that, for the sponsor at least, covers are cancelled in advance and returned so that the sponsor can prepare them to be sent to customers who have ordered them.

Even for other collectors, the items to be cancelled may be processed so that they are in the post the day before and therefore received by them on the date on the postmark.  Considering the 8th and 9th were both days when Royal Mail's CWU workers were on strike, it made sense to have the handstamps applied in advance.

I don't think the Westminster Collection will be selling these: they are very busy with Accession and other Charles III souvenirs. They will probably return them to Royal Mail for a refund of the postage on however many hundred or thousand covers they produced - not that they would get back the £1 gold stamps, only a credit on their account.

But other collectors have a novelty - as novel as the In Memoriam slogan above, apparently applied on 7 September.

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Whilst I expect the In Memoriam slogan to continue for most of the month, any other postmarks appearing in September will be added to this post, so check here before you spend time scanning and emailing.  I'll try to add new ones as quickly as possible.

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