The Age of Dinosaurs - set and miniature sheet: 12 March 2024

Ten years ago Royal Mail issued a set of stamps that had been postponed from 2012. The postponement was mainly because of the volume of stamps from the Olympics with the unexpected extras from the Paralympics. 

Originally coinciding with the centenary of the publication Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s dinosaur thriller, The Lost World, the 2013 issue date was then close to the BBC/20thC Fox movie production Walking With Dinosaurs.

2013 Dinosaurs set used on commercial covers.

 

In the write-up for that issue Royal Mail referred to the "strong regional connection with Dorset due mainly to discoveries by pioneering fossil hunter Mary Anning".  Few people outside Dorset and  palaeontology have even heard of Mary Anning, but this time Royal Mail make her the focus of the issue.

Dinosaurs 2024, two pairs of 1st class stamps

Royal Mail's write-up:

"The Mesozoic Era, or the ‘Age of the Dinosaurs’ as it is commonly known, lasted from 252 to 66 million years ago and comprises, in order from oldest to youngest, the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. During most of this time, from the Late Triassic onwards, a group of reptiles known as dinosaurs dominated the land. Other non-dinosaur reptiles also thrived during this period, including marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, as well as the flying pterosaurs.

Fossilised remains help us to unearth the secrets of these incredible creatures, and one of the greatest fossil hunters of the 19th century was Mary Anning. Anning lived during a time when it was fashionable for wealthy Georgians to visit seaside towns to acquire fossils to add to their cabinets of curiosities. It was also when palaeontology was becoming recognised as a branch of the natural sciences. Anning spent her life unearthing ‘curios’ from the fossil-rich cliffs near her home in Lyme Regis, Dorset, to sell to tourists and scientific collectors alike, and made many important discoveries.

A fascination with prehistoric life continues today. Palaeontologists study all fossilised past life, including corals, fishes, mammals and plants, in addition to prehistoric reptiles. Fossils can help us not only to learn about the lives of these species, but to understand what the Earth was like in the past.

The set has once again been prepared in collaboration with the Natural History Museum in London, this time using scientists from six different palaeontological disciplines.

The new designs by digital illustrator Joshua Dunlop combine scientific accuracy with artistic brilliance in a captivating homage to the wonders of palaeontology, appealing to both stamp enthusiasts and dinosaur fans alike."

Details of the dinosaurs on the stamps are a the foot of the post.

Dinosaurs 2024, two pairs of £2 stamps

"The Miniature Sheet...

... is a tribute to Mary Anning who was one of the first professional fossil hunters.

Her discoveries of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and pterosaurs on the Dorset coast, near her home in Lyme Regis, paved the way for modern palaeontology and contributed to the understanding of prehistoric life on Earth. 

Each of her discoveries are presented within picture frames in the miniature sheet with captions written in microtext which can be read under a magnifying glass."

Dinosaurs miniature sheet publicity picture showing drawn-in perforations

Dinosaurs miniature sheet scan

The stamps individually

One of the 19th century’s greatest fossil hunters, Mary Anning made a series of incredible discoveries that helped the scientific community to better understand the remarkable creatures that inhabited Earth’s ancient seas and skies.

ICHTHYOSAURUS COMMUNISICHTHYOSAURUS COMMUNIS
201–198 MA, LYME REGIS, DORSET
A complete fossilised juvenile skeleton of the marine reptile with coprolite remains inside the rib cage. Purchased from Mary Anning c.1835.

 

 

DAPEDIUM POLITUMDAPEDIUM POLITUM 199–190 MA, LYME REGIS, DORSET
A near-complete Jurassic fish fossil, showing scale patterning and delicate fin structures. Collected by Mary Anning c.1829.

PLESIOSAURUS MACROCEPHALUSPLESIOSAURUS MACROCEPHALUS 201–198 MA, LYME REGIS, DORSET
A near-complete fossilised juvenile skeleton of the marine reptile lacking parts of the tail. Collected by Mary Anning in 1830.

Technical Details

The 50 x 30 mm stamps were printed by Cartor Security Printers in lithography on gummed paper, perf 14. The design was by The Chase, with illustrations by Joshua Dunlop.

The 180 x 74 mm miniature sheet was printed by Cartor Security Printers in lithography on self-adhesive paper.  The Mary Anning and Dapedium stamps are 27 x 37 mm perf 14.  The Ichthyosaur is 27 x 27 mm perf 14.  The Pleiosaur is 35 mm square perf 14½.

Products

Set of 8, miniature sheet, presentation pack, stamp cards, first day covers x2, press sheet of 12 miniature sheets (ediiton of 200 at £60 each).  T-Rex coin cover, framed set, framed T-Rex print.

Write-up of Sheet Stamps

1st - Tyrannosaurus was a fierce predator that belonged to a group of dinosaurs known as theropods. One of the largest meat-eating animals ever to live on land, Tyrannosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous Period between 68 and 66 million years ago. The first known specimen was discovered in 1900 in Wyoming, USA.

1st - Triceratops was one of the biggest horned dinosaurs. It lived around 68 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period, alongside the likes of Tyrannosaurus. Triceratops weighed about 5 tonnes and measured up to 9m in length – its head alone was about as long as a person. It had a curved, bony frill jutting out over its neck and a hard beak at the end of its nose. The word Triceratops means ‘three-horned face’ – a reference to its impressive horns, which may have been used in defence against large meat eaters.

1st - Coloborhynchus was a type of pterosaur, a group of extinct flying reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve flight over 220 million years ago and included the largest flying creatures of all time. Coloborhynchus lived during the Early Cretaceous Period and was one of the earliest pterosaurs to be discovered.

1st - Iguanodon was a large ornithopod that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period between 125 and 110 million years ago. Reaching a length of about 10m, it was a very large dinosaur – longer than both Triceratops and Stegosaurus – and a herbivore that probably ate around 30kg of plants every day. It is thought that Iguanodon probably walked on both two and four legs. It was one of the most successful dinosaurs, with remains having been found in many parts of Europe. Iguanodon had a large thumb spike, which was probably used to fend off predators. It also had a very long finger that it used to gather food.

£2 - Stegosaurus belongs to a group of dinosaurs known as stegosaurs, which are defined by the bony armour plates or spines that extend along the back in two parallel rows. Despite being one of the most recognisable dinosaurs, we know relatively little about it, as remains of Stegosaurus are rare.

£2 - Diplodocus. One of the longest dinosaurs ever to have existed, Diplodocus was a long-necked prehistoric creature belonging to a group of dinosaurs called sauropods. It lived 150 million years ago at the end of the Jurassic Period. Reaching up to 27m in length, Diplodocus was a giant, weighing around 20 tonnes – as much as three male African elephants. It may have used its long neck to reach the tops of tall trees and its comb-like teeth to rake leaves into its mouth.

£2 - Megalosaurus was one of three species (along with Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus) that led palaeontologist and anatomist Sir Richard Owen to coin the term ‘Dinosauria’ back in 1842, when he realised that all three creatures shared common characteristics and were their own distinct group of reptiles. His paper sparked a fascination with dinosaurs that continues today. It was William Buckland, a clergyman and palaeontologist, who, in 1824, named the creature Megalosaurus, which means ‘great lizard’. This was the first scientific description ever produced of what became known as a dinosaur. Megalosaurus was a large theropod that roamed what is now England during the Middle Jurassic Period between 170 and 155 million years ago. Growing up to 9m long, it was one of the largest predators of the Middle Jurassic.

£2 - Cryptoclidus was a type of plesiosaur – a group of extinct marine reptiles that existed from the Middle Triassic to the Late Cretaceous Periods. Some species reached 15m in length, although most were between 3m and 5m long. Plesiosaurs have been described as looking like a ‘snake threaded through a turtle’. Their limbs were large, well-developed paddles and it is thought that Cryptoclidus flapped these up and down in a similar way to a turtle. Plesiosaurs would have been found across the world, including in what is now Argentina, USA, Australia, France, Germany, China and Morocco. Many fossils have been found of Cryptoclidus, particularly from the Oxford Clay Formation in the UK, making it one of the best understood of all plesiosaurs.

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When the printer doesn't replicate the artist's work it seems wasted

The 2019 Christmas stamp designs are excellent, but can be marred by poor execution.  There is little point in having a sky full of snowflakes if they are so small that poor colour registration obscures them entirely!

Top, a copy of the 2nd class Stamp Card, below it an enlarged copy of the stamp.

 

Our copies of the 1st class stamp also exhibit a displacement of the colours, but not as marked as on the 2nd class.  The booklet stamps are more or less as they should be.

But maybe we shouldn't blame the printers alone. Any design commissioning team could have seen the likely consequences of less than perfect registration, and whilst ISP Walsall normally do a very good job, with very long print runs this sort of thing is always likely to occur on a small part of it.

So maybe the commissioning teams need to emphasise just how small stamps actually are, and explain that the stamp wasn't going to be printed just in shades of blue, but in a combination of four colours.  Still, the problem isn't anywhere near as bad as it was a few years ago.  We still have these available on our shop.

 

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Amazing misregistration on 2013 Christmas stamp

We were used to seeing misregistration of various degrees from Walsall retail booklets during 2013 so when Graham sent me this image I thought it was another - albeit extreme - example of Walsall's work.

But in fact this comes from a De La Rue sheet of 50 !

The cyan and black are in one register and the magenta and yellow in another which has produced a really strange effect - pass the 3-D glasses !

If you would like one of these we have a few, please contact us ian@norphil.co.uk
The price is £19.95 and it's available from our shop.

If anybody finds anything like this in kiloware, or unused, we will be interested to hear about it. (Thanks Graham - see more of his work here.)

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Faststamp Additions to stock

Latest additions to our webstore:

Union Flag Faststamps MA13 from Post Office (Wincor) machine



Back in stock: the 2nd class Faststamp MA13 pair from the touring Pop-Up Post Office

Limited supplies, so if you are still looking for these, now is your chance.

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Nomadic Pop-Up Post Office Shop - now you see it, now you don't, and guess what's inside ?

Royal Mail announcement 15 November:

Royal Mail are delighted to be working with Post Office Ltd on their Christmas Stamp Shop. This Pop Up Post Office is a large mobile trailer that will tour some of the major shopping locations around the UK in the run up to Christmas.

The Post Office will be selling Christmas Stamps and Smilers.  In addition, Royal Mail’s own Post and Go terminal will be vending Post and Go stamps.  The truck will be open from 11 am - 7 pm

Full details are listed below:

·         Royal Mail’s Post and Go machines used for Exhibitions:  A3 and A4
·         Post and Go Stamps: Robins (MA13) and 2^nd Class (MA12) - not MA13* §§
·         There is no overprint
·         Receipts will be unique to each venue
·         The Smilers sheets will be available in 10 and 20 stamp sheets with the following designs available:

o   Madonna and Child 1^st and 2^nd class - no 2nd class

o   Christmas 2012 Santa 1^st Class may be available dependant on early demand

§§  Well, so much for official information sources.  If this is a foretaste of what we can expect now that Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd are split, and external contractors are involved, the future looks to be full of confusion.

After the original MA13 report was countered by Royal Mail,  yesterday evening I received a report that the MA13 2nd class Faststamps had indeed been purchased at Newcastle on day 1, for a brief period.  Evidence from eBay and another blog shows that MA12 stock was loaded in both machines initially but that MA13 stock was loaded part-way through the morning of 20 November (Day 1).

I delayed reporting this initially because I wanted to find out whether the stamps were available from both machines and whether our representative on the road had was able to secure any for our customers.  (My initial thought was that he might not have made the journey when the 'no MA13' correction was made.)  I now believe that we may be able to secure some and make some FDCs for our customers.  More news to those customers later.  I've been told that only 2 rolls (of 1500 labels) were available.  But that does not mean that there may be more later depending on usage - by Shepherds Bush who knows what might be available.  
                                                                                                      
MINT NOW IN STOCK ON OUR WEBSHOP - FDCs now in!
                                                                                                     

UPDATE 26 NOV:  An pair of stamps listed on eBay bought at Glasgow on Sunday morning (24th) is reported to have MA13 code, and we have since had reliable information that MA12 was available on Saturday, but MA13 was on sale on Sunday.  Both MA12 and MA13 were available at Liverpool.

Thanks to Mike, here are some pictures from Newcastle:

Click on the 'receipt' image to see a larger version.

(Note London Westfield is Shepherds Bush, not Stratford.)

UPDATE 9 DECEMBER:
Thanks to several contributors for this information.

Glasgow: 23 November both machines had MA12 2nd class.  24th November MA13 loaded and session numbers 2536(A3) and 2569(A4) obtained.

Birmingham: 

5th December: Machine A3 had MA13 Robins and MA13 2nd class and A4 had MA13 Robins and MA12 2nd class.   After 2pm - the 2nd class roll MA13 was now sitting in A4 and A3 was holding the MA12.

Visited twice on the 5th and once on the 6th. Business was slow on the 1st day with no crowds and no queue

The system was in use by the public but not in any quantity and used mainly for an individual value e.g. a Christmas card to Canada or a letter to Hong Kong. Sales push was with the Smilers and as these were ordered through the machine each sale would be logged and go on the final total figure so even though there might have been 40 transactions it would include the Smiler requests.

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I am surprised that this wandering trailer - we used to know them as Mobile Post Offices - is making such a passing visit to each location.   Last year, Post Office Ltd announced that the pop-up post office (which opened on 30 November) was:

"The first of its kind to be found in the UK is located in Camden Market and is showcasing a range of collectible and retail items. The Pop Up shop will be open seven days a week and customers will benefit from extensive opening hours as well as a range of services including posting and packaging.  To help make life easier for customers a gift wrapping service is also available with all donations going to BBC Children in Need."

I haven't had a formal statement from Post Office Ltd about the rationale behind the tour, but understand that the focus is on selling stamps - expect there to be blow-ups of the competition winners designs - and instant Smilers.  There will be no counter services, no Horizon system, though there may be a posting box, presumably with mail to be offloaded into the local mail distribution system. So although they are described as post offices, they are really just post office retail units.

There is no doubt that - despite initial difficulties in actually finding it - customers made the Camden unit a great success.  The new mobile trailers - to be located in major shopping streets or covered shopping centres - will stand out.  It seems they won't be tucked away in an otherwise vacant corner.   But can the same sort of success be replicated when the unit is only in one place for two days?

By chance the Camden unit's turnover included significant philatelic sales as collectors and dealers found definitive stamps not previously available from Royal Mail's Tallents House bureau or from many post office branches, and further supplies were made available as collectors bought up initial stocks.  Philatelic sales will be far lower (pro rata) at these venues than at Camden last year, although collectors will certainly flock to Newcastle on 20th November for the new 2nd class Machin Faststamps with year code MA13 simply because it will be available for the first time.
(see above!)
But one has to question why it exists, given that stocks of the MA12 version were sold only at Spring Stampex and in bureau packs and have never appeared in Post Office Wincor-Nixdorf machines.   I'm not one for using the term 'cynical exploitation' but I feel sure that the original print run of MA12 2nd class Machin Faststamps has not been exhausted.

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Some pictures from our readers - many thanks Doug, !

The leaflet given out in the Covent Garden area:

Croydon pictures from John McCullum:

and Covent Garden from John

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Christmas Robin Stamps appear at BPMA and Stafford

As foretold the Christmas Robin Faststamps were available from Post and Go machines last week.  Their first appearance was at the British Postal Museum and Archive in Phoenix Place, London WC1, and the first day of issue of the plain version with no further inscription was at the Stafford Stamp Show on Friday 8th, Saturday 9th November.

Discussion on their appearance at Post Offices - click here.

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BPMA

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Stafford

This doesn't really qualify as a variety but was a natural product of the machine with a little foreign matter trapped in the roll.  As you can see from the numbers it did not affect a continuous run, with strips starting with number 19 and number 25 unmarked.  (There's nothing on the back of any of the strips.)

It could be stray ink, but could be something else!

I'll be contacting regular customers about these as soon as possible, but if you want to write please do. 

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Christmas Robins Post and Go stamps make a return

As expected some Post Offices and other outlets are to use Robins Faststamps again this year.  This post will help keep track of what is happening where.

There is no formal 'first day' of Robins with the MA13 code at post offices.

1. The new stamps have been installed at the British Postal Museum and Archive in Phoenix Place effective 5 November.  These have the BPMA inscription and are sold from the Hytech/Next Generation machine.  (For images see here.)

2. Stamps with no additional inscription were on sale from machines A3 and A4 at the Stafford Stamp Fair on Friday 8 / Saturday 9 November. (For images see here.)

3. Use at ordinary post offices will be varied.  Some will continue to use MA12 stock which they have left over from last year.  Replenishment orders from Swindon stores may be MA12 initially then MA13.  Available at Trafalgar Square on 12 November - others see below!

4. It is likely that any 'pop-up' post office, as at Camden Lock last year, will use new stock. We have no details of such a post office yet - expect it in early December.  Details now available here.


Update 7 December - Summary of comments so far:

Old St London    5 November - robins not yet available
Farringdon St      5 November - no robins available
York (Lendal)      5 November - Christmas Pigs 
Glasgow              5 November - Flags in 1 (since exhausted), Machins in 2+3.
Edinburgh           5 November - Rivers in 1,2,3
Stockport             6 November - Robins MA12
Plymouth             6 November - "have no intention of having Robins" (they say!) §
London Baker St  6 November - Rivers
York (Lendal)       8 November - Pigs (thanks PB!)
London Farringdon R 12 November - Ponds (Christmas Newt)
*Exeter                  11 November - Robins MA12
Devon/Cornwall  11 November - MA12 Robins widespread
Exmouth              12 November - Birds 4, Christmas Ringed Plover
Tonbridge             12 November - Pigs
Trafalgar Sq       12 November - ROBINS MA13

Aldwych              13 November - m/c 1 Rivers, m/c 2 Flags
Norwich              13 November - ROBINS MA13 
Reading               13 November - Rivers in both machines
Harrogate             13 November - Machins (1), Rivers (2)
Maidstone            14 November - Machin (1), Rivers (2) 
Plymouth  §          16 November - Robins MA12 in all machines
Macclesfield         16 November - Pond life
* Exeter               16 November - Robins MA12 in 1+2, MA13 in 3
Paignton               16 November - Rivers (update - see 19th)
Yeovil                   16 November - Rivers
Balham High St    18 Nov - Lakes
Clapham High St  18 Nov - Rivers x 3 m/c
Lavender Hill        19 Nov - Cattle (Clapham Junction)
New Malden         19 Nov - Rivers (1), Robins MA12 (2)
Croydon               19 Nov - Robins MA13 in all machines
Paignton                19 Nov - Robins, MA12  
Tudor Street (L)  21 Nov - MA13 Robins, Flag + Machin (* flag MA13 only briefly)
Aldwych (Lon)    21Nov - Robins MA13
Bristol Galleries   22 Nov - Robins MA12 in all 5
Aberystwyth         22 Nov - Cattle 
* Exeter               23 Nov - still Robins MA12 in 1+2, MA13 in 3
Blackfriars Road   25 Nov - Lakes
Great Portland St  25 Nov -  Machin Head original
Baker Street          25 Nov -  Rivers in both m/c
Paddington            25 Nov - Union Flag (original) in both m/c
Birmingham        27 Nov - Flag in #2; Machin in #3, 7 and 8; Fish in #4-6; Robin MA13 in #9-10
Plymouth   §        28 Nov - Robins MA13

Update 13 December
Farringdon Road - Ponds
Blackfriars Road, Southwark - Sheep (not Lakes)
* Tudor Street - Machins, MA13 in machines 1 & 3. Union Flags, no date in machine 2
Aldwych - Robins, MA13 in both machines (no Rivers)
Covent Garden - 2nd class & 2nd class Large Machins, MA13 in one machine
.... and because no Rivers at Aldwych:-
Baker Street - Ponds (not Rivers)

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Christmas Stamp competition winners get further slogan postmarks

Following the daily postmarks for each of the Design A Stamp competition finalists, Royal Mail have told us that there will be a national postmark for each of the winners of the Christmas Stamp Design Competition.
 
There is one each for Molly Robson and Rosie Hargreaves.  Their postmarks will feature on mail delivered from November 5^th (Molly) and November 12^th (Rosie).  

This means that the postmarks started in use yesterday Monday November 4th (I didn't get one this morning) so please send examples from any office on any day, and we'll post them here later today or when we get back from Stafford at the weekend.

Less than 90 minutes have passed and I can now show the first images from Mike M and John E - thanks guys!

4 November 2013 -

Congratulations to

Molly Robson

Winner of

RoyalMail's

Christmas Stamp 

Design Competition

Lancashire and South Lakes MC,
Cumbria, Dumfries + Galloway MC,
North West Midlands MC

Unfortunately mid-Norfolk's post is handled by Norwich mail centre which doesn't have the facility to add slogans like these, and the news was too late for any of our contacts to send me a first day cover with this slogan.   But one of our contributors in Glasgow was more fortunate and has sent this image over a FDC posted from Birmingham.  The slogan isn't as clear as it might have been, and the cover has suffered a little - perhaps it was raining.  Nonetheless it is a desirable item, and as good as a CDS FDC as far as I am concerned. 

Has anybody got any spare ones? 

This FDC with the Pudsey CDS also has the North and West Yorkshire 'congratulations' slogan.

Here's the second winner's slogan.  One from Chester that we received for the first day, and one from Cornwall (thanks Bob M):

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Christmas Stamp Competition Winners Announced

As promised Royal Mail has today announced the winners of their Christmas Design-a-Stamp Competition.

The designs were chosen from 240,000 entries and were selected by a panel of judges including His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. The stamps will be on sale from November 5th.

Molly Robson's stamp has been chosen for the 1st class value

Rosie Hargreaves' design has been chosen for the 2nd class value

Here's Rosie's postmark, sadly we don't have a good one for Molly!

Congratulations to the winners!

Product Details

The 1st and 2nd class stamps will be issued on 5 November alongside the Madonna and Child stamps.   There is a FDC and a Presentation Pack but no stamp cards.

The competition stamps are self-adhesive and have been produced in what is described as 'a concertina-style' sheet of 25 stamps, similar definitive business sheets.  We don't have an image of this yet, but it seems they will be similar to booklets issued prior to 2006, when stamps were larger than definitive size.  Despite the printing format, these stamps will be sold singly.

The 47 x 30mm stamps are printed in gravure by International Security Printers (probably Walsall).

These stamps were not distributed to dealers on a standing order basis, and Tallents House have confirmed that no stamps, covers or packs will be sent to standing order customers: they must be ordered separately.  Whether blank FDCs are available at POs I cannot say. 

Thanks to AP for this picture of the sheets, and what is probably the presentation pack

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British Stamp news update 28 October

No new stamps have been discovered in the last week but correspondents have provided a couple of items of news.

Robert reports that the self-adhesive poppy stamp is back at a local post office.  He mentions the date of 11 November but I suspect they will be on sale before then.  We haven't been given any official issue date.

Adrian reports that

'there has been an update to the Smilers App for the iPhone on 25 October, including adding in the ability to order multiple designs in the same transaction.
Also, there is a new "Happy Halloween" template for the labels, and the ability to add witches hats, pumpkins, etc to the image.'

Norvic shop
We're transferring the pictorial country definitives to our new shop, which means adding some values which were never included in the old one.

What shall we add next?

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Royal Mail Design a Christmas Stamp Slogans - Part 2

Having used special slogan postmarks for the 11 Doctor Whos, and the 11 Football Legends, Royal Mail has now used similar postmarks for the finalists in their Design a Christmas Stamp Childrens Competition.

This is part 2 of the listing; the first part is here. 

The campaign started on 3 October, with each postmark being in use for one day only (at least that is the plan, but see the detail below), running up to the announcement of the two winners on 31 October, and the issuing of the stamps on 5 November.

Latest text additions will be in blue; images will be slotted in more or less in order.  I've arranged to have covers sent from Shropshire/Wales for the rest of the campaign and hope to be able to provide examples of all.

21 October Danielle Lockie from Newtown St Boswells at Chester and N Wales MC

Here's a better example of that from Cambridge MC - thanks JG!

Also from JG, the 22 October Kristina Pavic from Sheffield slogan from Cambridge MC; also seen from North West Midlands MC but date unclear (could be 23rd).

and 23 October Thomas Donaldson from Hull also from Cambridge MC.

24 October Daniel Payne from Rainham also from Cambridge MC.

25 October Thomas Gaynham from Chelmsford from Chester and N Wales MC (one of mine) and Gatwick MC seen (thanks JC); Bath Bristol Taunton MC reported here;
and also
26 October from Gatwick MC (thanks JG)

28 October Ava Reynolds from Norwich - Chester and N Wales MC, and Cumbria Dumfries and Galloway MC; also Lancashire and South Lakes MC (delivered a day late).
Error - Ava Reynolds from Norwich also used 29 October at Nottingham MC

29 October Ethan Mahal from Derby - Chester and N Wales MC 
(see also 28 October entry)

30 October Morgan Spink from Newark - Cambridge MC

31 October Oliver Miller from Oswestry - Cambridge MC
1 November at Nottingham MC who seem to have been in a different time zone for this campaign

1 November Fred Egerton from Newcastle-under-Lyme - Cambridge MC. Also seen from Cornwall MC - postmarked 5.11pm didn't arrive on Saturday :-(

Most of the Cambridge ones thanks to JG.  And that completes the series.  But if anybody in Wales has any more to show, please send us copies, which will help us to see where they were applied.

Not quite the end, as JG has now sent the last Welsh-language ones from Cambridge to Cardiff, copies dated 30 and 31 October and 1 November.  We still need to see some from Welsh offices other than Chester.

31 October Jayden Roberts / + Nicola Murphy / o Gymru / rhestr fer Cystadleuaeth / Dylunic Stamp Nadolig y / Post Brenhinol

LATE USAGE:
The Fred Egerton postmark, due on 1st November (and 2nd) has been seen in use at North & West Yorkshire on 2nd and 4th, and at North West Midlands on 4th and 8th!

But really late usage goes to North and West Yorkshire who seem to have restarted the campaign after the winners were announced.  Olivia Heller's postmark was supposed to be in use only on 7 October!  (Thanks Bob M)

This list from Royal Mail shows full details with the intended dates of use.  What has been found, however, is that some slogans have been used on more than one date, not always the expected ones.  § Friday dates seem to continue to Saturday (4/5, 11/12, 18/19, 25/26)

Region	Location	Name	intended date	Actual dates
South East	Horsham	Molly Robson	3 October	3 October
South East	Royal Tunbridge Wells	Olivia Heller	7 October	7, 8 October  25 November!
North West	Bamber Bridge	Tia Dann	8 October	8 - 9 October
North West	Blackburn	Adil Hanney	9 October	9,10 October
Northern Ireland	Holywood	Corin McCrea	11 October §	11,12 October
Northern Ireland	Armagh	Niall Conn	10 October	10,11 October
North East	Darlington	Faye Hughes	14 October	14,15 October
North East	Berwick-upon-Tweed	Rowan McAlpine	15 October	15 October
South West	Devon	Rosie Hargreaves	17 October	17 October
South West	Taunton	Finn Alexander	16 October	16,17 October
Scotland	Banchory	Archie Hilton	18 October §	18 -19  October
Scotland	Newtown St Boswells	Danielle Lockie	21 October	21 October
Yorkshire and Humberside	Sheffield	Kristina Pavic	22 October	22 October
Yorkshire and Humberside	Hull	Thomas Donaldson	23 October	23 October
London	Rainham	Daniel Payne	24 October	24,25 October
London	Wandsworth	Natacha Simpson	4 October §	4-5 October
East of England	Chelmsford	Thomas Gaynham	25 October §	25 - 26 October
East of England	Norwich	Ava Reynolds	28 October	28 October 29 Oct @ NG
West Midlands	Oswestry	Oliver Miller	31 October	31 October 1 Nov @ NG
West Midlands	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Fred Egerton	1 November	1, 2 November 4 @ NW Yorks 4,8 @ NW Mids
East Midlands	Newark	Morgan Spink	30 October	30 October
East Midlands	Derby	Ethan Mahal	29 October	29,30 October
Wales		Jayden Roberts Nicole Murphy	Oct 3-17 in English Oct 18 – Nov 4 in Welsh	11 October (E) 18,31 Oct (W) 4 Nov (W)
Wales