In the 1950s I, along with a few other boys & girls, founded and ran a stamp club for the boys & girls in Newlands Road Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.
    This club never was organized or run by any adults. The club started on April 15th 1953, and finally closed in 1967 (Jan). This alone would have been remarkable, but the activities and publicity that this, the ONLY all junior stamp club, gained was historic. I was 13 years old when it started; when I became an adult, at the age of 21, I had to leave (!) in 1961. The club celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1963 by holding a public exhibition at the Art Club on the Pantiles (the most famous area of Tunbridge Wells). The Mayor of Tunbridge Wells formally opened it in July.

HELP WANTED.
     This club was so important to me that I want to write a book about the whole experience. I want to do this for two reasons.
1) To possibly encourage others (of any age) to run a club themselves along similar lines (not necessarily a stamp club).
2) So that I can leave some permanent record about the club for my own satisfaction.

    I am looking for any old members, and others who were affected by the club, to contact me and let me have any tit bits of reminiscences.
    In this web site I will include the names of all the members and some names of some others who were involved in any way. So if anyone who is one of these would kindly contact me or if you who KNOW any of these and would kindly contact them, (or myself and let me have a contact address) I would be most grateful..
    Much more  can  be found out about this club in the Yahoo Group

 

 

 

 

 

             So please  do visit the  above  groups.  You will need to join the  group(s) and to do this you will need a Yahoo ID,  which you can easily  get free.

     In April 2003 the Post Office  printed commemorative designs on to labels joined to valid postage stamps, in their “Smilers”  range to celebrate  this  club.  I believe this was the  first time  any Philatelic Society ever did this.  Only a few  sheets were  printed, and about 35  FDCs were  posted in Tunbridge Wells on the 50th anniversary of the  start of the  club.   Most of the  stamps and FDCs have  been sold, but there  are a very few left.

 

The  full set of stamps  and designs of the

 labels and FDCS can be  seen in the

 YAHOO  GROUP (click for  group)

Or click picture  for full sized picture.

NEWLANDS ROAD

PHILATELIC

SOCIETY

1953—1967

The Only all Junior stamp club, EVER! (to live for 14  years)

Email:   Chris

CHRIS PHILLIPS 

home page | NEWLANDS ROAD PS page 1

LINK to Yahoo  Group.  

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newlandsroadphilatelicsociety

Also  for anyone who has ever lived in the road there is also this group

   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newlands_road_tw_kent

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SOME PICTURES  Click on pictures  for  full sized pictures

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1953  -  1967