Members gathered for a special lunch to celebrate the anniversary of the club serving their long-standing hobby

A cake decorated with stamps in piped icing was the centrepiece of the Sidmouth and Honiton Philatelic Society’s 80th anniversary celebration.

The cake was made by Jill Cavell from Seaton.

At the event on Monday October 15, each member received a specially decorated envelope commemorating the anniversary, in the style of the ‘first day covers’ created when new stamps are launched. It was designed by long-standing member Patrick Mitchell.

Many of the club’s members have been fascinated by stamps since they were very young. Chairman John Simpson said: “As schoolboys, we bought a 6d packet of “All World Stamps” from Woolworths and attempted to fill as many spaces as possible in our albums. Today, we all have specialist collections of one country, one region, one place, covers that have travelled abroad, Victorian covers and very old ones that predate stamps, when the recipient had to pay the postage. That would stop the junk mail today!”

The Society is always looking for new members. If interested please contact David Brittain tel: 01395 579294.