Kingweston, Knowle, Knowle Park

This first item is from Kingweston to Wells in 1971 and has two diamond census marks - these were normally applied at the receiving town, in this case Wells.

These next items are from Knowle (which I have posted about before but only the Penny Post handstamp).  The first item is a Greeting Telegram from 1938 with a single ring "KNOWLE-BRISTOL 4." handstamp.

The next two items have two different "KNOWLE . BRISTOL 4" handstamps, from 1978 and from 1997.

Knowle Park is just west of Knowle.  The post office opened in 1927 and the sheet below has a single ring cancel from 1952 and a self-inking datestamp from 1997.

Keinton Mandeville, Kenn, Keyford, Kings Hill, Kingsdon

This first sheet has a Keinton Mandeville skeleton cancel from 23rd December 1909.  The skeleton is known in use from 30th November 1909 to 14th January 1910.  The other cover below has a 'Birmingham' cancel from 1977.

Kenn initially came under Bristol - the sheet below has a cutout of a Climax rubber cancel from1905 - before it transferred to Clevedon in 1935.  The post office closed in 2002.

This registered envelope was posted at Keyford, a town sub-office of Frome on 23rd March 1914.  The registration etiquette is a Frome one with a blank for the sub-office number ("3") to be entered and happens to be "No. 1" - the sequence number used to track the registered item.

The post office in Kings Hill, Nailsea opened in 1966 and was closed in 2008.  The philatelic cover below was sent in 1973 and has "KINGS HILL NAILSEA / BRISTOL" single ring cancels.

The sheet below has items sent from Kingsdon in 1911 and 1975.  The stamp on the 1975 cover has a corner cut off - it is possible that the sender was hoping for some extra philatelic markings !

High Littleton, Hillfarrance, Holcombe, Huish Episcopi

The items below were sent from High Littleton, starting with a Climax rubber cut-out from 1896, a single ring cancel from 1911 and 'Dulwich' double circle double-arc cancels from 1974.

Another philatelic registered cover, again an uprated Letter Card, this one sent from Hillfarrance in 1975.

The letter below was sent from Holcombe on 18th November 1918, a week after the Armistice.  It bears a War Seal Disabled Service label.

Finally a commemorative cover with a Huish Episcopi commemorative cancel for the British Architecture issue in 1972.  The Huish Episcopi post office was open from 1852 to 1870.

Henlade, Hewish, High Ham

Carrying on with the alphabetical tour of places I haven't blogged before, the postcard below is from Henlade, sent in August 1918.

The next two sheets are from Hewish, starting with two different single ring handstamps, the first with a horizontal "HEWISH" in 1880 and the second with a curved "HEWISH" in 1884.

This next sheet has two different double circle double-arc cancels, the first a 'Dulwich' type from 1925 and the second a 'Birmingham' type from 1975.

The philatelic registered cover below was sent from High Ham in 1975 - it is an uprated Letter Card.

Failand, Farmborough, Goathurst

The philatelic registered envelope below was posted at Failand in 1975 and has a "FAILAND / BRISTOL" single ring handstamp on the reverse and a Failand registration etiquette.  It then received an oval "REGISTERED / SHEPTON MALLET SOM." handstamp and finally the stamps on the front were cancelled at Bristol.

The postcard below was posted in Farmborough (about 8 miles west-south-west of Bath) in 1910, and shows a view of Farmborough of the period.

The postcard below is a POW card from Camp 44, Goathurst near Bridgwater, posted in 1946 ...

... and below is a philatelic registered envelope from Goathurst in 1975.  The post office closed in 2000.

East Anstey (Devon), East Brent, East Pennard, Erdington, Exford

East Anstey is in Devon, about four miles west of Dulverton.  Its post office came under Dulverton until 1932 when it transferred to Tiverton, 13 miles to the south.  The post office closed by 2000.  The date on the postcard below is unreadable but should be before 1932 as the cancel is "EAST ANSTEY / DULVERTON.SOMERSET".

East Brent was originally under Weston-super-Mare before transferring to Bridgwater in 1870.  It then transferred to Highbridge by 1891, which would have been its post town when the two items below were posted.  The second item is a piece from a parcel with 1/9d postage due cancelled by violet framed "CHARGE NOT COLLECTED / FRESH LABEL REQUIRED" cachets in 1956.

The postcard below from East Pennard has an "EAST PENNARD / SHEPTON MALLET" cancel from 1937.  The post office was closed by 1971.

The next two postcards from Erdington were posted on the same day in July 1904 and have identical cancels - both with the year in the "ERDINGTON / SOM" single ring cancel inverted.

 

The postcard below was posted in Exford in 1976.  Exford initially came under Taunton in 1852, then transferred to Minehead RSO, then back to Taunton, then to Dunster RSO, then back to Taunton, then to Dunster, then back to Taunton and finally to Minehead in 1932 !

Ditcheat, Draycott, Drayton, Dundry

Moving on to the "D"s we get to Ditcheat, about six miles south of Shepton Mallet.  The postcards below have "DITCHEAT" single ring cancels from 1906 and 1911.  The post office closed in 2008.

This next postcard is from Draycott in 1907, with a "DRAYCOTT / CHEDDAR R.S.O SOMERSET" single ring cancel.  Draycott had come under Cheddar Railway Sub-Office in 1865.  The post office stopped using the R.S.O. terminology in 1905 but use of this handstamp carried on.

The (philatelic) registered envelope below has "DRAYTON / LANGPORT . SOMERSET" 'Birmingham' cancels from 1975

Dundry is five miles south-west of Bristol - the sheet below shows postmarks from 1909, 1931 and 1980.  The post office in Dundry closed in 1995.

Corston, Cranmore, West Cranmore

This first sheet has two different cancels in use at Corston, a "CORSTON / BRISTOL" single ring known used from 1908 to 1921, and a "CORSTON / BRISTOL" double circle double-arc ('Dulwich') cancel known used from 1928 to 1932.

This first example from Cranmore also shows a 'Dulwich' cancel on a registered letter sent in 1941.

The cancels on this next cover from 1980 are not very clear, but it could be the same cancel still in use.

Cranmore also had a commemorative cancel for the East Somerset Railway in 1992.  The post office closed in 1998.

West Cranmore, one mile to the south of Cranmore, had the post office up until 1937 when it moved to Cranmore - here is an example of a single ring cancel from 1919.

Compton Dando, Compton Martin

This first sheet is from Compton Dando, with a cutout of a rubber cancel from 1910 and a handstamp from 1979.  The post office closed in 1986.

Compton Martin is known to have used a 24mm "COMPTON MARTIN / BRISTOL" single ring handstamp from 1907 to 1956.  The first sheet has examples from 1910 and 1925 ...

... while this sheet has an example from 1956.  This cover bears a bisect 3d stamp that has been properly cancelled by the post office - is this a philatelic favour or was there a genuine shortage of stamps at Christmas so bisects were used temporarily ?

This final cover is a 1964 first day cover from Compton Martin with "COMPTON MARTIN / BRISTOL" Birmingham cancels (double circle with two line arcs), so-called because they were first issued to Birmingham.