A few more Cs to be going on with, starting with one from (or associated with) Chard - a philatelic registered envelope from Chard Agricultural Show in 1958 with "MOBILE POST OFFICE No.3 / C" cancels dated July 1958.
Next a First Day Cover from Cheddar in March 1989, with "CHEDDAR / SOMERSET " cancels, and a Bristol registration etiquette.
And lastly a postcard from Chedzoy to Staplegrove, Taunton in September 1926 with a partial "CHEDZOY / BRIDGWATER" 25mm single ring cancel.
Happy Christmas !
At Christmas time the Ilminster scouts, like scout groups elsewhere, have provided a local Christmas post service, with boxes in local shops to collect mail to be delivered at weekends prior to Christmas. Here are a couple of sheets of mail with a variety of the stickers that were used. Unfortunately none of the items have any dates associated with them.
From February 1947, the Uk experienced several cold spells that brought ;arge drifts of snow, blocked roads and railways, causing problems transporting coal to power stations. There were severe restrictions and power rationing.
The card below is a weather report for March 1947 from Curland, about six miles south-east of Taunton, and says "344% of 18 year average - the wettest March ever.
Going through these four Bs in chronological order, here is an orange UDC from Butleigh in June 1854 that was proofed in December 1853;
.... a "BISHOPS LYDEARD / TAUNTON.SOMT" double circle double arc cancel from October 1949;
... a "BARRINGTON / ILMINSTER.SOMERSET" double circle double-arc cancel from March 1972;
... and finally "BAYFORD.WINCANTON / SOM." single ring cancels and a registration etiquette from September 1975.
A couple of sheets with UDCs, starting with Barton St David. Barton St David was under Taunton, then Langport RSO, then Somerton, then transferring back to Taunton in 1907. Itthen transferred to Somerton again in 1950, and was closed in 1989.
Here are two Climax rubber cancels, the first from 1906 when it was under Somerton and the second a skeleton rubber cancel from 1913 when it was back under Taunton.
This second sheet has a Climax rubber cancel from Bicknoller in 1906 (or 1908). It is very similar to the one that was issued in September 1891 but is very slightly different in the lengths of the words. There was a third cancel known used from 1900-1905.
Bourton in Dorset was in the Shaftesbury, Hindon, and then Wincanton Penny Posts. It is four miles east of Wincanton which became its Post Town before it came under Bath in 1855. It transferred back to Wincanton in 1908 and then became a Post Town in its own right in 1910. It transferred to Gillingham, Dorset in 1936.
These next sheets illustrate its postmarks while it was in some of the states above, starting with a cover from May 1833 which had been missent to Bourton rather than Bruton. It received a boxed "No.4" handstamp from the Shaftesbury Penny Post.
Next we have a cover from August 1857 where Bourton is under Bath, with a black "BOURTON" UDC and a "BATH / 53" sifeways duplex cancel.
Finally here are two covers from 1907 and 1909. In the first it should be under Bath but there is no indication of the post town as the postcard just has a "BOURTON / DORSET" single ring cancel. The second postcard has a "BOURTON.WINCANTON / SOMERSET" single ring showing that Bourton is under Wincanton. Its postal address would be Bourton, Wincanton, Somerset even though Bourton was in Dorset.
I've just started collecting parcel post labels - there seem to be a lot of different type with very small differences between them, and I haven't quite got my head round them yet. Here is one from Axbridge in May 1920, franked with 9d for a 3-7 lb parcel.
Here are a couple of postage due covers from Bristol with red charge marks and cachets, the first from September 1934 has a red framed "Closed contrary / to regulations/ 134" cachet and was charged 2d postage due.
The second cover was posted with only a halfpenny stamp in March 1946, receiving a red framed "TO PAY / POSTED / UNPAID" cachet (not strictly true) and was charged 4d.
