Miscellany: Porlock, Staplegrove, Wells

Another random mixture starting with a registered cover from Porlock in December 1854 with "PORLOCK / MINEHEAD SOMERSET" single ring cancels.  Nothing very special about this cover other than it extended the date of usage in my draft Catalogue of Somerset Postal History.

Staplegrove is a Town Sub-Office of Taunton, but at the time of the card below (1904) it was a rural post office, becoming a TSO in 1938.

The envelope below would have been prepaid in the USA but being posted in the UK needed to be franked.  It was from the Mendip Hospital and has an English student number written on the front.

It is franked with three QEII 1/- Wilding stamps - I haven't managed to match this with the postal rates yet (help gratefully received).  The overseas Registration rate appears to have been 1/9d from 1st July 1963, leaving 1/3d for the postage.  There is no indication that it went Air Mail so using the surface rate from 1st October 1957 that matches a 9oz letter to an Empire destination.  If the letter was overfranked it could match  a 3oz Foreign letter at 1/2d.

Donyatt Concert Programme, February 1889

The printed matter below was posted within Ilminster on 23rd February 1889, containing the "Programme of Concert at Donyatt on Thursday 28th February 1889".

UDC: Worle

This is the last in a series of posts about UDCs (undated ccircular handstamps) for a while, finishing up with a couple of examples from Worle.  Worle's UDC was issued in December 1847 under Wells and is known from 15th November 1848 (this cover) ...

... to 8th December 1851 (this cover).  This cover has an added complexity in postal markings, being a letter to the USA.

Worle had a second UDC issued in March 1857.  Both the above predate that date of issue, and no examples of this second UDC have yet been spotted.

UDCs: Porlock, Stogumber, West Quantoxhead, Wrantage

A few more UDCs, starting with one from Porlock in September 1851.  The Porlock UDC was issued in September 1845 under Taunton, and the example below is currently the only recorded example.

The UDC below from Stogumber in December 1846 is rather faint - it has been labelled as yellow but I think it may have been red.  Determining colours is always tricky and rather depends on the lighting and on how the postmark has aged.

The West Quantoxhead UDC below is definitely in red and is dated April 1856.  The UDC was issued on September 1851 under Bridgwater.  One example in black is known in October 1851 and one example in red (this cover).

And finally an UDC from Wrantage used in January 1859, currently the latest recorded example.  The UDC was issued in June 1852 under Taunton.

Brean Camp

The items below are from Brean Camp, though it is no longer really a camp post office.  The post office was situated in a supermarket that is not in a "camp".  The items are dated August 1986 and June 2006.

See here for a Postal Mechanisation Study Circle article, which also depicts an early Brean Camp postmark.

Some Ilminster Meter Mail

Here are a number of examples of Meter Mail from Ilminster businesses, where the firms have put their product or brand as advertising on the meter mark.

The first one is a little bit different as it also has a triangular Quality Control cachet applied because the date in the meter mark was incorrect.  It also has a Linear Quality Mark on the reverse from its pass through an IMP machine at Bristol.

Inverted unified machine daters - Yeovil (1970), Taunton (1976)

Not very rare, more of a curiosity, here are a couple of items where the machine cancel dater is inverted with respect to the slogan, starting with one from Yeovil in May 1970 ...

... followed by one from Taunton in November 1976.

UDCs: Norton - Norton Fitzwarren and Norton-sub-Hamdon, Galhampton

A "NORTON" undated double-arc handstamp was issued to both Norton Fitzwarren under Taunton in September 1845 and to Norton-sub-Hamdon under Ilminster in May 1852.  If the strikes are clear one can distinguish between the two UDCs but otherwise one has to identify them based on which Post Town the cover comes under.

This first example is from Norton Fitzwarren, used in January 1852 in blue (currently the only recorded example of this udc in blue; it is also known in black).  The cover is postmarked in Taunton and is dated before the second UDC under Ilminster was issued.

The next two sheets show examples of the other Norton UDC from Norton-sub-Hamdon.  Both examples are postmarked at Ilminster. 

This second example is currently the latest recorded date of usage of this Norton udc.  The cover also has a poor "GALHAMPTON" udc being used as a receiving mark.  The envelope is addressed to South Barrow and Galhampton was the closest post office, being about 4 miles from South Barrow.

UDCs: Luxborough, Martock, Merriott

Some more UDCs starting with a couple of examples of the "LUXBOROUGH" udc which was issued in June 1858 under Taunton.  Both examples are from 1858.

The "MARTOCK" udc was issued in September 1847 under South Petherton.  It is known in blue from September 1849 to February 1851 in blue, with the example below currently being the only recorded example in black.

The cover below has a faint "MERRIOTT" udc in blue (indicated on the sheet below).  The udc was issued in January 1852 under Ilminster and is currently the only example recorded.  UDCs are both common and rare - whilst the handstamp shown below is the only recorded, it is likely that it would have been used at other times so it is not inherently rare - just difficult to find !