NEWS: Armed Forces Day 2023 Stamp

Just a reminder to all our valued collector's and cinderella enthusiasts, that our Armed Forces Day stamp will be released on June 24th 2023, (catalogue number CP059).

This is the first time the CILP has marked this growing event with a stamp. The design features a drawing of a World War II British infantryman advancing uphill. It is taken from a WWII war fund raising leaflet from Canvey Island c.1943.

This is a limited print run of only 75 stamps and will be available to purchase from our agent Alpha Thematics on Ebid UK.

New Issue: UK Flags Stamp

The Forward United! stamp has been issued today, 25 January, on the occasion of Robert Burns birthday, the famous Scottish poet. 

The stamp, which shows the flags of all the UK nations alongside the Union flag, is intended to promote the continuation of the United Kingdom. It also in response to  collector's requests for a flag stamp.

CLP250122S (CP055)

A small number of our Heritage Series postcards bearing this stamp with FDI cancellations have also been issued.

Missed an Issue?

Forward United! will be made available to collectors from 1 February. We also have good stocks of previous stamp issues available for purchase from our agent Alpha Thematics on Ebid UK. 

Postmaster

CILP 

Emergency Mail Stamp Back into Storage!

Having heard the news last month that the UK Royal Mail was about to face its first national postal strike in a decade at Christmas, I dusted off the yet-to-be-issued CILP Emergency Mail stamp in readiness! 

CLP010716S

However, my hopes of finally issuing this stamp were dashed, when Royal Mail management won its legal battle this week to prevent the postal strike at the High Court and won an injunction.

Strike action may yet still take place even though this would be disruptive at Christmas time for the public. Until then, the CILP Emergency Mail stamp will have to wait another day and has been put back into storage!

CILP Postmaster

400th Anniversary Dutch Cottage Overprint Stamp

The first CILP stamp was issued in November 2010 and featured the historic Dutch Cottage on Canvey Island. Built in 1618, the cottage celebrates its 400th Anniversary this month.

The event almost passed CILP by and I have to admit I took my eye off the ball and forgot all about it! But I could not let the occasion pass by without celebrating the birthday in some way.

© Canveypost.org

As I do not have a dedicated stamp prepared for the occasion, I have overprinted 25 copies of the original 2010 Dutch Cottage stamp with 1618 and 2018 in red ink. 

Crude as the overprint is, the stamp will be available for direct sale to collectors from Alpha Thematics from 4 October, and also used by the Postmaster on official CILP mail until stock is exhausted.


CILP Postmaster

CILP "Missing Colour" Variant Found

The "Chapman Lighthouse & Yacht" stamp released in April 2015, has been found to exist in two versions. The new "missing Yellow" variant of this stamp was discovered this month.
The CILP did not discover this printing omission until a recent franking of mail revealed the two versions side by side.

A check of remaining stock indicates that the last three sheets received from the printer were affected by the "missing yellow" colour. It is estimated that around 75 copies probably exist, and around half have already been issued as mint stamps to collectors or used on local and international mail.

For full details see our article Chapman Lighthouse "Missing Yellow" Variant

Collector's Glassine Bags

The CILP will be releasing a very limited number of glassine bags containing complete sets of all our stamp issues from 2010-2016, from 18 November 2016.

The bags will include the scarce '1914 B.E.F.' stamp with the black 1916 overprint to commemorate the Battle of the Somme, and an overprinted Specimen of the currently unissued 'Emergency Mail' stamp. The majority of the Collector's Bags will be mainly available from our normal online outlet at Alpha Stamps and a few will be posted for auction on eBay.

In addition, a restricted number of Specimen 'Emergency Mail' stamps will be made available to existing CILP collectors online on eBid* from Alpha Stamps.

Unissued Emergency Mail stamp currently

 only available as an ovpt 'Specimen' 

* UPDATE 16 July 2017: All single Specimen Emergency Stamps have now been sold. 

Recent Issues April - July 2016

Recent Stamp Issues April to July 2016

The CILP produced three new stamps and one commemorative card during the period April to July 2016. We are pleased to announce that two stamp issues and associated material is now available to collectors.

Due to technical issues the CILP has not released envelope style first day covers to accompany these stamps, only limited edition FDI postcards. We advise collectors not to delay in obtaining items to avoid disappointment due to our limited stock.

All stamps detailed here have been issued fully gummed and perforated. Actual sizes of stamps may differ to images shown.

23^rd April: Shakespeare’s Death 400^th Anniversary

                                        

The Shakespeare stamp commemorates the 400^th anniversary of the death of the bard, probably the greatest and most notable figure in the history of drama literature in the English speaking world. The stamp shows the bard himself against a ‘first folio’ of his collected works. A total of 75 stamps was issued and a limited edition of six ‘first day issue’ postcards.

17^th June: HM The Queen Elizabeth II 90^th Birthday

This stamp celebrates the official 90^th birthday of HM The Queen, Elizabeth II, the longest reigning English monarch ever. This is an attractive stamp showing a montage of Queen Elizabeth against an antique drawing of Windsor Castle, with “ER” monogram and interlaced dates of her year of birth (1926), age (90) and actual celebration year (2016). A total of 75 stamps was issued and a limited edition of six ‘first day issue’ postcards.

1^st July: Battle of the Somme 1916 Commemorative Card

This has been issued to commemorate the centenary of the Second Battle of the Somme, 1^st July 1916 (Battle of Albert). Undoubtedly, the bloodiest battle ever for the British Army, which tragically led to the deaths of 19,240 British and Commonwealth soldiers (from a total of 57,470 casualties) on the first day alone.

A limited edition of six commemorative cards was issued bearing three CILP ‘B.E.F’ stamps overprinted “1916” (two reverse and one obverse). The original stamp was first issued in 2014. A black circular cachet “Battle Somme 1916” and blue circular date stamp complete the cards.

A limited release of 34 ‘B.E.F.’ stamps overprinted “1916” have been produced for this commemoration. Sixteen mint copies are available for collectors with the other 18 being used on FDI cards.

Unissued: Emergency Mail Service Stamp

The CILP has made provision to expand its mail delivery service on Canvey Island and to the mainland in the event of disruption of normal mail services or for the duration of declared civil emergencies.

A stamp has been produced to cover this eventuality and will be issued as required. This stamp will not be available to collectors until an emergency arises and until then it remains locked away!

*All items obtainable online (subject to availability) from the 'Local Post' page within the  'Cinderella' section at Alpha Thematics 

B-17 "Heavenly Body II" Flying Fortress Issue

B-17 "Heavenly Body II" Stamp

The CILP is pleased to announce the release of a single stamp design on 19 June, 2015, entitled “Heavenly Body II”.

It is a direct tribute to the aircrews of two B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 379^th Bomb Group, 8^th USAAF which collided in mid-air approaching Canvey Island whilst returning from a mission to destroy V-1 sites in France on 19 June, 1944. Indirectly it honours all USAAF aircrews operating from England during WWII.

© 2015 CILP

The stamp issue is named after the nickname of one of the aircraft, B-17 42-97942. The other B-17 involved was the un-named 44-6133. Eleven men died in the incident and seven survived, some of whom came ashore on Canvey Island.

The stamp features a B-17 on an airfield in England, showing the 1^st Division, 8^th USAAF yellow triangle tail marking. The 379^th was an element of the 1^st Division but the aircraft in the image is actually from another 1^st Division element, the 525^th Bomb Group.

The CILP has produced a limited edition 270 horizontal stamps measuring 59x20mm. All stamps are perforated and gummed.

First Day Cover and FDI Postcard

An associated limited edition of 12 First Day Covers has also been produced. Each cover bears a pair of stamps with hand-struck FDI cancel.  The cover measures 162x114mm and features the 8th USAAF patch and has a detailed card insert describing the incident.

© 2015 CILP

Six 'First Day Issue' postcards were also produced using the Dutch Cottage Heritage Postcard #1. They bear a single stamp on the reverse with a hand-struck FDI cancellation.

Buy Canvey Local Post Stamps

Early purchase of this issue is recommended as it is anticipated it will be popular with aircraft and military collectors in addition to Cinderella fans, especially the FDCs and FDI postcards.

Collectors may obtain this and previous issues (subject to availability) from Alpha Thematics at http://alpha-thematics.ebid.net (under menu section ‘Cinderella’)

 

175th Anniversary of the "Penny Black"

175th Anniversary of the Pre-paid One Penny Uniform Post

The world’s first postage stamps were the 1d “Penny Black” and 2d “Twopenny Blue” based on a sketch by Henry Corbould showing the head of a young Queen Victoria.  Printing of the stamps in sheets of 240 began in April 1840 and the first official day of use was 6 May 1840.

© 2015 CILP

The Pre-paid Uniform One Penny Post was introduced in the UK on 10 January 1840. It was an immediate success and the volume of mail rose rapidly. Rowland Hill introduced adhesive postage stamps that could be stuck on the front of a letter to show the postage had been paid.  This proved a simple and practical innovation that spread across the world.  Postage stamps remain in use today, 175 years after their first use in Great Britain.

 © 2015 CILP

The CILP commemorates the “Penny Black” and the Uniform Penny Post with a tribute stamp based on the original design. A total of 288 stamps and twelve FDCs were issued.

Buy Canvey Island Local Post Stamps
 
Canvey Island Local Post Stamps, First Day Covers, Maxi FDI Cards, and Postcards are all issued in limited editions. All CILP philatelic material is obtainable from Alpha Thematics on eBid (subject to availability).

Centenary of the 'Old Contemptibles' B.E.F. 1914

On 22 November, 2014, a single stamp was issued by the Canvey Island Local Post to commemorate the centenary of the British regular army or British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) in Belgium prior to November 22, 1914.

Nicknamed the "Old Contemptible" following a supposed comment about Britain's small army by the German Kaiser, the B.E.F. was almost destroyed trying to halt the German advance. The "Old Contemptible" who survived the war proudly named their post-war associations after the sobriquet.

Although this stamp pays specific tribute to the 1914 "Old Contemptible" of the original B.E.F., it also honours all soldiers who served in the British Army during the Great War.

The stamp features the designer's grandfather who was a regular soldier prior to 1910. He took part in the retreat from Mons and First Battle of Ypres in 1914. He served in the field for most of the Great War and was fortunate to return to England at the emd of the war.

"Old Comtemptible" Sgt W. Wilkinson B.E.F. 1914

Canvey Island Local Post Stamps, First Day Covers, Maxi FDI Cards, and Postcards are all issued in limited editions. All CILP philatelic material is obtainable from Alpha Thematics on eBid (subject to availability).