A decade ago I wrote down a few “Reflections of a Middle-Aged Philatelist” (Cavendish Chronicle, May 1999). Having recently qualified for my bus pass, perhaps the time has come to take stock again of my life as a stamp collector.
In 1999 I was a bachelor but since then, thanks to the “Friends Reunited” website, I have become happily married to Marion, my erstwhile teenage sweetheart. And in fact I am very fortunate in having a wonderful loving, caring wife who even helps me to sort kiloware - so what more could I ask?
Other than now belatedly being a married man, I suppose I haven't changed much in the last ten years apart from getting older and perhaps grumpier. Retirement has given me more time for the important things in life such as philately, and I must have acquired some more philatelic wisdom. I have certainly been busy writing, translating and editing philatelic texts. I actually published four books on the early postcards of Siberia (well, I can't help being a bit eccentric) and with a working knowledge of philatelic German I am one of a small group of British philatelists who are able and willing to translate some of the excellent German philatelic literature into English - in my case this has been the books on Baltic philately written and published by Harry von Hofmann RDP, as well as some GB-oriented work such as “The Invention of Stamps”.
As time goes on, the philatelic world that people like me remember from the 1950s is receding into history. Like others of my generation I can remember when every town had its High Street stamp shop, though nowadays the friendly local stamp dealer seems to be an endangered species. It was the rise of stamp fairs in the 1970s, the increases in business rates and rents, and latterly the Internet that seem to have sounded the death knell for stamp shops, though thankfully, some survive.
It is good to know that in these days of Internet auction sites and on-line purchasing, many old-established auction firms such as Cavendish survive. Older people like me can remember the sales in Manchester and Leeds, and I well remember my first Cavendish auction in 1964. As a schoolboy I went to Leeds with my friend and mentor Jack Yates to attend the sale at the Hotel Metropole. I had never seen as many stamps in my life. Geoffrey Manton was of course in charge, and I later came to know Geoffrey very well - one of the few people I have ever met who was both an astute businessman and a real gentleman. After some moderately spirited bidding I purchased a huge box of old GB kiloware for £1 5s. (that's £1.25 for youngsters who don't remember real money). It kept me busy literally for years, and I found some very useful stamps in it, such as a pair of 1d. George V with the Multiple Cypher watermark and a Plate 225 Penny Red (albeit minus a corner).
Times change and philately moves on, but some things stay the same. With any luck I'll still be around in another ten years, and maybe another twenty. I'm sure that Cavendish will certainly continue to prosper. Geoffrey Manton would be proud.