Yorkshire

Current status: Active

Welcome to the Yorkshire Home Page 

  • A QUICK CHAT ABOUT OUR MEETINGS

We have regrettably cancelled our meetings until further notice. But we all hope they resume very soon

  • A LOOK INTO OUR ARCHIVES

The first Yorkshire Branch belonged to the Cameric Cigarette Card Club and the first mention we have found of them is in “Cameric Notes and News Magazine”, Volume 4, new series, no 6, dated December 1949, when they appeared on the back cover within one of the Christmas Greeting advertisement boxes, which reads “Greetings to … YORKSHIRE and LANCASHIRE Members from C. Webster“.

Their next mention is in Volume 6, new series, no 6 dated December 1951, when they appeared on the back cover in a similar advertisement, which reads “The Lancashire, Yorkshire, Reading and Bournemouth Branches join with their London Camericans in wishing their President – Mr Blows, a Merry and well earned Christmas” . We are not certain if this means the others were added in the interim, or Mr. Webster was only in contact with the two Northern Branches.

Move on a few years, and Volume 10, new series, edition dated May 1956, states that there would be a Yorkshire Branch Meeting on Saturday June 2, 1956, at Leeds City Museum, starting at 3pm. The Secretary was named as Mr. A. Ward of Netherton near Huddersfield.

Now when the decision was taken to merge the Cameric and the Cartophilic, there was a bit of a dilemma. And in the first ever edition of "Cartophilic Notes and News", January/February 1965, Volume 1, Number 1, there was the following announcement : 

BRANCHES. Members who were not previously members of the Cameric Club are, of course, now entitled to attend any Branch Meeting of the Cameric and are assured a very hearty welcome. If you live anywhere near London, Leeds, Manchester or Birmingham, do go along and introduce yourself. You will find them a friendly crowd. Spend an enjoyable evening and acquire a few cards for your collection." 

The branches given were not actually correct, for it referred to their meeting places not their proper names, and Leeds was really Yorkshire, with the Secretary quoted as Mr. J. K. Wild of Chapel Allerton. By May/June 1968 they were meeting from 3 pm on the first Saturday of the month at 12a Queens Arcade, Briggate in Leeds.

At the end of 1970, in the November/December edition (Vol.3 No.36)  the Secretary had become Stuart Armistead

We know that in 1975, The Yorkshire Branch of the Cartophilic Society were meeting regularly, still at at 3pm, but now on the third Saturday of each month, and still within Leeds, actually at Leeds Polytechnic, (Room H209). Our secretary by then was D. Williams of York.

On June 27, 1987, a Branch Rally was held at Roundhay Rugby Union Club in Lidgett Lane, Leeds. Popular auctioneer John Knowles of Timperley took the gavel and gained a top price of £68 for a set of Ogdens “Royal Mail”. There were several dealers attending, and Don Thorp hosted an exhibition of cartophilic material.

We returned to this same venue in July and October the following year, there were an average of eight dealers at each, plus an auction. Refreshments and a bar were also available. The entry fee at that time was 25p.

At some time we moved our branch meetings. It is possible this was in late 1991 or early 1992, because Roundhay Rugby Club amalgamated with Headingley in June 1991 to form Leeds RUFC, and the original idea was to sell all the grounds and start afresh in Kirkstall. If you are wondering, the first game played at that Kirkstall ground was between Leeds RUFC and Hull lonians, and that took place in September 1992.

The Card Times of December 1994 says that we were meeting at Ilkley, and the dates given were November 27th and December 18th. These were the fourth and third Sunday of the month, but the fourth Sunday in December was Christmas Day so it would have been necessary to change. 

Then in the Card Times of Sept/Oct 1997 we are meeting at Calverley Methodist Church Hall in Pudsey, Leeds

On the 29th and 30th of April, 2005, with much encouragement from our Branch Secretary of that time David Benson, we hosted the annual Cartophilic Society Convention at the Grand Hall, Spa Centre, Scarborough. Yorkshire branch members (22 of them!) manned the non-members stall. BBC Radio York came along and carried out a series of interviews while the big selling Yorkshire Post carried almost a whole page story with pictures.

We were still at Calverley Methodist Church in 2014. Our meetings started at 2pm and there were usually 2 dealers in attendance as well as a small club auction that usually started at about 3pm. Our Secretary was still David Benson.

From Calverley Methodist Church we re-located our meetings to Windhill Conservative Club, 39 Carr Lane, Shipley BD18 2NQ. Meetings took place on the first Sunday of every month, starting at 1pm, ending about 3pm. There was always a good selection of cards, and our regulars all very welcoming and knowledgeable. More recently the name was changed to Carr Lane Club, rather than Windhill Conservative. We were still here when the coronavirus outbreak forced closure of all Branches.

Yorkshire are no strangers to large events and we also used to be one of the collecting clubs that co-hosted the Great Northern Rally; that takes place a bit later in the year so here’s hoping! This event used to be the perfect opportunity to meet all the various personalities associated with collecting in this area, as well as people who could become your future club-mates. Last year this event ran from 10am till 4pm at the Haughton Working Mens Club in Haughton Le Skerne, Darlington, the postcode of which is DL1 2DD. It cost £2 to go in, but if you were a Cartophilic Society member, you could come in for free! That’s yet another perk of Society membership. Inside the hall the collector could browse the stocks of several dealers, all ready and waiting to complete wants lists and have a chat about why that number is just so scarce! We also had a table which offered free advice and/or valuations, as well as a chance to find out more about the hobby in general.

You can read a fascinating article about the Working Mens Club at :
http://www.haughtonhub.co.uk/local-history/memories/haughton-le-skerne-working-mens-club.aspx

 

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There have been other clubs within Yorkshire, and they will be added slowly. But here are the first two...

 

Huddersfield Card Club (2000)

This appears in Card Times for February 2000 as meeting at The Community Centre, Crosland Moor. Their given dates were January 19th, February 16th, which are both the third Monday of the month, and March 15th, which I probably got wrong. Unless it was a special event?

 

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South Yorkshire Branch (1994 - 2000)

We now know this Branch was operating earlier than we thought because they appear in the Card Times Magazine in 1994. However it only tells us they are meeting in Rotherham on December 5th, which was a Monday. 

Now in the January 1995 edition of the same magazine it says that : "THE SOUTH YORKS branch of the Cartophilic Society have also established themselves quickly on the card scene with a monthly attendance of 40 and four dealers per meeting. They meet on the first Monday of each month at the Milmoor Hotel, Rotherham - first `95 date is January 9. Further details from Barry Housley...." The telephone code given is 0226, which used to be Barnsley. So If Mr. Housley, or any former members or visitors, are reading, do let us have your memories. 

Their next appearance is again in the Card Times for September 1997, where it states they are still meeting at Millmoor Hotel, in Rotherham. The date given is September 28th though, which was a Sunday, so I was wondering if this was a special event, like a rally?  Especially as  I have now been shown another advertisement, from the October 1997 edition, and this gives the next meeting as "the first Monday of each month at the Millmoor Hotel, Rotherham". This also gives us the meeting times though, from 7 pm to 9.30 pm - and says there was an auction, at 8.30 pm. The contact name on this has changed though, to Ian Brelsford, so perhaps he began the auctions? 

And the Card Times magazine of February 2000, again gives meeting dates of February 7 and March 6, both of which are also Mondays.