Branches and Clubs

We are often asked what sets us apart and one of those things is our network of local branches and clubs, which hold regular meetings that anyone can visit for advice, or for a chance to chat, and trade cards, with fellow card collectors. Many of them also include auctions, and are visited by local and national dealers too. 

This section is the landing page for all of these. More than that, though, it will also speak of, and pay tribute to many gatherings that are sadly no longer active - and of independent clubs, dating back to before the Second World War, the earliest of which was formed in Dublin in 1933.

You may find it strange then, that until the mid 1960s the Cartophilic Society had no Branches, and, more than that, had actually refused to even consider the idea of them - turning one hopeful applicant down twice. Then, in the mid nineteen-sixties, there was a major change, with the coming together of the Cartophilic Society, and the Cameric Cigarette Card club, who did have branches. The way this was accommodated was by announcing we would continue to support the Cameric Society branches, without renaming them to ours - and so, in the first ever edition - renumbered to "Volume 1, Number 1" - of the conjoined club magazine, now called "Cartophilic Notes and News", and dated January/February 1965, , the following announcement appeared, under "Secretaria", on page 19 : 

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 dates of all Branch Meetings are given on the cover of the magazine.  

This was actually on the inside back cover, and the first thing you will notice is that the towns given above are meeting locations, and, apart from London, they are not the names of the branches at all - Birmingham being Midlands Branch, Leeds being Yorkshire, and Manchester being Lancashire. Anyway, those lists of dates can be examined on the home pages of each of those branches, as it would take up too much space here.

By the end of 1970, as stated in the November/December edition (Vol.3 No.36), we were still set on considering these as Cameric Branches, and not a single new branch or club had come along to join them. There had been changes of personnel and name, but not at Midlands Branch, which remained as above - the London Secretary was now Roy Wheeler, with the Yorkshire Secretary Stuart Armistead, whilst Lancashire was now going by the name of North West Branch, under Secretary Norman Pendlebury. 

It was not until 1974 that new branches arrived. These were West Country, whose Secretary was P. J Wood, and East Anglia, started by the former London Branch Secretary, now relocated to Norfolk, F. H. Pitts. Then, in 1975, Humberside, and Reading & District were formed. Hants and Dorset, Merseyside, and the North East Branch came along in 1977, but we temporarily lost East Anglia, Mr. Pitts having died. 

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