Bognor man strikes gold for golfing stamps entry

Mr Payne won the gold medal awarded for thematic entries at the spring convention of the Association of Sussex Philatelic Societies.

His 16 sheets of stamps, covers and postmarks connected to golf were praised by the judges at the Brighton University event.

The items displayed by Mr Payne included those relating to last year's Ryder Cup in Ireland and postcards of the home of the game at St Andrew's in Scotland.

The success continued Mr Payne's wins at philatelic events. 'I was rather surprised to win, though I thought it was a good entry,' he explained. There were about ten other entries in the category.

Golfer Mr Payne (73), of Mayfield Close, Nyetimber, has specialised in golfing related philately after he initially collected postal items connected with Switzerland.

He said: 'I began collecting stamps in the 1950s because I didn't do it as a youngster. I enjoy going along to fairs to find postcards, covers and stamps which I haven't got.'

His triumph was the top achievement of a successful appearance by the club's members at the convention.

They did particularly well in the thematic category. Bob Holdeman collected a silver medal for his entry, Comic and cartoon cops to super sleuths'. Harry Wright picked up a bronze medal for '˜Czeslaw Slania master engraver'.

Other successes were silver medals in the individual aero philately section for Peter Skinner and John Norton.

Mr Skinner concentrated on '˜Early airmail of the United States' and Mr Norton on '˜The development of the US air mail system from 1920 to 1940'.

Mr Skinner was also awarded a silver medal in the individual traditional section for '˜Norfolk Island stamps 1947-1969 and early booklet issues'.

The club is thriving and attracted 34 people to its last meeting. It meets at 7.30pm on the fourth Tuesday of every month at the United Reformed Church Hall in Linden Road, Bognor.

Guest speaker at the May get-together will be Bryan Hawkins.

He was an illustrator and cartoonist for a national newspaper before he retired. His illustrated talk will feature aviation and sport.