I hope you like the design of our cover-page. It is at least an improvement on the very ordinary one of our first issue and while it may not be artistic at least it has a symbolic approach. I must confess that I had to enlist the services of an old friend to prepare a fair copy for reproduction and I am sure you will agree he has made quite a good job of it. Another innovation is the provision of ample margins; this I found to be essential if one wished to preserve the copies in a file and in order to do so with our first issue it was only necessary to enlarge the margins by the aid of transparent adhesive tape.
The 36th Philatelic Congress of Great Britain has been adequately dealt with elsewhere and it only remains for me to thank most sincerely all those who co-operated by bringing, or sending, material which went far to making the meeting of our Circle such a success. In view of the fact that a similar meeting arranged for B.W.I. collectors at Whitley Bay in 1953 attracted only half-a-dozen, I was naturally a little apprehensive and need hardly emphasise how pleased I was to see so many present.
I have also to express my gratitude to all those members who have sent me notes from time to time, some of which are included in this Bulletin. However, I have one complaint; it is that sufficient material is not forthcoming. Maybe there are some who have not yet seen their contributions published, but they may rest assured they will do so in the course of time. I t will be appreciated that I have to look some way ahead and i t is therefore essential that a number of items are kept in reserve. Moreover, the ideal which I would like to achieve is to be in a position to c over all the colonie s in the group, but so far I regret Ms has not been possible. On referring to my records I find that from our present membership of 62 only 15 have sent in contributions. Now, how about that article or that odd item of information?
Dear Member,
In presenting our second Bulletin we would like to express our thanks to all those who were good enough to write and compliment us on the first issue. Although it was most gratifying that no adverse comments were made, it has been decided to introduce some minor improvements and these are referred to in our Honorary Secretary's Paragraph elsewhere.
We are pleased to report that a steady growth has taken place, our numbers now having reached 62. From the table below showing the geographical distribution it will be noted that four new counties - Cheshire, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk - appear for the first time. There are also four new members from overseas, one from B.W.I. and three from U.S.A.
LONDON 12
| Cheshire 1 | Lancashire 1 | Wiltshire 3 |
| Cornwall 2 | Lincolnshire 1 | Yorkshire 2 |
| Derbyshire 3 | Middlesex 3 | N. Ireland 1 |
| Devon 2 | Norfolk 1 | Scotland 2 |
| Durham 2 | Northants 1 | B.W.I. 2 |
| Essex 1 | Shropshire 2 | Canada 1 |
| Hampshire 1 | Suffolk 3 | Eire 1 |
| Herts 3 | Surrey 3 | France 1 |
| Kent 2 | Sussex 1 | U.S.A. 4 |
On the 18th March 1954 our President gave a display of JAMAICA at the Royal Philatelic Society, London, consisting of nearly 600 pages. As some of our older members will recollect, Mr. Collett was one of the joint editors of the Handbook on Jamaica which was based largely on his collection.- Space does not permit us to furnish a detailed account of the various items which ranged from pre-adhesive covers t o King George V. issues. Our Honorary Secretary was one of those who were fortunate in being able to view this display and his description leaves us in no doubt that it is the finest collection of this colony in existence.
We congratulate our Hon. Secretary on being elected to membership of the Royal Philatelic Society, London. Incidentally, this brings the total "Royal" representation up to 19 (including six Fellows) a fact of which we are justifiably proud.
We continue to receive valuable support from the Editors of various philatelic journals and are particularly grateful to Mr. E.F. Aguilar of Kingston, Jamaica, for a very full notice in the March issue of his magazine "British West Indian Philatelist." In addition he has promised to pass to us an article on the dollar varieties that can be found on Jamaican stamps which will be included in a future Bulletin. For our part we shell be most happy to reciprocate by making available one of our own articles at a later date.
NOTE: Members who are able to supply any of the 'wants' mentioned should send them to the Secretary stating price asked, for onward transmission. If the member who requires them decides to purchase a remittance should be sent to the Secretary drawn in favour of "B.W.I. STUDY CIRCLE." The Secretary will then remit the amount (less 5% commission and postage) to the original owner.
BAHAMAS: S. G. 75 used. (pair or block of four)
BARBADOS: S. G. 77 & 83 mint.
CAYMAN ISLANDS: S.G. 7, 61 & 66 mint.
JAMAICA: S.G.31 USED IN CAYMAN ISLANDS
MONTSERRAT: S. G. 43 mint.
ST. CHRISTOPHER: surcharges
TOBAGO: Blocks.