A packed room greeted Graeme Stewart on Monday evening (24th November). Mr Stewart is a member of the Thatcham and District Philatelic Society and has been their secretary for the last 25 years.
Mr Stewart talked about and exhibited postcards and ephemera on Thatcham. Mr Stewart started with a brief historical background to Thatcham and noted that Queen Victoria had medals made for the Scholars of Thatcham. Also noted was a Navy ship, HMS Thatcham, which was an inshore mine sweeper with the number M2790.
It was noted that some buildings and parts of Thatcham are rarely seen, if at all, on postcards. These include the Swan Inn, Kennet School.
Mr Stewart pointed out that early postcards could not be written on, on the back, except for the address. The was part of the legal issues of the day, and hence many of the early postcards have the messages written on the front of the postcard.
Letters sent from the Army Depot in 1941 were also shown. In addition, a Prisoner Of War (POW) camp engraving was shown. This is believed to come from a reunion of prisoners, but little else is know about the item.
Several postcards and other information was shown about Thatcham House. It was noted that the tower is meant to be the same height as the Church tower. A paper advert was also shown with Thatcham House being put up for sale in 1989 for £1.4million.
Postcards were shown of Stoney Lane, but it was highlighted that the lane, probably named because it was stoney, also had previously been called Water Lane and Plough Lane.
Paper cuttings and letters showed that cricket had been played on the Marsh (Dunstan Green) several hundred years ago.
One of the more personal items talked about was a postcard of Thatcham Police Station. On the back was a note from a lady that was about to start working at the station.
Several letters have been collected that were sent from Oregon, USA to various people of Thatcham including Mr Mecey and A.R.Tull.
Questions then followed, and a vote of thanks was given by society member Nick Young. Mr Stewart kindly donated his speaker fee to the WaterAid charity.