Only a few more weeks before the opening Euro-Scout 2010, the largest Scout and Guide Philatelic Exhibition ever to be held in the U.K. At the time of writing these notes in the middle of March, we already have had applications to exhibit from Norway, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Canada, U.S.A. and of course from the U.K. Information sheet No. 2 is now on our website and if you go to http://www.sgsc.org.uk/index.shtml you will find the page with details of the programme and if coming from overseas, how to get to Chelmsford.  Included in the programme is the Gala 15th May.  Dinner being held at the County Hotel on Saturday m The cost of this is £30.00 including wine and is open to all members and friends, even if you are not exhibiting.  Please let me know if you would like to attend, either by email (address on the inside of the back cover) or by post, with payment being made during the exhibition on the Friday.

We have already received sponsorship for our exhibition, firstly from the British Philatelic Trust who have very kindly paid for the hire of the prestigious Shire Hall in Chelmsford, the Royal Mail for the special postmark, the Chelmsford District Scouts for the exhibition handbook and we hope for further sponsorship in the weeks leading up to the show.  We do have to pay the transport cost for the frames which are coming from Suffolk, Essex and Kent.  We do need plenty of help with the erecting of the frames on Thursday 13th May from 9.30am.  Already some of the exhibitors have indicated that they will be there to help, so if you are free and can help it would be much appreciated.

Many of you will know of my involvement with the purchase and preservation of "Jam Roll", the Rolls Royce car given to Baden-Powell at the World Jamboree in 1929.  The car having been purchased in 2008 is now at the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust in Derby, where considerable work has taken place.  The six cylinder engine was only working on 3.5 cylinders and when the head was removed valves were replaced or re-ground and now it is working on all six cylinders.  The work is carried out free of charge by the many volunteers including a number who spent their working life with Rolls Royce.  Part of the wooden frame has been replaced as well as the wiring and then the clutch finally gave up, so now this has been repaired.  The car will be at two events in early May and will be at the Peak 2010 Jamboree in Derbyshire on 24th July.  Further details can be found at www.jamroll.org where there is shop selling various souvenirs.  Shown is the latest souvenir badge which is sold on behalf of the Jam Roll restoration, and also available is the very good book on the by Colin Walker, Baden-Powell: The man and his Motors.

I have found recently very little of interest in Scout stamps and covers to be offered for auction in the U.K. Even at Stampex and Philatex there was next to nothing on offer. However eBay still brings up some interesting items including a unusual most philatelic item from the 1929 Boy Scouts World Jamboree held at Arrowe Park, Birkenhead, England.  It is a newspaper cutting addressed in pencil to Capt Smye, GPO Johannesburg, South Africa.  It has the Liverpool cancel as well as the scarce Arrowe Park Camp cancel (Type 2) dated 6th August, which was normally only used on registered mail.  For some reason it went via New Zealand, as it has two postmarks on the front from that country.  Going to a collector in Europe, it made £465.00 (approximately Euro 510, US $ 700).

I was interested to hear that recently in South Africa, a pair of Boer War medals awarded to Warner Goodyear (the boy shown on the bicycle Mafeking stamp) and his father Capt. Goodyear were sold in auction.  Some of you will recall about twenty years ago, an appeal was launched to place a memorial stone on his grave at Randfontein in South Africa.  He was killed aged 26, while playing hockey after a ball hit his head, which ultimately caused his death by embolism and hemorrhage on May 24th 1912.  Although Baden-Powell donated towards his memorial stone, it was never erected.  He laid in an unmarked grave until it was found in 1990 after which an appeal was launched to members our club, SOSSI and to readers of the South African Philatelist which produced enough money to raise a suitable stone which included the Mafeking id stamp.