Otford
Kent, England

Operated by 1st & 3rd Otford Guides serving Otford village only, from 1984-86 cooperating with Shoreham Guides. Main postbox in local library, cards handed to librarian with the money, franked & handed back for posting. Cachets slightly different each year, produced with a ‘John Bull’ set so also quite variable due to loose type. Undated, no FDCs. No cancellations used on stamps until 2005. Funds raised are often donated to another local charity - in 1997-2000 this was the children's hospice "Demelza House" in Sittingbourne - in 2005 the proceeds were shared between thr Hospice in the Weald and Kent Air Ambulance Trust.

From 1982-1994 Otford Guides used "John Bull" style printing outfits to produce their handstamps - these varied in detail & were probably not all used the same year. Colours also varied from year to year. The following three versions are probably not the only ones, and probably also were used in other colours. The dates given were supplied by a collector along with photocopies so no coloured illustrations are currently available.

1983/1989

Type C1. Blue in 1983, green in 1989.

1984

Type C2. Grey in 1984.

1985/1988

Type C3. Blue in 1985, green in 1988.

1995

Types 1 to 2, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

1996

Type 3, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

1997

Types 4 to 7, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of gummed imperforate paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

1998

Types 8 to 11, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of gummed imperforate paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

1999

Types 12 to 15, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2000

Types 16 to 19, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2001

Types 20 to 37, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2002

Types 38 to 55, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2003

Types 56 to 70, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 40 (8 rows of 5) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2004

Types 71 to 85, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 40 (8 rows of 5) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. No cancellations used.

2005

Types 86 to 103, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 48 (8 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. Cancelled with type P1 in black.

2006

Types 104 to 121, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 48 (8 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. Cancelled with type P1 in black.

2007

Types 122 to 139, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 42 (7 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. Cancelled with type P1 in silver. This illustration shows the stamps as cut into strips ready for sale, individual stamps usually have the irregular border on all four sides.

2008

Types 140 to 157, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 48 (8 rows of 6) stamps per sheet. No first day covers were produced. Cancelled with type P1 in black.

2009

Types 158 to 173, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 48 (6 rows of 8) stamps per sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Centenary souvenir covers were produced with half the stamps (4 of each colour), cancelled with type P2 in black.

2009 Centenary issue

Types 174 to 175, approximately 28x28mm, designed by ? and computer-printed locally on A4 sheets of imperforate gummed paper with 48 (6 rows of 8) stamps per sheet. Cancelled with type P1 in black.

2010

Types 176 to 199, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2011

Types 200 to 223, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

h3>2012

Types 224 to 247, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2013

Types 248 to 271, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2014

Types 272 to 295, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2015

Types 296 to 319, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2016

Types 320 to 343, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2017

Types 344 to 367, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2018

Types 368 to 391, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 75cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black. Souvenir covers were produced with a selection of stamps, cancelled with type P2 in black.

2019

Types 392 to 419, approximately 28x36mm, designed by ? and printed locally on a 22cm wide roll of labels on an imperforate backing sheet, cancelled with type P1 in black.

Cancellations

Type P1 (black). Used in 2005/2006 & 2008 onwards.

Type P1 (silver). Used in 2007 for 25th year of the Post.

Type P2 (black). Used in 2009 for Guiding Centenary and subsequent year's souvenir covers.

Statistics

Year	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Charge	None	None	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Carried	None	None	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Year	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Charge	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Carried	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Charge	.	.	.	.	.	.	20p	20p	20p	20p
Carried	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Charge	20p	25p	25p	25p	25p	25p	25p	30p	30p	30p
Carried	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Year	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030
Charge	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Carried	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

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Otford Kent, England