Mid Sussex Philatelic Society - About Us

The Mid Sussex Philatelic Society was formed in 2011 with the merger of the Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill Philatelic Societies.

We have a membership of about 35, with about 15 of those members participating in a Packet Scheme, the circulation of booklets of stamps and covers for sale.

We meet in a large room at the King Edward Memorial Hall on Lindfield High Street twice a month from September to May, on approximately the first Monday at 2:15pm and the third Wednesday at 2:30 pm. These meetings comprise a display or displays from members and from invited speakers. The topics covered are wide and varied, and include Postal History, Thematic, and Postcards. We hold an annual auction at one of the meetings in the Spring. We are now able to offer tea / coffee and biscuits at the meetings once again.

Subscriptions are £10 annually, and £2 per meeting attendance.

John Bushell, our President, who has just celebrated 60 years of membership of the Society, has written the following history:

The Burgess Hill Philatelic Society was formed in 1952. In the early days members met at their houses. When the numbers increased they hired the Red Cross Hall in Station Road, next to the old post office,  the Methodist Hall at the top of Junction Road, The Royal British Legion in Cyprus Road, The Martlets Hall, finally ending at the Burgess Hill Girls School in Keymer Road where we were for over 10 years. In those early days we had a trip to the Royal Mail delivery office in Brighton to see the new date stamping machine which made dots along the bottom the of the envelopes to make sorting easier.

A lot of members lived in Hassocks, a village four miles south of Burgess Hill, meetings were arranged in the St Frances Church in Priory Road, Hassocks. There was a group who only collected GB who met separately to the main monthly meetings.

The stamp packet was split into two rounds, an inner and outer circuit. This often caused friction as who should get the first pickings of the stamps. There is now only one round.

Another event was the weekly Friday trips to primary schools during term time. This was run by Doreen Day with one or two helpers. Unfortunately when Doreen died so did the school visits.

The club was also proud of the fact that the schoolchildren would enter thematic competitions and usually win the ASPS junior thematic cup all though Doreen’s guidance. I was involved in this venture for several years and thoroughly enjoyed showing the children how to display and write up their stamps. I also showed them my printing material to the older children.