Well here we are, in lockdown again, waiting, and dreaming of the fun we used to have at branches, the pals we used to meet, and the cards we found.

However….

while the halls may be closed, and travelling, or meeting, be impossible, don`t let your memories go to waste.

Our Branch Archives are still here – and likewise waiting – for you to tell us all your memories of them, show us archive material, and pass on any local card related news that you would have told your branch mates…

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Below is a list of Branches, including those you remember so fondly. Clicking on most of the names will reveal their stories, from the beginning, or thereabouts. Some will not open, and that is because we have no information at all on them, save the name, gleaned from a vintage magazine.

Once inside those that do open, you will almost certainly notice big gaps …. and that’s where YOU come in! So have a read, and if you think “but what about when….?” or “that’s not quite right” please just tell us all about it at www.card-world.co.uk/contact/

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• Birmingham Branch (no longer in operation) – Cameric : 1939-1956 ??
• Bournemouth Branch (no longer in operation) – Cameric : 1947 – ??
• CHESHIRE BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 2011
• Chilterns Branch (no longer in operation) – Cartophilic : ?? -1982
• Cornwall Branch (no longer in operation) – Cartophilic : 1975-2013
• COTSWOLDS BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1983
• EAST ANGLIA – Cartophilic : founded 21 March 1970
• Edinburgh (possibly the Scottish Branch mentioned below)
• HANTS & DORSET BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1988
• HANTS & SURREY BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1980
• HUMBERSIDE BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1964
• KENT BRANCHES – East Kent – ???? – North Kent – ???? – Kent ????
• Lancashire (Manchester) – Cameric : 1945 – 1964
• LEA VALLEY (affiliated) – Cartophilic : founded 1980
• LEICESTER BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1981
• LINCOLNSHIRE BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1994
• LONDON BRANCH – Cameric : 1935-1964 : Cartophilic : founded 1964
• MIDDLESEX (affiliated) – Cartophilic : ???? – present day
• MIDLANDS BRANCH – Cameric : 1956 – ?? : Cartophilic : founded 1970
• NORTHAMPTON BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1988
• NORTH EAST – Cartophilic : founded 1988 ??
• NORTH WEST – Cameric : 1945-1964 : Cartophilic : founded 1964
• NOTTINGHAM & EAST MIDS BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1990
• READING CARD CLUB – Cameric : 1951 – ?? Cartophilic : founded 1960
• Scottish Branch – Cameric : 1955 – ?? – Cartophilic : ?? – ??
• SUSSEX BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1975
• Timperley (no longer in operation) – Cartophilic : 1978 – 2011
• West Country Branch (no longer in operation) – Cartophilic : 1973 – 2013
• WINCHESTER & SOLENT BRANCH – Cartophilic : founded 1983
• YORKSHIRE BRANCH – Cameric : 1951-1964 : Cartophilic : founded 1964

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Now if you would like to use your enforced leisure time to travel more widely, clicking the next three web-links will whisk you to our Overseas Branches. Whilst travelling there in person is not currently possible, a virtual visit can still be just as entertaining, and it is a good chance to see different cards that seldom appear at fairs over here. .

www.australiancartophilic.org.au/

Well worth a visit, this is an extensive website with lots to read, including the history of the Australian Cartophilic Society since its founding in 1968.
Today we are delighted to report they have almost 300 members, who recieve and enjoy regular newsletters, postal auctions, meetings, competitions, and. pre-lockdown, five card fairs a year.
In addition, they also maintain a very useful library of reference books and information resources, as well as an online shop for cards, books and collectors supplies.

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http://www.cardcollectors.org.nz/

The Cartophilic Society of New Zealand Inc was formed in 1975, along the lines of our own Society That was now over 40 years ago, and we are delighted to report that they now have around 150 members. 
Trade Cards actually appeared before cigarette cards in New Zealand; and still today, their largest card issuer, with over 100 different sets, is a trade one – its Sanitarium, the makers of Weet-Bix, which has been the top selling breakfast cereal in New Zealand since 1941. 
The Society holds regular meetings, attended by local and national dealers; also members trade amongst themselves, much like in the UK. And, pre-lockdown, they also held a National Card Convention, again along the same lines as us – usually over 2 days in April at a different place in the country every year.

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https://www.card-world.co.uk/south-africa/

At the moment this is simply a homepage run by us, rather than a full website, and its really only just starting to be constructed. We do know that most collectors in this country will be familiar with the large and attractive hard back albums containing South African cards. They turn up frequently at auctions and at book sales, where in fact some people do believe them to be books. But there is much more to South Africa than those, so please be patient and one day their whole story will be told.