Last Wincor Post & Go safely preserved at BPMA

As reported yesterday, Wincor Post and Go units are now all history for Post Office Ltd. However on a happier note the last operational kiosk – that from the WH Smith branch at Swiss Cottage, was today removed to the BPMA store for preservation for decades to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fitting place for an important part of our Postal Heritage.

 

 

 

Post and Gone

It is with a certain amount of sadness I report that Wincor Post & Go machines are no more in UK Post Offices.

The final curtain fell at a few minutes after 4pm this afternoon where the final operational unit at the Post Office situated in the Swiss Cottage WHSmiths (London NW3) was finally taken out of service .

Picture shows one of the final sets issued.

Yes there is a updated , more modern NCR  kid on the block , but there will always be a certain fondness for the first nationwide “toe in the water” for self service mail in the uk – the Wincor Nixdorf propostal .

What many collectors don’t realise is that this is also the end of “post and go” for the Post Office as the new NCR units are not Post and Go machines – the thinking being that they offer much more than “just post” . They are named “self service kiosk” ( or SSK)  units and so the signage around offices that have never had a a WIncor unit will not mention “post and Go”

The “Post and Go” terminology will live on however , but now will only apply to the stamps produced by Royal Mail .

Self service will never be quite the same again .

Post & Go Goes on Tour@London ND11 National Digital Conference

  We are used to the Wincor Post and Go kiosks being used at Stampex , however it now appears that the Post Office like to show their latest equipment at other non-philatelic  shows!  On 11th and 12th May  the 6th National Digital Conference at Old Billingsgate London EC3  took place  see:- http://www.nd11.co.uk/.  The event was promised to be ‘the largest gathering and online participation to date of partners across the UK who want to work together to inspire, encourage and support millions more people online’ and it certainly lived up to expectations in the “Self Service Mails Category” 

On the Post Office stand the various exhibits, including Identity and Information equipment were  pride of place, including a Post and Go machine with a previously unseen office code of ‘699010’, believed to be that of an internal ‘test’ machine. There were various teething problems with the kiosk on the first day (May 11th) and it was late on on the 2nd day (May 12th) before some stamps were forthcoming. A very limited number of covers dated 12th May 2011 (London EC3 Postmark) were serviced as shown. 

 

Post and Go ~ Faststamps~ British Garden Birds Series 2

The second issue of Royal Mail pictorial “Post and Go” stamps, to be issued on 24th January 2011, shows six more British garden birds.

This issue shows (In the order that they are printed on the machine-vended strip):- Collared dove,  Greenfinch , Blackbird,  Magpie, Long-tailed Tit  and Chaffinch.

The stamps are available in two different versions :-Firstly as as a sheet of six different stamps all with ‘1st Class’ press- printed directly from Royal Mail in Edinburgh and secondly, the ‘real’ machine printed  versions (available from

31 different outlets

) with five different overprints.

The Machine printed versions are cut every fifth stamp. The third set of British birds is scheduled for issue in May and the fourth in September 2011 .

The image shows the set of six, with Ludgate Circus self-service facility kiosk No.4 overprint, which was available for the first day of issue only.

To purchase these stamps from our ATM Shop click here:-  http://postagelabelsuk.com/?page_id=929