Category: Zambia

British Caledonian

British Caledonian

British Caledonian was a private, British independent airline, operating out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlines. It was formed by the UK’s second-largest, independent charter airline Caledonian Airways, taking over British United Airways (BUA), then the largest British independent airline and the United Kingdom’s leading independent scheduled carrier.

The BUA takeover enabled Caledonian to realise its long-held ambition to transform itself into a scheduled airline. The merged entity eventually became the UK’s foremost independent, international scheduled airline.

A series of major financial setbacks during the mid-1980s combined with the airline’s inability to grow sufficiently to reach a viable size put the airline at serious risk of collapse. British Caledonian began looking for a merger partner to improve its competitive position.

In December 1987, British Airways (BA) gained control of the airline. The Caledonian name and livery was then used to rebrand BA’s Gatwick-based subsidiary British Airtours as Caledonian Airways.

Events

1976 – Official Opening of Kitwe Sales Office (British Caledonian)

Official Opening of Kitwe Sales Office (British Caledonian)

31 July 1976

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1967 – Inaugural Flight from Lusaka to Rome

Inaugural Flight from Lusaka to Rome

28 July 1967

Flight Details

  • Date: 28 July, 1967
  • Flight No.: AZ 529
  • Carrier: Alitalia
  • Plane: Douglas DC-8

First Flight Cover

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The Boys’ Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by Sir William Alexander Smith and Chester to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception in Glasgow in 1883 The Boys’ Brigade quickly spread across the United Kingdom, becoming a worldwide organisation by the early 1890s. As of 2018, there were 750,000 Boys’ Brigade members in 60 countries.

The Boys’ Brigade has branches in Malawi (est.1910), Zambia (est.1957) and Zimbabwe (est.1948).

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Universal Postal Union

Universal Postal Union

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN), established in 1947, that regulates international mail services with its headquarters at Bern, Switzerland.

Established in 1875 following adoption of the Universal Postal Convention, it is one of the oldest extant international governmental organisations. The Universal Postal Congress, the governing body, usually meets every four years to discuss and adopt a world postal strategy and consider the activities of the executive council, whose 40 members are elected on a geographical basis and meet yearly.

The UPU consists of:

  • 4 bodies
    • The Congress
    • The Council of Administration (CA)
    • The Postal Operations Council (POC)
    • The International Bureau (IB)
  • 2 cooperatives
    • Telematics Cooperative
    • EMS Cooperative

Countries that belong to the union form a unified postal territory with easy international exchange of mail. The union also provides technical assistance and advice in attempts to improve postal service, especially in developing countries. It facilitates the development of the contemporary postal network which, in addition to the traditional delivery of mail, also includes electronic and financial services. The UPU has 192 member nations.

Events

Stamp Issues

References

Postcards: Zambia Airways – Type I

Zambia Airways

Type I

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Royal Art Studio

Royal Art Studio

Lusaka

Royal Art Studio are suppliers of fine photographic equipment, quality colour film processing and express passport photo service.

Postcards

North Western Hotel

North Western Hotel

Livingstone

The Northwestern Hotel was built in 1907 by Mrs and Mr Freddie Mills. It was actually the second hotel of that name; the previous North Western Hotel built in 1906 by railway contractors Pauling and Co was converted into government offices.

Activities such as dances and public meetings took place there and the hotel is said to have opened the first multi-racial bar in the town in 1961.

In 1947 it was owned outright by the Hitchins family and was run as a successful business by the family Matriarch until the 1990s. Since then it had been through several transformations, from hotel to trading centre, to shops and offices but no longer exists as a hotel.

The Hitchins family still owns the building, which is listed as a national monument, a status which prohibits substantial modernisation.

Postcards

Postcards: North Western Hotel – Type I

North Western Hotel

Type I

No.sDescriptionEarliest PMK Date
N/ANorth Western Hotel07/09/1977

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Roman Catholic Church: St Anthony’s Mission (ZA)

Roman Catholic Church

St. Anthony’s Mission (Zambia)

St Anthony’s Catholic mission was originally run by Italians, who laid a water system throughout the village, fed by two large water tanks, planted a vineyard, planted trees for lumber, and ran a rather well equipped mission hospital. They had, at one time, a landing strip, hydroelectric power and an x-ray machine. The government took this over at some point and appropriated most of the equipment for use elsewhere. The Italians, according to locals, ripped up the vineyards and much of the pipes for the water system before they left.

The mission is currently run by a Zambian priest and several sisters. They are heavily cooperative with the hospital, which has been resupplied to a lesser degree, and serves as a main clinic for the area. They provide weekly health services to various outreach stations including child health (weighing, vaccinating, deworming), giving health talks, handing out condoms and other things.

St Anthony’s is also one of several purchasing points after the harvest, where maize is purchased from the village farmers for cash and piled for transport to processing centres. The school is rather large for a rural school and has been involved in international penpal programmes, as well as a carpentry program aided by the US Peace Corps and the International and Luanshya Rotary Club.

St Anthony’s has a small market on most days, where vegetables (tomatoes, cabbage and onions) can be bought. The mission runs a store with some other amenities, but this is not open all the time.

Facilities

  • St Anthony’s Mission Poultry
  • St Anthony’s Mission School
  • Mpongwe Mission Hospital

References

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