Emporium News
19/04/10 Walk the Walk of Fame!
Way back in 2002 Wincanton, home of the Discworld Emporium, was officially twinned with Ankh-Morpork. The civic ceremony was a day of celebration and mirth for citizens of Discworld and Roundworld alike, so much so that we decided to further stengthen the linkbetween Wincanton and it's Discworld counterpart. In 2008 Wimpey Homes announced the building of two hundred and twelve new homes in Wincanton, in the development to be known as Kingwell Rise. They thought that the new streets should reflect local character and celebrate one of the most unique elements of the towns history and so asked for a shortlist of fourteen street names from Ankh-Morpork itself. Fans and residents alike voted to put both Treacle Mine Road and Peach Pie Street on the roundworld map and you can view an example of the media coverage here, courtesy of The Independant:
As our annual Spring Event on the 1st and 2nd of May fast approaches, we are pleased to announce that Sir Terry Pratchett has agreed to get his hands dirty! With the building of Treacle Mine Road and Peach Pie Street now well under way Sir Terry has been invited to make his mark. To celebrate this momentous occasion in our towns history Sir Terry will make a monumental mess of the pavement, and like Marylin Monroe and Clint Eastwood before him, his hand prints will be captured forever, though in this exclusive Walk of Fame Terry's immortalised paws won't have to share that's for sure!
We would like to invite you to witness this joyous occasion on Saturday the 1st (provisional time 12.30) which looks sure to invigorate and butress the bond between Wincanton and Ankh-Morpork as well as add a splash of sensation to the weekend! There will of course be press in attendance to document the action and it's likely that a few fans will be welcomed to provide a fitting back drop!
Those of you who are able to join us for the Cunning Artificers Spring Event can expect the usual mix of silliness and jolity, food, drinks, games and the chance to meet friends new and old, all in true Discworldian tradition with of course Sir Terry in attendance as our guest of honour. Please be aware that if you would like to book your Meal Ticket for the communal feast you can do so here:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/catalog.php?item=660 you have only until Friday the 23rd to do so.12/03/10 May Frolics
‘Friends, o friends, the Morris cometh this way,
On the 1st and 2nd of May,
So bring bell and whistle, cider and stick,
Drink and dance and make yourselves sick.
For to hew on the pavement, to hew on the lawn,
To thrash with the sticks from midnight til dawn,
Is to see the old ways walk again in the land,
Is to take once again, old Adam in hand.’
(B. Pearson)
This May-day weekend, we welcome the spring and celebrate the union of two of Discworld’s biggest fans with a Lords and Ladies themed bash held at our shop and various fine watering holes of Wincanton. Bring your ribbons, bells, and bladders on sticks and join us in our jolly japes!
A spring feast will be available on Saturday evening with spaces limited, and you can soon download a booking form or book your places directly via the Discworld Emporium website.
Among the festivities will be a Strictly Come Morris contest - and we need your participation! Teams of any size are welcome to take part, and you can get your teams together via facebook or our forum. Failing that, you can simply turn up and get a Morris side together during the ‘Gathering of the Morris’ rehearsal session Saturday morning at the Bear. There will be a thirst-quenching reward for all those who partake!
Dancers must be suitably attired and teams must provide and utilise one of the following accoutrements: stick, hoop, bucket or hanky. The traditional roles within a Morris side – Squire, foreman, bagman, ragman, beast and fool will also be taken into consideration by the judges!
In the next week we’ll post links to three set pieces of music that will be available for you to perform to on the day, enabling you to choreograph your dances in advance – or you can simply show up and wing it!
If you make it to the final Dance-Off, you’ll face the steely judgement of our VIP panel with the chance of becoming Strictly Come Morris champions!
For inspiration we’ve compiled a list of characters from Lords and ladies to aid you in decorating your person/ Morris team for the occasion:
Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat, Verence, Shaun Ogg, Pewsey Ogg, Herne the Hunted, Diamanda Tockley, Agnes/Perdita Nitt, Amanita Device, Casanunda, Mr Brookes the bee-keeper, Hodgesaargh, Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons, The Librarian, The Bursar, King and Queen of the Elves, Mr Spriggins the Butler, Mrs Scorbic the Cook, Sobriety Ogg, the Lancre Bridge Troll.
The Lancre Morris Men:
Bestiality Carter the Baker, Baker the Weaver, Tailor the Weaver, Thatcher, OBADIAH Carpenter the Poacher, Jason Ogg, Tinker the Tinker. 01/02/10 Mayday Mayday!!!
Dates for the diary...
Here we go Gathering Nuts in May Jolly japes and a Wedding Day.
But all is not as it seems, because the Theme of this May’s Event is "Lords and Ladies".
And dear friends there will be Morris Men (and Women) And the dread Stick and Bucket Dance will terrify the natives. Get your glad rags on, bring a twist of ribbon, a bell or two and come dancing.
Saturday and Sunday 1 - 2nd May
Further details coming soon...
01/11/09 December days are here at lastWe want to thank all the lovely lot who made the treacherous journey to Wincanton for our annual Hogswatch bash, a fabulous weekend was had by all and it was wonderful to see so many new faces. Good food, good drink, good laughs and most of all great company! Thank you all so very much.
We have added a nice little stocking filler to our online shop today for those who couldn't be here, simply
click here.26/11/09 Hogswatch Here we Come
This Weekends Hogswatch Bash promises to be a real treat with games and activities to amuse and bemuse, food, drink, the ever exciting Charity Auction, Masquerade and Old Tyme Music Hall. A good weekend should be had by all!
Well as we are putting the final touches (or as our decorative ribbon suppliers rather enthusiastically puts it ‘Les Touche Finale!’) to the shop we thought we would let you know a little bit about some our festive offerings:
The Jolly Hogswatch LBE (Little brown envelope stuffed full with a random assortment of stamps to the value of £5 with the possibility of finding rarities, prizes and sports thrown in) is a festive treat for all those of you who enjoy the delights of Discworld stamp collecting. Each LBE will contain a 2009 Hogswatch stamp, designed, drawn and rendered by the fabulous Mr Paul Kidby, Discworld artist extraordinaire! This LBE is a limited edition of 1000 only of which 200 will be available on our website from Monday the 30th of November at 12 Noon GMT and 200 at 6pm GMT. Once the LBE season tickets have been reserved the rest will be sold from the shop at our Hogswatch Bash from Saturday the 28th Nov. There will be prize tickets in randomly selected LBEs which will be numbered, a list of prizes can be found here, there will also be 50 free LBE vouchers and some Naughty or Nice Lucky dip vouchers thrown in for good measure.
There will be an edition of 200 Hogswatch Commemorative Covers featuring artwork by Paul Kidby and bearing the Hogswatch stamp being released at the shop on Saturday the 28th the remainder will be released in our online shop on Monday 30th in two batches at the same times as the LBEs. This cover will cost £7.50 plus P+P.
The Hogswatch Stamp will also be available in sheets from the shop on Saturday and online from Monday.
Happy Hogswatch One and all!
25/11/09 Christmas Postal Dates!
Just to let you all know the international airmail posting dates for Christmas are as follows:
Friday 4th Dec - South and Central America, Carribean, Africa, Middle East, Far East, Asia, New Zealand and Australia
Thursday 10th Dec - Japan, USA, Canada and Eastern Europe
Friday 11th - Western Europe18/11/09 Hi Ho Hogswatch!
For all those of you planning to attend this years Hogswatch Bash here in Wincanton on the 28th and 29th of November the programme of events is now available on our forum here. For those who have yet to attend a Hogswatch do it is a festive gathering where you can come and meet like minded fans, dress the part should you wish, meet Sir Terry and generally let your hair down and get yer knees up! for further information on past events along with pictures and testimonials why not visit our events site at www.discworldevents.co.uk and if you would like to book your place at the hogswatch sausage supper simply click here. If you have never been before then the forum is a wonderful place to meet a few people before you arrive, they are all very friendly, and for the main part, mostly harmless!
05/11/09 Communique from the Might National Theatre.
Win a pair of tickets to see the first performances of Terry Pratchett’s Nation live on stage at the National Theatre, Wednesday 11 November, 7.30pm.
The National Theatre’s latest spectacular family production is an exhilarating adventure story of survival and self-discovery.
A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau’s village and left Daphne shipwrecked on his South Pacific island, thousands of miles from home. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress; neither speaks the other’s language; somehow they must learn to survive. As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe’s fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.
Live music, thrilling dance and spectacular puppets come together to bring a shipwreck, South Pacific tribes, invading cannibals and a talking parrot to extraordinary life on the National Theatre stage.
To enter the competition, please email trobertson@nationaltheatre.org.uk with the answer to the following question:
In what year is Nation set?
Successful winners will be contacted no later than 4pm on Monday 9 November. Performance starts at 7.30pm. Tickets must be collected by 7pm from the National Theatre Box Office on the evening of the performance.
To get a sneak preview of goings on at the National Theatre production of Nation please visit www.youtube.com/nationaltheatre
04/11/09 Irish Discworld Convention.
Bernard and Isobel are off to Ireland! This weekend sees the very first Irish Discworld Convention and to mark the event we have a few little offerings.
The Irish Discworld Convention LBE will be available from Friday 6th November to Friday 13th. It will run concurrently with the Autumnal LBE and in fact the only difference will be the inclusion of a special commemorative stamp and an over-print on the LBE.
To set your minds at rest, there is no sport variation with this Convention stamp.
We will reserve one of these special LBE’s for Season Ticket holders, though collectors with multiple season tickets may prefer us to split their holding between the two LBE’s because the variation from the Autumnal LBE is slight. Please let us know.
As with the US Convention we have donated 100 special Commemorative covers for the Convention Charity. These will be available at the Convention and any remaining will be put up for sale by the committee after the Con.
We are producing our own Commemorative Cover (edition of 200) which will be on sale from Friday 6th November 30/10/09 Hogswatch Feast Is Calling.
If you are planning to join us for our Traditional Hogswatch Bash on the 28th/29th of November (further details on
www.discworldevents.co.uk) you can now book your place at the Hogswatch Sausage Supper online. Click here29/10/09 Autumn Leaves and Bloomin' Thieves
Today sees the release of the new
Thieves Guild Discworld Stamp as well as an Autumnal LBE! Both are best served by a roaring fire with a glass of brandy and warm socks.28/10/09 Stamp Albums Now Available Online FOR FREE!Ladies and Gentlemen you can now download the first album pages containing information on Discworld stamps from year 1 and 2 are now availble online for you to view, save print and keep. They can be found
here28/10/09 HOGSWATCH 2009 Information
As leaves crunch underfoot, and frost adorns our window-panes, a distinct waft of sausages grows ever stronger…
Join us for our annual festive celebration on November 28th – 29th in Wincanton. Dress as your favourite character, meet like-minded folk, and revel in some extraordinary charitable nonsense! (the grand Discworld Quiz will be held in the Bear Inn on the friday night for all those early birds who just can't wait)
Festivities will have a theatrical, old time Music Hall feel - so dust off your shiniest tinsel, don your Discworld glad rags, slather on the greasepaint and hurl yourselves into the Hogswatch spirit!
NB Mimes are strictly forbidden (of course).
This year, to give sellers their turn in the spotlight, the Makers Market and craft stalls will move to the Dolphin hotel, opposite the Discworld Emporium.
At the Bear, wonders galore will await. Among the attractions, those fine showmen, Lord Hong, and Professor Hayden will demonstrate their knowledge of Auriental, Discworld themed, paper crafts and reptilian exotica respectively, while budding crafters will have the chance to produce some exclusive creations under the supervision of a glamorous(ish) assistant
*EXTENDED GRAND COSTUME PARADE*
This year entrants are wickedly encouraged to tread the boards from 2pm in a music-hall fashion with short performances! so whether conjurer, contortionist, stand-up comedian, or just wanting to show off your Discworld attire, we want you to take your spot in the limelight.
Efforts will be rewarded with a certification of participation, possible heckling, and hearty rounds of applause! The winner will take away the 2009 masquerade Cunning Cup trophy to treasure for ever more.
In the evening , the effervescent Dame Trace will host a slot of tantalizing entertainment which promises to tickle and tease in all the right (and possibly wrong) places.
Then begins the great tradition of the Sausage Supper, taking place in various eating houses around town. Please note that spaces are limited and you will need to book and pay for your places by filling in the booking form (available to download shortly)
On Sunday you can empty your wallets for a good cause in the traditional Grand Charity Auction. There’ll be an overwhelming variety of goodies up for grabs, so get your finances in order and your bidding arm ready!
The Cunning Artificer’s Discworld Emporium will be open for a warm welcome and cake all weekend.
So get your costumes ready and your ditties polished and we’ll see you in November!
To view a list of suggested accommodations in the area click
www.discworldevents.co.uk27/10/09 Autumnal greetings, one and all!
Please lend us your patient and gracious ears…. Due to circumstances both unfortunate and irksome, we are forced to delay the issue of Journal 20 for a period of approximately two weeks. As some of you will be aware, King Bernard the virtuous has been suffering with sight afflictions and ill health which has placed quite unavoidably, a significant strain on our workflow.
However, now that balls are beginning to roll once more, we can ensure you that your *New-Look Journal* will be crammed with so much interesting stuff that you might think even harder about using it as kindling.
To keep you all busy we are, as we speak, uploading the first two years worth of stamp albums for you to download, print and keep. They should be available upon the morrow. The year of the Three Roses album is currently residing in a temporary home, in two downloadable parts
Best wishes to the lot of you!
-o-23/10/09 Gimlets Hole Food Delicatessen
As you know all good dwarfs of a discerning nature in Ankh Morpork enjoy a taste of home in Gimlets Hole Food Delicatessen. With great pride we can now offer you the chance to adorn your kitchen with an exclusive tea towel from this very eatery. It can be found
here.Unseen Academicals Commemorative Covers also now available, see
here for details.-o-22/10/09 Football Cover, Programme and Ticket Special offer.
Tomorrow we will be releasing the long awaited Unseen Academicals Commemorative Cover. This illustrated envelope, featuring the three Ankh Morpork Football stamps, will sport artwork by Paul Kidby, a frank marking the date of the release of Unseen Academicals and the logo of the Ankh Morpork Football Association and include a beautiful insert.
The book launch was marked by a football tournament of the wyrdest kind here in Wincanton. As a special offer, for those who could not join due to distance, prior engagement or letters from their mothers, we are proud to offer the commemorative Unseen Academicals cover, a program from the tournament here in Wincanton and a souvenir ticket for the same for the price of just £10.
The cover and program will of course be available singly if you so wish at £7.50 and £3.00 respectively but will contain no souvenir ticket.
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We are very pleased to announce that we can now offer you the Jolly Sailor Tobbacco Football Cards as a beautifully mounted wall piece, each signed by the artist Paul Kidby. Making someting of beauty and class for your living-room or something interesting to while away your personal 'down time' in the wee small room! They can be found
here.-o-19/10/09 Stamp Magazine 75th Anniversary
To celebrate Stamp Magazine's 75th Discworld Emporium's Bernard Pearson was asked to produce a cinderella stamp issue. It is now available
here-o-19/10/09 New Green Cabbage Trading Rates
For those of you with more Discworld Stamps than you know what to do with why not swap them for Green Cabbage Trading Sceme stamps which can in turn be exchanged for exclusive Discworld postal items from the Green Cabbage Trading Sceme list. Simply download the new Trading Rates form from
here. Further information on the Green Cabbage Trading Sceme is availble on the link above.-o-09/10/09 New Offerings from Old Friends
The fine town of Wincanton has begun to buzz with various species of football players in readyment for tommorows Unseen Academicals Football Tournement. Many of them now have pockets fulls of the new additions to the Discworld Emporiums range.
Released today are a set of commemorative football stamps which can be found
here.A brand new 'Jolly Football LBE' which can be found
hereand perhaps most noteably the long awaited Jolly Sailor Football Cards. Exclusively produced by the Discworld Emporium in collaboration with Mr Paul Kidby. They can be found
hereWe hope you will enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them. Keep your eyes peeled for the photographic evidence of tomorrows sporting endeavours!
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On Saturday, (10th October) Transworld will be hosting the official launch of this fabulous book here in Wincanton at the Sports Ground, located on Moor Lane (
www.wincantonsportsground.co.uk). Festivities commence with an opening ceremony at noon, followed by a grueling series of football matches including various teams such as the UU, Ankh-Morpork United, and the Dolly Sisters. Admission will set you back a measly £1.00 (proceeds to be donated to Wincanton Football Club) and Food and drink will be available for purchase with vast quantities of pies, cider, and bacon baps. Sir Terry will be attending with ample intentions of doing nowt but enjoying himself! The Cunning Artificers' Discworld Emporium will be open Friday, and the mornings of Saturday and Sunday for you to get your ‘shop-fix’ and the possible chance of a cuppa.Our stunning set of football cards, created in collaboration with Paul Kidby, will be released this weekend, available as full sets and in beautiful mounted frames. A traditional card album is available to complement the cards.
A souvenir programme has been produced by Bernard Pearson and will also be made available on-line and on the day. Proceeds to R.I.C.E Alzheimer’s research.
New Discworld Stamps, featuring three eminent participants in Ankh-Morpork’s ‘beautiful’ game will be available singly, as a sheet and in a new LBE (Little Brown Envelope, a lucky dip of at least £5 worth of mixed Discworld Stamps with the chance to get your hands on sports, rarities and prizes). ‘The Jolly Football LBE’ will include one of the new football cards, the usual sports and, in addition, will be the first to include the new Wildcard prize ticket (about 1 in 25 LBEs). If you are lucky enough to find a Wildcard in an LBE it entitles you to collect a sport of your choice from the LBE in which it was found, a wonderful way to patch the holes in your collection. Simply contact the shop at your leisure. (This excludes any Blue Triangle Stamp) This LBE is not a limited edition but will run for only one week, from Friday the 9th of October to Friday the 16th. The Off The Wall LBE will continue to run alongside the Football LBE.
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28/09/09 Unseen Academicals - The Launch!
The new Discworld novel, entitled 'Unseen Academicals' sees Football come to Ankh-Morpork! The wizards must rise to the challenge without the aid of magic! With a host of new characters and some jolly good pies, the book promises to prove that football is not just about the game.
To honour the launch of the book, publishers Transworld are hosting an event right here in Wincanton. The sports ground is set to be the scene of a good old-fashioned bout of the beautiful game on the 10th of October, the event starts at 11am with kick off shortly after. Terry will of course be very much in attendance and we promise to keep Dibbler away from the pies! We would like to invite those who wish to attend to dust off their rattles, knit suitable scarves and polish up on songs for the terraces.
If you would like to be a part of this historic event then please let us know as soon as possible by emailing Isobel at
isobel@cunningartificer.demon.co.uk so we have an idea of numbers. Accomodation will doubtless book up early so be sure to plan ahead to avoid disappointment.As ever, streakers will be punished heavily so those who wish to come in costume will be very welcome to do so.
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24/09/09 Great Explorers Commemorative Cover and Smoking Gnu Stamp Sheets
This attractive cover has been produced to celebrate three members of the 'Anhk-Morpork Trespassers Society' (Great Explorers of the Discworld) has been released today. For further details please click
here.On Monday the 28th of September we'll be launching an edition of 200 mini-sheet booklets of the 'Smoking Gnu' cinderella stamps. Each sheet of 12 different stamps will be bound in a highly textured stout cream card, indivdually hand stenciled with the Smoking Gnu logo and will bear an edition number. These will go on sale on Monday at Midday priced at £10. Further details of the stamps can be found on the Off the Wall LBE page in our shop (
here).-o-
14/09/09 New LBE
Today sees the release of the new 'Off the Wall LBE' it will be running for the next few weeks and will contain a Shades Postbox stamp and at least one 'Smoking Gnu Double Cinderella' for more information please see the stamps section of our online store.
Also there will be a new Green Cabbage Trading Item up later today.
It may also intrigue those who are not seduced by sticky paper that the workshop has been swept, cleaned and a certain stout party has been collecting together his tools and readying himself for some new Discworld sculptural items! watch this space!
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01/07/09 NADWcon Stamps Release Info.
Due to the popularity of our last event LBE (300 sold out in under 6 minutes!) we have been running a Poll on your prefered time of release. We are now happy to announce that we will be releasing the 500 LBE's reserved for sale in the UK in 3 stages. 200 at 9AM BST, a further 150 will be made available at 12 noon BST and the remaining 150 will be released at 6PM BST. This should give everyone a fair shot at getting what they want and we hope this will be satisfactory to all our valued customers, regular and irregular.
Should you be lucky enough to find a prize token in your LBE the prizes are as follows: Numbers 1-30 will recieve a full sheet of NADWcon stamps (including the 'Tilson Varient' sport, these sheets will not be available to buy and only 30 have been issued). Number 31-40 will recieve a NADWcon Commemorative Cover with the 'Tilson Variant' sport. Number 41-50 will recieve a set of Great Explorers Stamp Sports, one of each joined in a strip. There will also be 50 vouchers for free LBEs scattered in random LBEs.
Also on the 4th we will be releasing three new stamps, Ankh-Morpork Post Office commemorative stamps featuring 3 members of the Ankh-Morpork Trespassers Society, Great Explorers of the Discworld; Lady Alice Venturi, Roderick Purdeigh and Llamedos Jones. Each stamp is valued at A-M$1 and will be available in sheets (£8) and singly (50p) from the 4th of September.
We will also have 200 NADWcon First Day Covers available on the 4th featuring the NADWcon Stamp and the Convention Logo. They will be priced at £5 each.
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27/08/09 NADWCON items.
The North American Discworld Convention looms large on the horizon. Bernard and Isobel will be traveling out very soon indeed.
To commemorate the event we have produced a commemorative cover baring the NADWcon stamp and Convention Logo, for the committee to sell for the benefit of the convention and its charity. A version of this cover will be issued by the Discworld Emporium for sale from the uk.
The Event LBE will be named 'The Amazing Gone West LBE', 1000 of these special LBE's have been prepared and 500 will be sold online from our website. More information on the time of the release will be available on Tuesday the 1st of September (have your say on our forum in the stamps section). Any unsold LBE's from America will be made available online after their return on September the 9th. Each LBE will contain the NADWcon stamp and 1 in 50 will, in addition, contain a 'Tillson Variant' sport. Also in this bumper pack we will be introducing the first 3 stamps from The Ankh Morpork Trespasser's Society Great Explorers Series. When you have the pleasure of reading 'Unseen Academicals' you will find it mentioned in this august body. There will be Prize Tickets in the LBE's which will include 30 sheets of the NADWCON stamp, 10 Commemorative Covers with the NADWcon stamp 'Tillson variant', 10 sets of joined Explorers sports and of course there will be free LBE vouchers.
The Explorers Stamps will be available singly or in sheets from the 4th of September.
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11/08/09 Old-fangled to New-fangled 21st Century Stamp Album
For all those of a philatelical nature we are proud to announce that for the first time you can now download the stamp album, with all the information on stamps released in the Year of the Three Roses, absolutely free. all you need do is
click here and find the link to the online album, open it, save or print it.-o-
10/08/09 New Stamps Live and Kicking
Today sees the launch of the new Genua $5 sheet and single stamp and The new Djelibeybi consulate envelope. Also from today we can offer you the August Harvest LBE. For further details please see our online shop.
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07/08/09 Amended Green Cabbage Trading Rates
An amended list of the rates for the Green Cabbage Trading Scheme can now be downloaded by
clicking here. This list includes the Bonk stamps that were missing from the original list and the new Engravers Guild stamp. Also the very last of the Jamboree FDCs have now been added to the endangered list.-o-
04/08/09 Discworld Iconographs
We are currently compiling a photogrphic record of discworld events hosted by the Cunning Artificer to create an online album for those who missed out on the fun. If you would like to submit your photos then please email them to
discworldiconographs@live.co.uk , we will try to choose a good sample of images and of course let you all know when the site will be published.-o-
03/08/09 Unseen Academicals - The Launch!
The new Discworld novel, entitled 'Unseen Academicals', is scheduled for release on the 8th of October.
Football has come to Ankh-Morpork, and the wizards must rise to the challenge without the aid of magic! With a host of new characters and some jolly good pies, the book promises to prove that football is not just about the game.
To honour the launch of the book, publishers Transworld are hosting an event right here in Wincanton. The sports ground is set to be the scene of a good old-fashioned bout of the beautiful game on the 10th of October. Terry will of course be very much in attendance and we promise to keep Dibbler away from the pies! We would like to invite those who wish to attend to dust off their rattles, knit suitable scarves and polish up on songs for the terraces.
If you would like to be a part of this historic event then please let us know as soon as possible by emailing Isobel at
isobel@cunningartificer.demon.co.uk so we have an idea of numbers. Accomodation will doubtless book up early so be sure to plan ahead to avoid disappointment.As ever, streakers will be punished heavily so those who wish to come in costume will be very welcome to do so.
-o-
30/07/09 The Cunning Artificer Braves Facebook!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have entered the dark and murky realm of Facebooking, and even have our own page! We'll be posting regular updates and photgraphic evidence of our goings on here in Wincanton, so look us up and
become a fan!-o-
27/07/09 Time Gentlemen Please
The last call for birthday stamps. More items on sale from our birthday bash, marking the 5th anniversary of Discworld Stamps, are soon to be gone forever. Both the 5th Birthday commemorative envelopes and the 5th birthday blue sheets are now on the
endangered list and will be retired soon. The special birthday Penny Patrician will also be retired on the 1st of August 09.-o-
15/07/09 Coming Soon
We are currently developing a photographic archive of events for our website. keep your eyes peeled.
15/07/09
Thanks to all who attended our Discworld Stamps 5th Anniversary bash and for all the kind messages from those who could not make it. Our next scheduled event in Wincanton will be Hogswatch, on November the 28th and 29th 2009. Bernard and Isobel are planning to be at the American Discworld Convention in September.
-o-
11/07/09 Mystery LBE Revealed
As Pat Harkin, renowned Discworldian, has today 'Walked the Walk' at the 5th anniversary stamp event he can now be officaly named 'Postman Pat'. Therefore it is with great pleasure we can reveal the mystery LBE as 'The Jolly Postman Pat LBE'. it is now on sale in the online shop.
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10/07/09 New LBE Released
A new LBE has been released today, due to run for a few weeks. As yet the edition is censored due to the subject matter not existing yet! On Sunday all should be revealed, but for those of you who cannot wait, you may now order them from the shop in good faith that, by the time you recieve them all should have become clear.
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09/07/09 LBE retirement
The Flaming June LBEs have now been retired (a few of days late) as they have now sold out! Tommorow is a new day with a new mystery LBE, each will contain the new Engravers Guild stamp and the Twoshirts two penny stamp along with a generous smattering of sports and specials.
-o-
08/07/09 Holy triangles stampman
Our LBE fulfilment technician is at this very moment being put across Bernards knee. It appears that while trying desperately to stuff all the goodies into the Birthday LBEs that she has 'acidentally' slipped a blue triangle sport stamp into one of the envelopes thereby doubling the chances of winning one in this bumper crop! Fingers crossed all!
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08/07/09 New stamp release dates
The new Engravers Guild stamp, sheet and first day cover by Teemer and Spools, the new Penny Patrician Birthday Edition stamp and sheet and the birthday first day cover will all be made available to order online on saturday morning (the 11th of july 09) at 9am(ish). The 300 5th birthday LBEs that will be saved for the web will be made available from 6pm on monday.
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07/07/09 LBE Prize List
For those of you planning to attend our stamps 5th birthday bash and for those poising themselves for the web launch of 300 Birthday LBEs a list of prizes contained within them is now available to download by
clicking here. The prizes include some very rare stamps, sheets and FDCs as well as some editions exclusive to this very prize list. There will of course also be the chance to win free LBEs.Good luck to you all!
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06/07/09 Oh how we spoil you!
The Event LBE is a Birthday Special – in addition to the new stamps listed below, each LBE will contain a new Two Shirts stamp, a 5p Postage Due stamp and year one Ankh Morpork definitives. Just 1000 are being prepared, season ticket holders will be guaranteed their allocation and we will hold 300 for sale on-line on Monday (time to be notified) the rest will be sold over the counter from Saturday at 10.00am
There will be 100 prizes – listed below and an extra 20% of stamps free in each LBE
As the Flaming June LBE retires next week we will be introducing a mystery LBE on 10th July. This will run for the next few weeks each LBE will contain the new Engraver’s stamp and the Two shirts stamp but not the Event specials.
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06/07/09 New Penny Patrician for the birthday bash
A special Penny Patrician has been commissioned for the event. An observation from the oblong office led to a new iconograph of Lord Vetinari being supplied to us once again portraying his eminence in profile and with the sartorial simplicity for which he is known.
Just 200 sheets have been produced. The stamp will be included in the Event LBEs and sheets of the stamp will remain available until the end of July, unless stocks run out. A single stamp costs 30p, a sheet of 20 costs £6.00
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06/06/09 5th Anniversary Stamp
The Yellow Anniversary stamp has been designed specifically to commemorate the first perforation of stamps at Bath Postal Museum in 2004. They will only appear as single stamps in the Event LBE and just 10 sheets have been made available for prizes. And before you ask – there is no sport. A dated commemorative cover has been designed with this stamp and a special Birthday frank. It costs just £5
There is a blue anniversary stamp that has been produced specifically for those who are brave enough to embark on a crash course of perforating. Those who pass the stringent test and emerge with a sheet of stamps being holed in the right places will be able to carry away their sheet after it has been duly stamped and approved by the perforating interface technician. *
For those who cannot attend this event, the perforating interface technician will perforate a number of sheets with his eyes closed, standing on one leg whistling the AM national anthem while eating a jam doughnut and not licking his lips. This we think will approximate to the sort of sheet being produced by the drunken amateurs who have attended. These sheets will be available for purchase by non attendees.
A sheet of blue Anniversary stamps perforated as above and with the official approval stamp costs £3.00 which includes a donation of £1.00 to RICE . These stamps will not be included in LBEs and are only available by the sheet.
*This activity is not open to Sir Terry Pratchett who has previous and extensive experience in perforating stamps
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06/07/09 New engravers stamp to be released for 5th anniversary
A new stamp has been designed for The Guild of Engravers, it features the Guild Coat of Arms and the central motif is the finely engraved initials of Teemer and Spools
The single stamp costs 35p, a sheet of 54 stamps is £18.90
A First Day cover featuring the stamp is available at £6.50 and a proof sheet of the new stamp costs £5.00
