About WASC

WASC's origins go back to 1950, when the Gambia Study Circle was founded. Over the years the Circle has expanded its remit to the Atlantic Islands (Ascension, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha), Cameroons, The Gambia, Gold Coast / Ghana, Nigeria and its constituent territories, Sierra Leone and Togo, and includes the British Postal Agencies on Madeira, Tenerife, St Vincent (Cape Verde Islands) and Fernando Po.

Each of the areas above is described in more detail - click the appropriate link. There's also more detailed history of WASC on this site.

The purpose of the Circle has remained the same for its lifetime: the study of the postal history and stamps of the area, arranging meetings and the publication of specialist material. The Circle has organised the publication of a wide range of studies on stamp issues, postmarks, censor marks etc. Membership is currently over 200 drawn from all parts of the world.

The Circle meets in person twice each year in London, also annually in Salisbury, and meets on Zoom three or four times a year. Every second year, there is a weekend Conference, where members can get together for displays and talks and generally exchange notes and views. Postal auctions are held twice a year.

Since 1998, the Circle has its own website. During the last few years this website has become a valuable open-access resource for philatelic and postal history research relevant to West Africa and includes many of our past publications, a list of books for sale (with some books freely available on line), Cameo published on-line from issue no. 1, summaries of recent Zoom and meeting room displays, complete copies (and also extracts) of Government reports and other out-of-copyright books and finally maritime and air mail history including maps and timetables.