Between Saturday 24^th and Sunday 25^th November 2007 one of the most prestigious international thematic exhibitions was staged in London at the Victory Services Club, Seymour Street . The event was organised by the British Thematic Association (BTA) and was held in conjunction with Thematica II. The exhibition Patron was Margaret Morris, a past President of the BTA and well known thematic philatelist.

The Eurothema exhibition has its roots in 1984 when a “Weekend of Thematic Philately” was organised in Belgium . On the tenth anniversary of this “Weekend”, the organisers felt that a larger event was necessary to properly commemorate the anniversary and thus the show was enlarged to include the Netherlands , Luxembourg and Germany with a new name adopted – DEBENELUX. By the year 2000 this show had proven to be very successful with large numbers of visitors attending the bi-annual shows. This success generated interest from other countries who wanted to participate and Belgium felt that the time was right for the show to expand. Thus after various consultations and deliberations a new format of exhibition was agreed upon which would involve seven countries ( France , Great Britain , Germany , Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg and Denmark ). It would be called Eurothema. The first exhibition was held in Wetteren in 2001. The BTA was always supportive of the various thematic exhibitions held on the Continent and was thus very receptive to the concept of Eurothema. Having participated since 2001 it was a great privilege for the BTA to host the 2007 exhibition.

Planning for the show began about a year and a half before the show was due to be held, with a small committee being formed to plan the show in detail while other tasks were carried out by the members of the main BTA Committee. The show and the activities that would be held during it were planned in great detail to ensure that everything would go smoothly. Despite this there were last minute concerns, particularly regarding the number of visitors, which in the end all turned out to be unfounded.

The show opened on Saturday morning and a steady stream of people began coming through the doors. They were able to visit a large number of specialist thematic dealers offering a wide variety of material as well as being able to view the entries from the five participating countries. In addition the thematic exhibits in the National thematic competitions were also on display along with Christine Earle’s social philatelic exhibit, “Extracts from a War Diary”. All those who attended commented on the wide variety of themes and material which were on display; the different treatments which were evident and the excellent conditions in which the material was displayed. All the exhibits were judged by the jury which consisted of Brian Sole ( Great Britain ); Jef Ghys ( Belgium ); Jorgen Jorgensen ( Denmark ); Jean-Francois Durenceau ( France ) and Anto van Deutekom ( Netherlands ).  

One of the main features of any Eurothema exhibition is the social events which take place during the show. On Friday 23^rd an informal buffet was held to officially welcome oversees exhibitors, judges and guests. Attended by around thirty people the highlight came when the Patron of the show, Margaret Morris, cut a specially prepared cake to commemorate the event. The next night the more formal Palmares Banquet was held in the Trafalgar Room of the VSC. The evening began with a drinks reception during which the Patron presented specially commissioned medals to all the Jury members as well as to Damien Lage, President of the FIP Thematic Commission. In addition John Hayward, then the BTA Vice Chairman, presented a medal to Margaret. When this had been completed the forty two guests took their seats and after an introduction in French, German and English, by the master of ceremonies, Simon Moorcroft, sat down to a three course meal of chicken liver pate, herb infused lamb and apple tatin which was accompanied by the wines Anfora Bianca Le Anfore and Anfora Rossa Le Anfore.  The food was widely considered to be of a high standard.

  Following this were the toasts and responses: Eurothema was proposed by Koenraad Bracke and responded to by Brian Sole and Our Guests was proposed by the BTA Chairman Lesley Marley and responded to by Damien Lage. Many of those who spoke highlighted the importance of philately and its special nature that allows philatelists to come together and enjoy each others company in relaxed, social settings such as at dinners or receptions.

  After the speeches the special prizes, all of which were donated by the various participating countries, were presented. The presentations were made by Margaret Morris. After this came the highlight of the evening: the announcement of the winner of the Eurothema Trophy. In third place was Great Britain , with 224 points; second was Belgium , with 232 points with first place going to the Netherlands with a total of 252 points. The Eurothema Trophy was presented to a representative from the Netherlands , Beatrix Waltmann-Steunberg. This concluded the evening which had been a great success and great fun.

  Visitor numbers to the show the next day remained high, despite it being a Sunday. At lunchtime a special juror’s lunch was held a local Italian restaurant which was attended by the jury along with members of the BTA committee and spouses. Later that afternoon the process of dismantling and packing away all the exhibits, frames and other items began. Due to excellent advanced planning the process was smooth and efficient.

  The show was a tremendous success. It was a collective effort led by John Hayward who organised the key aspects of the exhibition to perfection.  It is widely regarded as one of the best thematic shows ever to be held in Britain and allowed thematic philately to take centre stage.