The modern world of communication has become a frantic place: E-mails, phone texts, Skyping, "crackberrys" pinning each other. The sheer volume of messages flitting around the world in microseconds can overwhelm you with a digital downpour.

Sometimes it helps to find solace in a quieter era, as a group of British enthusiasts did recently, celebrating an anniversary with their Canadian cousins. The Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain is the quintessential British club: Quirky, eccentric and unique. They are interested in Canadian stamps and Canadian stamps only.

Unveiled to a burgeoning populace mid-way through the 19th century, when Canada was still 16 years away from becoming a country, three stamps saw the light of day: The 3p Beaver, the 6p Prince Albert and a 12p Queen Victoria. The 3p Beaver, it turns out, is one of the first "thematic" stamps in the world.

Club President Graham Searle says this group of collectors, formed in the 1930s in a Glasgow coffee shop, has been getting together pretty continuously since not long after the Second World War. "Boys of a certain age look for things to collect and stamps were cheap and fairly plentiful," he points out. "You must remember a lot of Canada was settled by Scots, so many of us had family over there that were sending us letters. They seemed fairly exotic."

Some of the members use their collections as a social history of Canada, Searle says. "Stamps and of course letters perfectly illustrate immigration and district history in Canada."

The number of members has been in decline over the last decade. "Kids just have more things to do these days, like computers," Searle wryly observes.