Field note ·
Read the dummy before you reserve a number
An hour in the reading room is cheaper than an allocation you regret because the closing splash did not land.
The current origin issue sits on the board in Wentworth as a bound dummy. You can turn every page. You cannot take it home. That is deliberate. We want the reservation to follow a reading, not a thumbnail on a phone.
Pay attention to the recap box on page two and the closing splash. If the recap assumes a fight you have not read, ask whether a prior origin issue is still open. If the closing splash restates the opening pose without a change in the roster, say so. We would rather redraw than allocate a limp last page.
Remote collectors receive a low-resolution walkthrough on the handover call only after they reserve. That is a poorer way to judge an issue. If you can reach Maidstone Road, come for the preview. The £40 chair is credited if you allocate that afternoon.
We keep two chairs so that a pair of collectors can argue about a panel without blocking the room. Please do not arrive as a group of five. There is nowhere to put the coats.