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Guy Thomas  |  May 14, 2015  |  0 comments

The second issue in Royal Mail’s five-year First World War commemorative series, issued on May 14, focuses on the year 1915, with more poignant images hailing the stoic bravery of fighting men.

It follows the template set in the first issue, by exploring each year of the conflict though six key themes: poppies, poetry, portraits, art, memorials and artefacts.

Designed by Hat-Trick, the stamps are printed in litho by International Security Printers.

Guy Thomas  |  May 05, 2015  |  0 comments

Royal Mail is celebrating Britain’s invention of the adhesive postage stamp with a 175th Anniversary of the Penny Black miniature sheet to be issued on May 6, the precise anniversary of its issue.

It features stamp-on-stamp designs reproducing the 1840 Penny Black and its baby sister the Twopenny Blue, with superimposed 1st class values, each appearing twice in a chequer formation.

The 1d is shown with corner letters SC and the 2d with corner letters QB.

Guy Thomas  |  Apr 01, 2015  |  0 comments

The issue date of April 1 was carefully chosen for the Comedy Greats set, which celebrates 10 of Britain’s best loved funny acts of the past 60 years, including many whose work is considered a landmark in the history of entertainment.

Royal Mail says that part of the inspiration behind the issue is that a quirky sense of humour is a trait synonymous with British people.

There are also several linked anniversaries, including the centenary of the birth of Norman Wisdom and the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s television show Not Only…But Also.

Guy Thomas  |  Mar 05, 2015  |  0 comments

In the Bridges issue, to be released on March 5, Royal Mail celebrates the evolution of Britain’s river crossings from small-scale functional structures to dramatic architectural landmarks.

The 10 featured bridges were constructed over a period of five centuries from a range of different materials, from stone and timber to iron and steel, and in contrasting engineering styles, from clapper and stone arch to suspension and cantilever.

Based on photographs taken from similar angles, the stamps were designed by GBH, and printed in lithography by International Security Printers.

Guy Thomas  |  Feb 19, 2015  |  0 comments

Royal Mail’s Inventive Britain set, to be issued on February 19, celebrates the country’s long and proud history of developing world-changing innovations.

It features eight key British inventions of the past century or so in a range of disciplines, from materials technology to medicine.

Available as four se-tenant pairs, the stamps were designed by GBH, which created original visual interpretations of the inventions for six of the stamps, while the other two are based on existing and computer-generated imagery.

Guy Thomas  |  Jan 20, 2015  |  0 comments

On January 20, Royal Mail will issue a Smilers 2015 miniature sheet, introducing eight new 1st class stamps expressly intended for use in personalised Smilers sheets.

The range of designs that customers can choose from is refreshed from time to time, and this is the first new set since a miniature sheet in 2010; previous sets were issued in booklets in 2005 and 2006.

The idea is to offer greater choice and flexibility when it comes to celebrating big events, from weddings and births to birthdays and other achievements, and sending ‘thank you’ messages.

Guy Thomas  |  Jan 06, 2015  |  0 comments

The first Royal Mail stamp issue of 2015 is the 10-stamp Alice in Wonderland set, released on January 6 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tale.

The book, properly titled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has its origins in a ‘golden afternoon’ in a rowing boat on the River Thames in Oxford in July 1862, when Charles Lutwidge Dodgson told the 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters an outlandish fantasy tale about a young girl who fell down a rabbit hole and found a world inhabited by strange anthropomorphic characters and in which very little made sense.

Under the pen-name Lewis Carroll, he published it three years later as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it has become a classic of the nonsense literature genre, republished in myriad editions and adapted for theatre, cinema and television.

Guy Thomas  |  Nov 03, 2014  |  0 comments

This year’s Royal Mail’s Christmas stamps, released on November 4, feature outdoor scenes of a secular family Christmas by illustrator Andrew Bannecker.

Charming and colourful images depict British family Christmas traditions, from carol singing and ice skating to posting cards and buying trees, all taking place in light snowfall.

As usual they come in a set of seven, available in self-adhesive counter sheets and a gummed miniature sheet, with the 2nd Large and 1st Large designs being expanded versions of the standard 2nd class and 1st class designs.

Guy Thomas  |  Oct 08, 2014  |  0 comments

The Prime Ministers set of eight stamps, to be issued on October 14, feature some of Britain’s most influential civilian leaders, four of them from the 18th and 19th centuries and the other four from the 20th century.

The office of Prime Minister was not created, but evolved over a long period of time.

Officially, the post is still First Lord of the Treasury, although the term ‘Prime Minister’ came into use as a convenience around 200 years ago.

Julia Lee  |  Sep 09, 2014  |  0 comments

Royal Mail’s Seaside Architecture stamp issue, to be released on September 18, celebrates the infrastructure that makes the uniquely British seaside holiday possible.

Six stamps from counter sheets feature piers, lidos, bandstands and shelters from around the UK’s most popular resort towns, aiming to illustrate a wide range of architectural styles from their heydays.

An accompanying four-stamp miniature sheet concentrates on the theme of piers, showing four from the Victorian era.

Julia Lee  |  Jul 28, 2014  |  0 comments

Royal Mail starts a five-part annual series commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War on July 28, with a set of six stamps linked to the first year of the conflict, 1914.

Further appropriate issues will follow in 2015-18 inclusive.

If the set looks incoherent at first glance, Royal Mail has made it clear there is a carefully planned rationale behind it.

Julia Lee  |  Jul 17, 2014  |  0 comments

On July 17, six days before the opening of the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Royal Mail will issue six stamps to celebrate the largest sporting and cultural festival ever held in Scotland.

This is the third time the Games have taken place in Scotland, after Edinburgh hosted the event in 1970 and 1986.

A total of 71 national teams will compete.

Julia Lee  |  Jun 05, 2014  |  0 comments

Royal Mail’s latest stamp issue, Sustainable Fish, issued on June 5 (which is World Environment Day), aims to contrast endangered species in Britain’s marine fisheries with sustainable alternatives.

So the 10 stamps feature five fish whose future is threatened due to over-fishing, and five whose stocks are still high and which therefore offer a viable alternative for consumers.

Each group of five is available as a se-tenant strip.

Julia Lee  |  May 13, 2014  |  0 comments

The Great British Film issue, to be released on May 13, celebrates a selection of the most significant and successful British movies produced since World War II.

Royal Mail consulted the British Film Institute, cinema experts and polls of popular films to arrive at its choice of six to feature on the sheet stamps.

An accompanying miniature sheet focuses on the work of the GPO Film Unit, which produced ground-breaking documentaries for the Post Office in the 1930s, including the much-loved Night Mail.

Julia Lee  |  Apr 09, 2014  |  0 comments

The Buckingham Palace set, to be issued on April 15, celebrates the history of the Queen’s official residence, which is one of the few working royal palaces left in the world.

Its history can be traced back to the early 17th century, when a mulberry garden was established on the site in London to breed silkworms.

A house built there for Lord Goring in 1633 was replaced on a larger scale by the Earl of Arlington, who was Secretary of State to King Charles II, and in 1698 Arlington House was acquired by John Sheffield, who was created Duke of Buckingham in 1703.

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