Related Articles
By Jay Bigalke
Great Britain’s postal authority, Royal Mail, will mark 70 years of its national parks with a new set of 10 stamps to be issued Jan. 14.
The 10 parks being honored and their year of establishment are Peak District (1951), Lake District (1951), Snowdonia (1951), Dartmoor (1951), North York Moors (1951), The Broads (1989), New Forest (2005), South Downs (2010), Pembrokeshire Coast (1952), and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (2002).
“Britain is a geological smorgasbord shaped by centuries of conquest, agriculture and industry, and this interweaving of varied nature and complex history is what gives our national ‘breathing spaces’ their remarkable diversity,” Royal Mail said in its presentation pack folder that describes all 15 of the United Kingdom’s national parks.
The Studio Mean designed the stamps. Each stamp measures 36.5 millimeters by 34.7mm and is perforated gauge 14 by 14.5. The stamps are nondenominated, paying the first-class rate (85 pence as of Jan. 1).
International Security Printers printed the stamps by lithography in sheets of 50 (sold in panes of 25 at most postal outlets).
In addition to the stamps, Royal Mail is offering postmarks, first-day covers, a presentation pack, and 10 postcards reproducing the designs of the stamps.
Also being issued is a booklet of six nondenominated first-class stamps: one each of the Peak District and Snowdonia stamps, plus four Queen Elizabeth II Machin definitives.
To order the National Parks stamps and related products, visit the Royal Mail website. Ordering information also is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland. Royal Mail’s agency in the United States is Interpost, Box 400, Hewlett, NY 11557.
Connect with Linn’s Stamp News:
Sign up for our newsletter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
