Great Britain stamps and Special Event and First Day postmarks - Maritime theme

This part shows images of the Lighthouse stamps issued by GB on 24 March 1998, followed by details of special First Day postmarks used in association with this stamp issue.

St John's Point, 20p	The Smalls, 26p	The Needles, 37p	Bell Rock, 43p	Eddystone, 63p

The set of stamps commemorate both the 300th anniversary of the lighting of the first Eddystone lighthouse and the final year of manned lighthouses in the UK. All will be automatic by the end of 1998. Information from the British Philatelic Bulletin

The 20p stamp [basic inland 2nd class letter rate] shows the lighthouse at St. John's Point, County Down, Northern Ireland, which was established in 1844. The colours of the lighthouse were changed to black and yellow in 1954. The stamp shows a contemporary* chart in the background: the band at the foot of the stamp shows the lighting characteristics - 'group quick flashing x 2' {* I take this to mean 'current' rather than contemporary with the change of colour - Norvic}

The 26p stamp shows the lighthouse at The Smalls, Pembrokeshire, Wales [basic inland 1st class and EU basic weight letter rate]. The current tower was built in 1859 by James Douglass and was automated in the 1980s. The chart is dated 1988. The light is 'group flashing x 3'.

The famous Needles Rocks lighthouse on the Isle of Wight on England's south coast is shown on the 37p stamp [airmail postcard rate]. {The Isle of Wight guards the approach to the famous port of Southampton, from where many trans-atlantic voyages started.} This lighthouse was also built in 1859, by James Walker and the stamp shows it as it was at the turn of the century. The chart dates from 1908 and the light is 'single occulting'.

On the 43p stamp [airmail letters up to 10gr] is the lighthouse on Bell Rock (or Inchcape Rock) 11 miles south-east of Arbroath, Scotland. It was built in 1911 by Robert Stevenson (ancestor of poet Robert Louis Stevenson), and marks a dangerous reef. The tower is the oldest rock lighthouse still in operation in Britain and is shown as it appeared in the mid-19th century. The chart is dated 1842 and the light is 'alternating white and red'.

The 63p stamp [airmail letters 10-20gr] features Henry Winstanley's original Eddystone Lighthouse, off Plymouth, Devon as it looked when first lit in 1698. The chart is from the mid-18th century, and the light's character is 'fixed steady light.'

GB: Lighthouse issue special postmarks/cancels (not to scale)

Please note these postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue. We have no stocks of these except on a few FDCs. For current information visit our new website of information on new stamps and postmarks of Great Britain    (This was added to the original page when we were in the process of migrating to either xoom.com or nbci.com, I can't remember which!)

Ref 5248 The Needles Lighthouse, Freshwater, Isle of Wight 32x36mm	Ref 5249 The Pharos, Dover Kent. Remains of Roman lighthouse 23x31mm	Ref 5265 The Bell Rock Lighthouse, Arbroath (Scotland) 32x37mm	Ref 5252 Beachy Head, Eastbourne 20x37mm
Ref 5270 A Guiding Light, Alum Bay, Freshwater, Isle of Wight 32mm dia.	Ref 5272 The Roman Pharos at Dover, Britain's tallest suriving Roman building 34mm dia.	Ref 5236 Beacons CLose, London E6 30mm dia.	Ref 5257 First Day of Issue, Birmingham 28mm dia.
Ref 5280* 300th Anniversary Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth 35x42mm	Ref 5281 300 Years of the Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth 37mm dia. no frame	Ref 5285 300th Anniversary The Original Eddystone Light Plymouth 32x39mm	Ref 5256 Seamark, The Magazine all about Lighthouses, Loughborough, Leicestershire 37mm dia. no frame
Ref FD9806 Alternative Official FD Postmark, Eddystone Chart 31mm dia.	Ref FD9805 Official Philatelic Bureau FD Postmark, Inchkeith Chart 31mm dia.	Ref 5253 London FD Postmark 30mm dia.	Ref 5271 Lighthouse Albums sponsored postmark 32mm dia. no frame
Ref 5234 Corporation of Trinity House, London 30mm dia.	Ref 5235 Trinity House, Eddystone 1698-1998 30mm dia.	Ref 5266 St John's Point Lighthouse, Killough, Co. Down 32x38mm	Ref 5246* Those Towers of Light, Skerries Court, Langley, Slough, Berkshire 43mm dia.
			(image lost)
Ref 5259 Grace Darling, Herione of the Farne Islands, Bamburgh, Northumberland 38x22mm	Ref 5251 Belle Tout, Eastbourne 38mm dia.	Ref 5268 Belle Tout Lighthouse, Beachy Head, Eastbourne 29x32mm, no frame	Ref 5284 The Smalls Lighthouse, St David's, Haverfordwest, Wales 33x33mm, no frame

Ref 5306
Flannan Lighthouse, Flannan Islands, Lewis. Scotland - relevant to Scotland Lighthouse aerogramme. Postmark:42x38mm, no frame



* 5246 and 52.. are Royal Mail reference numbers
and not part of the postmarks.

For details of Royal Mail's
Lighthouse aerogrammes issued with the stamps click here

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