Postcard from Great Britain no. 7

This week I have also received this fabulous card issued by the Royal Mail with the picture of the 1st class stamp dedicated to A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh as illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The same stamp was used for mailing this card. To commemorate this classic of children's literature on 12 October 2010 the Royal Mail issued a set of 6 stamps and a sheet of 4 others. The two 1st class stamps from the set and from the sheet bear the EUROPA logo... and what other book could be chosen for the year of children's literature?

Thank you very much, Catherine!!

Postcard from Great Britain no. 6

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A nice postcard received a few days ago from souther Wales, showing the the promenade and the bay of the town of Porthcawl in the county borough of Bridgend, not far from Cardiff. Porthcawl is a holiday resort.

The 60p stamp has a picture of Wallace and Gromit at Christmas, from the well-known British TV series. On 2 November 2010 the Royal Mail issued the total of seven Christmas stamps with these characters. Such a pity that these beautiful self-adhesive stamps are so small!

Thank you, Claire!!

Postcard from Great Britain no. 5

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An impressive viewcard received today from the UK, showing the ruins of the priory in the village of Castle Acre in the county of Norfolk. thought to have been founded in 1089 by William de Warenne.

Since the priory radiates mystery, it's very fitting that the stamp is also dedicated to a mystery, or rather an author of mysteries, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) who penned the immortal Sherlock Holmes (and lots of other novels and short stories, I myself love his horrors!). The stamp was issued on 8 October 2009, in a series called "Eminent Britons", dedicated to prominent British personalities with their anniversaries in 2009.

Thank you, Catherine!!!

Postcard from Great Britain no. 4

Another beautiful view from Anglesey in North Wales, this time of the castle of Beaumaris, designed by James of St. George and begun in 1295, but never completed. Beaumaris has been designated as a World Heritage site (Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd), and "is regarded by some to be the most architecturally perfect castle in Britain" (wikipedia).

And I am still riding the literature-on-stamps wave and have here four covers of Ian Fleming's Goldfinger (1959), ranging from the earliest hardcover to the latest paperback edition (stamp issued on 8 January 2008 in commemoration of the centenary of the author's birth). Thank you, Mia!

Geographical curiosity from Great Britain

Received on 9 April 2009, an interesting greeting from the island of Anglesey off the Welsh mainland. The picture shows the area around the suspension bridge (1826) over the Menai Strait with the town boasting the lovely name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (the longest in the world?).

The card was sent through the Shrewsbury postal hub on 6 April 2009 and the postage is covered by the 56p "queen-head" definitive, incidentally, the first day the new postal rates apply for Europe (from 50p to 56p). Thank you, Phillippa!

Postcard from Great Britain no. 2

Another great postcard sent from Wales (on 11 March 2009). This time showing the historic town of Aberystwyth in the county Dyfed (pop. 11,000), a centre of education and a principal stronghold of Welsh culture.

The lovely 50p stamp was issued on 10 March 2009 in the series Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution and features Josiah Wedgwood who pioneered the industrial production of ceramics in the 18th century.

Thank you, Phillippa:-)

Frankenstein's Curse from Wales

Along with this splendid view of the City Hall in Cardiff Steph sent me, on 24 February 2009, an unexpected continuation of the series of the "Carry On" and "Hammer Horror" films on stamps, begun in my previous post about Dracula's letter from Great Britain. Now it is Frankenstein's turn, again in a movie starring Peter Cushing, and directed by Terence Fisher in 1957. "No-one Who Saw It Lived to Describe It!"

Oh horror! Dracula's letter from Great Britain

Today I received this lovely letter from Caernarfon, Wales, bearing the printed postmark of the postal hub of Chester and North Wales. Surprisingly, it took 43 days to reach me, travelling god knows where.

What I find particularly amazing is the Dracula stamp from the June 2008 series dedicated to the posters for the famous Carry On and Hammer horror movies. I had not even dreamt about receiving such a great stamp on any of my letters, and now it quietly fluttered into my mailbox gnashing its teeth. Such an outrage to be happening on a stamp the Queen had to turn her gaze!

Thanks so much, M.!