February 2007

This month Royal Mail has released two sets of special stamps.  The first set, issued on 1 February 2007, is dedicated to Sea Life. The second set, issued on 13 February 2007, looks at The Sky at Night.

For this month's 'Stamp of the Month' we take a look at previous stamp issues related to both subjects - water and the planets.

Water and Coast

One of the advantages of being an island surrounded by water is that Britain is fortunate to have a wealth of wildlife and natural beauty spots to enjoy.

Back in March of 2000 Royal Mail issued the Water and Coast stamps. They were the third instalment in a total of 12 sets issued as part of the Millennium Projects series. The complete set comprised of four stamps featuring photographs, both in black and white and colour, representing different coastal aspects of Britain. The frogs legs and water lilies in the first stamp below represented the National Pondlife Centre, a project set up and run by Liverpool John Moores University in the lead up to the millennium.

The black and white photograph on this stamp was taken at Parc Arfordirol on the Llanelli coast.

The other two stamps in the set showed beach pebbles from the Durham coast, and water reflections from Portsmouth Harbour.

Pond Life

Not forgeting that Britain has its fair share of in-land water as well as the coast, the following Pond Life stamps were released in July of 2001. Here we see an example of the varying types of life found in British freshwater ponds...pond life rather than sea life.

The Sky at Night

Astronomy is one of the world's oldest sciences. Early astronomers observed and predicted the motion of objects visible to the naked eye, however as civilizations developed, observatories were assembled and ideas on the nature of the universe began to be explored. However, it was not until the invention of the telescope that astronomy was really able to develop.

This special sheet of four first class stamps was issued in September 2002 under the title Astronomy.

The following stamps were issued as part of a set in February 1986 marking the Appearance of Halley's Comet. If you missed Halley's Comet that time around, you're in for a long wait - it's not due to appear again until the year 2061.

We want you to contact us with your suggestions for future Stamps of the Month. But remember, your ideas must be based on a forthcoming stamp issue from Royal Mail.