To open my mailbox like someone opening a surprise box and to feel the pleasure of discovery unleashed by an envelope decorated with stamps.
To be part of the world and also to discover it this way, with the help of those who share this vision.

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

COVER N. 607 -  UNITED KINGDOM - LUNDY

Postmark: Lundy Bristol Channel 03.07.2025

Posted on the 3rd July; Received on the 9th July 2025

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I open my letterbox to find a true oddity inside. Amazing cover. I had never heard about this tiny island with its own postal service. Un énorme Merci, Roland!




Lundy lies  in the Bristol channel, about 19 km away from the Devon coast. Today, the Island is owned by the National Trust, a private  heritage and conservation charity that aims to permanently preserve lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The island - about 5 km long and 0,8 km wide -  is almost completely devoid of any other means of transportation than your own legs (bicycles included) with the few  motorised  transportation means that exist being solely allocated to island management and function purposes.

The history of the private P.O. at Lundy goes back to 1927 when the General Post Office of UK withdrew Lundy from the list of its covered locations.

For a while and until November 1929, the then Island owner, Martin Coles Harman, kept on providing mail collection and distribution to the islanders free of charge, but on the 1st November of that year, Lundy own private post office stamps were introduced to help offset the cost of the service.

These initial stamps were denominated in the currency that Mr. Hartman also created - The Puffin, an homage to one of the island's most famous dwellers. Like the currency, the stamps only had two denominations: 1 Puffin and 1/2 Puffin.

The issuing of Lundy stamps continues to this day and by agreement with Royal Mail, it is not necessary anymore to affix the Lundy stamp on the back of the envelope, a rule that was in force up to 1962.

From then on, Lundy stamps had to be placed on the left side of the envelope, while the right side was reserved for GPO later Royal Mail stamps.

From 1974, Lundy was authorised to include the value of the Royal Mail postage on their stamps, what meant than letters could circulate with Lundy stamps only.

As far as I understand, (and please correct me if I am wrong, because I would really like to be sure about this), on the cover above, the ROW (Rest of the World) Lundy stamp includes both the local Lundy PO fee and the £3.20  Royal Mail postage fee.

The Puffin "ROW" stamp on the cover cancelled with a manual Lundy postmark, is part of the 2023 definitive issue (all stamps being identical except for colour and denomination) comprising 7 values (1st; 2nd; ROW; 20; 75; 100; 300 Puffins).

The Royal Mail  mechanical cancellation features a nice cachet with what is probably Lundy's most iconic building: the Old Light, Lundy's first lighthouse, built in 1820.

All in all a superb addition to  my collection. 


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