Sunday 2 March 2014

Laxey, Isle of Man



I had something entirely different in mind for this week until I found this postcard with matching stamp at our local market.  I can't read the postmark but the stamp was issued in 1978.  It comes from the Isle of Man, an island off the nort west coast of England.

The Laxey Wheel was built in 1854 to pump water from a zinc mine which also produced lead and copper. The mine finally closed in 1932 but the wheel is still working and is the largest water wheel in the world.  It is now maintained by Manx National Heritage.

On the stamp you can see clearly the "three legs of Mann", a triskelion characteristic of Celtic art, though when they were applied to the Wheel they were rotating backwards.  And they remain that way to this day.

And if I hadn't found that card and stamp, this lovely bee stamp is what I would have shown:


It comes from Portugal and I think it's lovely. The stamp was issued as one of a set of four on September 23, 2013.



This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

8 comments:

  1. The bee stamp is nice looking, preferable (to me, anyway) to a real bee. But the IoM wheel was a great find!

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  2. I like the bee stamp better, but I would rather collect the water wheel card and matching stamp.

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  3. I hadn't heard of the Laxley Wheel; it makes a great stamp but outdone by the bee.

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  4. The matching wheel and stamp are a great combination and a great find.

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  5. I was taken by the fact it looks as if one could go up the curved staircase to the top platform of the Laxey Wheel. I went with the Isle of Man for this week for Sunday Stamps too and strangely I was looking at the Portugal and islands apiculture sets in their bulletin last week. They have some imaginative mini sheets.

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  6. I am glad you were able to join us this week.

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  7. The Laxey Wheel and the wheel of fate this week...

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