Two PHQ stamp cards showing the blackest of a series of five stamps issued in 1984 by the Royal Mail to commemorate the bicentenary of the original Bath Mail Coach of 1784. Before 1784, mail deliveries were made by post-boys on horseback with the result that mail was slow and liable to be stolen. John Palmer persuaded William Pitt to try sending the mail by coach. The trial was highly successful and so the mail coach service was born. It lasted until rail services took over in the mid 1800s.
This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"
So that is how various Jane Austen characters got their letters.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating today with some black and white stamps!
I missed out on these as I was in Norway throughout the 1980s.All part of postal history.
ReplyDeleteAmazing!
ReplyDeleteJust imagine those horses galloping at full speed with mail. The stamp with lightning is very dramatic, one of the rare occasions when you could actually say "my postilion has been struck by lighting".
ReplyDeleteThese are really nice with Queen Elizabeth in red.
ReplyDelete