Sunday 26 January 2014

National Trust landscapes


The National Trust looks after 985 square miles (or about 2550 square kilometres) of countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  There is a separate National Trust for Scotland and it was in 1981, the 50th anniversary of its foundation, that the Royal Mail issued a set of stamps and the PHQ stamp cards shown here.  The stamps were designed by Michael Fairclough in a mildly abstract design.  I didn't like them at first but they have grown on me.

Of the five landscapes shown on the stamps, two are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: St Kilda and the Giant's Causeway.  The Lake District, including Derwentwater, has been added to the Tentative List.

There is often confusion about the differences between the National Trust and English Heritage.  The National Trust is run as a charity while English Heritage is 70% funded by the government.  The National Trust does look after some buildings but English Heritage doesn't look after landscape. Occasionally the two overlap, for instance at Stonehenge where English Heritage has the main monument and visitor centre, while the National Trust has the land all around it including many of the other monuments on the UNESCO WHS list (which most people ignore).

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

8 comments:

  1. I was one of these people who used to mix National Trust and English Heritage! Thanks for the explanation. By the way, the stamps are bright. I had never seen them before.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The 'other' set I didn't show this week was these from the National Trust - all true landscapes to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, I find that these designs grow on you. They remind me a little of art deco.
    Wasn't postage cheap back then!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think they give a marvelous atmosphere of wildness especially the St Kilda one. The style seems influence by John Nash or do I mean Paul, I always get them mixed up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like these for their vaguely art deco design. I was just watching an episode of Coast, about the cliffs (not sure how old it was, but it's a new series for us here) though it didn't feature either the 20p & 22p sites.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the style of these very much too - how light is handled. thank you for participating.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The light and the water.. Amazing, I love these designs!

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow! I am so green with envy on your collection. The design is simply beautiful!

    My Sunday Stamp

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...