12 January - British television situation comedies including "The Good Life" and "Fawlty Towers" - 10 stamps and 1 retail counter booklet of 6 x 1st class stamps. The issue will also commemorate the centenary of the birth of Arthur Lowe who played the character of Captain Mainwaring in the immortal "Dad's Army"
2 February - Scottish architecture (commemorating the Scottish Festival of Architecture) - 8 stamps and 1 Prestige booklet which includes 1 pane of Scottish regional stamps.
23 February - Great Britons - 10 stamps - commemoration of various notable literary Britons including PG Wodehouse (birth centenary), HG Wells (150th anniversary), Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare (400th death anniversary).
22 March - Nursing in Britain (Centenary of the founding of the Royal College of Nursing and including Commemoration of Edith Cavell, nurse of World War I) - 6 stamps and 1 retail counter booklet.
5 April - The stories of Beatrix Potter (150th birth anniversary) - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.
19 April - 90th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II - 8 stamps and 1 miniature sheet which has stamps on the subject of The Queen and Windsor Palace.
10 May - British owls - 6 stamps and 1 retail counter booklet.
28 June - Centenary of the First World War - 6 stamps and 1 prestige booklet (includes the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme and death centenary of Rupert Brooke).
14 July - 50th anniversary of the "Swinging Sixties" - fashion, pop art and music of 1966 - 10 stamps and 1 prestige booklet.
2 August - Olympic Games, Brazil - 1 miniature sheet of 4 different stamps and 1 counter booklet.
13 September - 500th anniversary of the "King's Posts" (beginning of Royal Mail) - 6 stamps and 1 prestige booklet.
13 October - 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.
8 November - Christmas - 7 stamps, 1 miniature sheet and 2 counter booklets.
There will be 13 issues - one more than in previous years - and the usual 3 "Post And Go" issues.
The above list is a complete fabrication on my part but I will be interested to see how accurate I have been in predicting the British stamp issues of 2016 when the real programme is finally announced. I fear that many of the eventual issues will be on subjects which have appeared on British stamps before because those who decide these things will believe them to have popular appeal and will consequently expect to sell well and help them boost sales figures.
Referring back to Blog 333, "Turbulent Priests", a recent stamp issue has added another Archbishop of Canterbury to the list of those featured on Commonwealth postage stamps. He appears on one of the 4 recent stamps from Bahamas which commemorates the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. King John is depicted on the 15c value and by his side is a Bishop who is most probably intended to be Stephen Langton who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1207 by Pope Innocent III in the face of the king's opposition.
Referring back to Blog 333, "Turbulent Priests", a recent stamp issue has added another Archbishop of Canterbury to the list of those featured on Commonwealth postage stamps. He appears on one of the 4 recent stamps from Bahamas which commemorates the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. King John is depicted on the 15c value and by his side is a Bishop who is most probably intended to be Stephen Langton who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1207 by Pope Innocent III in the face of the king's opposition.
A struggle between John and the Pope followed and the result was that England was placed under an Interdict in March 1208. John was then excommunicated and deposed by the Pope but with all the principal English clergy having travelled abroad, John was able to bleed the Church in England of its finances and became extremely rich on the proceeds.
Eventually in May 1213 John yielded to the Pope and agreed to make England a Fief of the Papacy and Stephen Langton returned to England and he worked with the king and his disgruntled barons in the production of Magna Carta.
Langton died on 9 July 1228 having worked with John's son, Henry III, in confirmation of the great charter:-
Mauritius Post issued a single stamp on 5 June 2015 to commemorate World Environment Day and dealt with the subject of disaster risk reduction and prevention of flooding. The current Rs 7.00 definitive stamp has also been reprinted and reissued:-
Something rather remarkable happened recently - I received a letter from New Zealand Post with a real stamp fixed to the envelope! As far as I can recall this is the first time that I have had a communication from New Zealand Post which was sent in an envelope with a stamp on it - usually one receives covers with postage paid printed on them. Sadly no postmark was applied to cancel the stamp. Perhaps the New Zealand Philatelic Bureau has discovered that stamps are not just something to sell but also something to use on real mail. Or perhaps it is just trying to use up an excess stock of Hobbit stamps:-
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| Hobbit stamp used on real mail! |
The 23rd February issue will include a Prestige Book as this is the Stampex issue and it always does.
ReplyDeleteOne of the late March or early April issues will be 1st class stamps rather than a mix of values. One will be 10 x 1st in two strips of 5.
One of the subjects will be announced only 4 weeks before the issue, due to contractual negotiations with the rights holders.
Thank you for your input. A fascinating and as we would expect a brilliant analysis by you of what goes on with British new issues. I look forward to reading the real programme when it is announced. Once more, many thanks.
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