Postal rates

 

Postal rates

 A standard first-class stamp in UK costs £1.80, up 10p from April 7^th, 2026.

 A second-class stamp is £0.91, just over half the price of a first-class stamp. It increased by 4p in April.

Those who still send letters usually opt for second-class postage. It’s noticeably cheaper, and the letters often arrive at the same time as correspondence with first-class stamps. Remoter areas will often experience significant delays, even with first-class postage.

At present the Post Office site states that second-class letters will arrive within three business days, and a first-class letter will be delivered by the next working day, including Saturdays.

Today, a flyer dropped through our letter box, in bright red Royal Mail livery. It stated, '2^nd class mail is changing.’ The changes are intended ‘to deliver a better all-round service.’ Considering how customers send mail, Royal Mail aims ‘to offer a more reliable and sustainable service.’

Letters and cards carrying second-class stamps will be delivered every other day, and if one of the days is a Saturday, the letter or card will be delivered within three weekdays. So, something posted before collection on a Friday may not reach the recipient until the following Tuesday.

First-class mail will continue to be delivered six days a week. Mail is never delivered on a Sunday, though parcels can be delivered ‘up to’ seven days a week.

Is this change intended to encourage more people to buy first-class stamps, so that cards can be expected to arrive for the important date they’ve been sent for? I suggest that fewer people will bother to send anything by surface mail.

The peak of 20 billion letters in 2004-2005 has dropped to 6.6 billion and is forecast to drop to 4 billion in the next few years.

The decline is blamed on the growing dependence on digital communication. This has been reflected worldwide. At the same time, parcel deliveries have increased markedly.

Are we witnessing the demise of the personal letter or card? Will future generations be unable to read letters sent by their forebears? Will anyone be able to read another person’s handwriting? 

I know of children already who cannot read cursive script. This is not so surprising, since, unless we have been specially taught, it is difficult for most people to read journals and notes written by people in the 16^th century. Queen Victoria’s handwriting from the nineteenth century was difficult to decipher.

It would be disappointing if future historians and biographers in their research had nothing more exciting to sift through than emails and text messages.

Interesting stamps

 

Interesting stamps

 A parcel was delivered recently with some interesting stamps. I didn’t know if they were all genuine so attempted to find out.

In Britain, commemorative stamps have been issued by Royal Mail since 1924. The first one was designed and produced for the British Empire Exhibition, which ran for six months in 1924 and five months in 1925. In the following thirty years, there were occasional commemorative issues, between one and three per year, for special events of particular note, after which they became more frequent.

From the mid-1960s. between six and ten special issue sets were produced every year. At this time, official First Day Covers were introduced, along with Presentation Packs. Postcard-sized reproductions of commemorative stamps became available from mid-1970s, to be issued alongside each new set of stamps.

From the early years of the 1970s, the number of sets increased, until usually more than ten sets were produced annually. Ten years later the practice was for Royal Mail to issue ten to fifteen sets a year.

Stamps now commemorate a diverse range of subjects, encompassing history, sport, theatre, science, popular culture, to name but a few.

The stamp at the top of this post was part of a series celebrating one hundred years of cycling. It was issued in 1978. We were still using halfpennies in 1978! They were not phased out until 1984.

The stamp illustrating the Liverpool Great National Steeple Chase of 1839 was part of the Horseracing series and issued in 1979.

The Christmas stamp called ‘Shepherd and Lamb’ was issued in 1984.

The Edward Lear stamp was issued in 1988, one hundred years after his death in January 1888.

The Kestrel formed part of the 2003 Birds of Prey series. There was later a 2019 series of Birds of Prey.

I've never been a stamp; collector. As a child, I had a brief period of collecting stamps depicting animals, but the interest faded and the phase passed. 

Philately can become almost obsessional, but those who have pursued it throughout their lives have built up valuable collections. 

Weekend Mailbox #4 Ethiopian stamps

Barry's niece is currently living in Ethiopia and these stamps were on the envelope holding her Christmas card to us. The country is rich in wildlife.
The first two stamps show Menelik's Bushbuck and the third is of the Black Rhinoceros, described as 'Critically Endangered'.
Gemma, from 'Greyscale Territory' originated this meme and hosts it each week. To see more mailbox-related posts - and perhaps be tempted to join in - please click here.

ABC Wednesday Round 3 S is for . . .

S is for . . . Stargazer Lily

Spider

Sailing, Spots and Shadows
Swans

Stamps
Stepladders

Salix integra
White-lipped Snail

Seed head
Sunrise
Sunset

Thank you to Denise Nesbitt for hosting this meme. See what other people have found for 'S' here

A special package!

A special package was delivered yesterday in a sturdy cardboard envelope.

The address was written on a hand-painted address panel - how beautiful!

Inside was a carefully wrapped green tissue packet with a note on the front. The note was written on the back of more art work.

It contained a set of stamps with a brief history of post boxes.

In case the photographs cannot be enlarged this is what is printed above the post boxes:-

'The earliest known surviving posting slot was placed in the wall of Wakefield Post Office in 1809. Britain's first roadside pillar boxes appeared in the early 1850s but, in more remote and less populated areas, a cheaper and more practical alternative was needed, resulting in the development of smaller post boxes. Initially, they were installed in walls, buildings or brick pillars; later designs were also attached to lamp posts.'

From left to right the post boxes are from the reign of George V, Type B wall box; Edward VII, Ludlow box; Victorian lamp box; Elizabeth II, Type A wall box.

(These stamps are too pretty to be used so I shall frame them. There is such a lot of artistry in stamp design, as in coins - what a shame we don't look at them more carefully and appreciate their perfect detail.)

Also in the envelope was this photograph - another piece of art work.

My sincere thanks go to Sarah from 'Circles of Rain' for this pretty gift. Why not visit her blog and see what other lovely works she has to show you?