Description

Attractive Christmas set from Bardsey, issued in November 1979, featuring 7p, 9p, 11p and 13p individual stamps.

U/M / Unmounted Mint / MNH / Mint Never Hinged.

About Bardsey

Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) is an island located two miles off the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales, and owned by the Bardsey Island Trust since 1979.

Between 1979 and 1982, the Trust issued local carriage labels for its own postal operation, to supplement the one-day-a-week service provided by the British Post Office, and to help generate funds to support the Trust’s work managing the island. Fifteen well-designed issues were produced over this period, all printed by Format International Security Printers Ltd, though the extent to which they performed a genuine postal function is unclear. This excellent article includes further background and illustrations relating to Bardsey’s stamps.

In 2015, an attractive new £3 miniature sheet inscribed with the Bardsey name appeared, followed by a £1 stamp in 2016. However, these appear to be privately produced fantasy issues, rather than a resumption of ‘official’ Trust-issued Bardsey stamps.

For more about Bardsey’s postal history, read our blog post here.