Description

1981 trains set of eight from Bardsey, depicting the Slate Caverns Railway, Snowdon Railway (Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa, though the issue is mistakenly inscribed “Wydda”), Ffestiniog Railway, and Bala Lake Railway.

The stamps in each pair are of identical design, except that one in each pair is inscribed in English and the other in Welsh.

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. At least fifteen well-designed issues were produced over this period, 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 during that period.

In 2015, an attractive new £1 stamp and £3 miniature sheet inscribed with the Bardsey name appeared, followed by a label depicting Bardsey lighthouse in 2007. However, these are privately produced fantasy issues, rather than a resumption of 'official' Trust-issued Bardsey stamps.

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