Description

½d Birnbeck Island stamp from 1969, depicting the “mail coach pioneer” John Palmer, who was born and lived in Bath.

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

About Birnbeck Island

Birnbeck Island is a 1.2-hectare rocky island just off the coast of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, linked to the mainland by the 351-metre Birnbeck Pier - the only pier in the country to connect an island with the mainland.

Though Grade II* listed, the pier is currently in perilous condition, and no safe public access to the pier or island has been possible for many years. The RNLI lifeboat station vacated its site on the island in 2014, but, as of 2023, there are intentions for it to return once North Somerset Council's planned acquisition and restoration of the island and pier is completed.

Several stamp issues for Birnbeck Island have appeared over the years. The first is believed to be a ½d stamp from 1969, depicting the "mail coach pioneer" John Palmer (1742 to 1818), who was born and lived most of his life not too far away in Bath, but seemingly had no specific links to Birnbeck or Weston. Perhaps it is possible that the creator of the issue confused him with a different John Palmer, namely the local builder who constructed Birnbeck Island's boathouse in 1899? Though covers exist, bearing the Birnbeck stamp cancelled alongside a Royal Mail definitive, we have not yet established who produced this issue, or whether any local postal service operated.

More recent labels inscribed Birnbeck Island - including a £1 value depicting the island itself - are believed to be fantasy issues created by the late Nigel Keegan, who produced stamps bearing the names of various British islands during the 2000s and 2010s.