Description

Lundy 2025 stamp issue, released on 11 March, celebrating the island’s reaccredited Bird Observatory status, and depicting birds that can often be seen on Lundy.

After a recovery in numbers in recent years, Lundy is now England’s third-largest cliff-nesting seabird colony, and the island rejoined the network of bird observatories in Britain and Ireland in 2023. As a member, Lundy is committed to the long-term study of bird populations and migration, and a bird warden conducts a daily census, alongside coordinating ornithological research, ringing and education.

The issue features watercolours by Sharon Read – the same local Bideford artist whose images were used for the 2017 Birds of Lundy issue.

The set includes five values: 40p (oystercatchers); 2nd, initially 95p (puffins); 1st, initially 140p (house sparrows); ROW (Rest of the World), initially 265p (guillemot and razorbill); and 350p (waxwing). Quantities produced are 27,000 for the 2nd and 1st class stamps – which will be the ones most frequently used for postage – and 12,000 each of the three others.

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

About Lundy

Lundy is a three-mile-long island in the Bristol Channel, whose stamps are among the longest-established and most sought-after local issues.

Unlike many labels that bear the name of British offshore islands - such as Eynhallow or Staffa - Lundy's stamps have always performed a genuine local postal function. When the British General Post Office withdrew its services from the island in 1928, the then-owner Martin Coles Harman introduced the first Lundy stamps in 1929 to cover the cost of carrying mail to the mainland. Those and subsequent stamps are denominated in "puffins", with one puffin equivalent to one penny.

To avoid confusion, Lundy stamps initially had to be fixed to the reverse of any postal items. From 1962, Lundy stamps were allowed were allowed to be affixed to the address side of postcards - but still well away from the 'official' British stamp - with this policy extended to all mail in 1992. These days, mail from the island only requires a Lundy stamp, which now incorporates the Royal Mail charge - indicated by an additional metermark - alongside the extra "puffinage".

Since 1969, Lundy has been owned by the National Trust, but financed, administered and maintained by the Landmark Trust, who continue to issue Lundy stamps. As of 2024, over 400 Lundy stamps have now been produced over the past nine decades, and 40,000 items of mail are sent annually.

You can read more about the Lundy postal service on the Landmark Trust website.