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| 2012: UK A-Z Part 2 |
I'll start off this week in the north west of England with Alfred Waterhouse's Victorian Gothic town hall which inside has murals by Ford Madox Brown showing the important events of the city. There are a lot of Madox Brown paintings in the north west but I saw even more of them this year in Belgium, they were on loan for a special exhibition of his work. Fancy travelling to Ghent and finding paintings from my own patch but a visit was irresistible, and see them all together.
Journey across the Irish Sea and a stamp celebrates the completion of the Shannon Hydro-Electric project in 1930 which was the beginning of the electrification of the national grid and also brought power to rural areas.
And so to bridges here is the opening of the Wakato Narrows long span bridge on Dokai Bay in 1962. It is only for motor transport, the ferry, which apparently is the cheapest in Japan, takes pedestrians and cyclists across the water. From the islands of Japan travel to
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| 1994: Prefecture Capitals (4th series) |
the city of Heraklion on Crete to a building that was constructed in Paladian style when the island was a colony of Venice where the great and the good met but used also as a Loggia where people met to pass the time. With the coming of the Turks the building was used for financial administration, and a place to store guns. In 1900 with liberation from the Turks and an independent Crete the state proposed it be turned into a archaeological museum unfortunately an earthquake in 1904 mad it unsafe. After a gap of some decades it was eventually restored and in 1934 started to be used for municipal services. Today the first floor has been restored furnished and decorated being used for ceremonial purposes and meetings of the council. This gained it the Europa Nostra award in 1987 for the restoration of a historic building for a modern use.
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| 2012: UK A-Z Part 2 |
Lastly the ultimate builders of public works, the Romans. The early morning mist rising from the water in the city the Romans founded as a thermal spa - Bath. (UNESCO heritage site).
An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of "Civic or Public Architecture and other public works"
7 comments:
oooh.. I really like the Roman baths stamp.
The red Wakato Narrows bridge on Dokai Bay stamp is outstanding and really stand out.
The simplicity of the Japanese stamp does make it really stand out. And I like the Roman Baths one, just because I love Bath. But what a history for that poor building on Crete!
The Roman Baths stamps is lovely, it's a shame that it's really a special effort to get these stamps being used in the mail. A lovely selection.
Lisa has made an important point - I see far more UK stamps on a market stall than we ever see on postcards and letters - you have shown two fine examples to prove the point. Manchester and Bath - what a combination.
Why would the Manchester and Bath stamps not normally be used in the mail? Are they special issues, or only limited amounts printed? Both are really neat!
Thank you Joy for participating.
The Manchester and Bath stamps would be used in the mail Viridian but as Bob and Lisa say they are only supplied in small numbers to local post offices and soon run out. Oh to live near a main post office to make stamp buying simple.
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