Beaches

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is at the beach

A choice of beaches at Carnac, the Grande Plage with its 2 kilometres of sand is the largest of the five but the Plage de Legenese, is said to be the most sheltered from the wind.

Heading for the west coast of Denmark famous for its sand dunes along the North Sea. It looks very peaceful

Bank Holiday crowds at Morecambe, Central Promenade early 20th century

Join the crowds at Morecambe. In the past the railway branch line would have terminated close to the sea front bringing day trippers and holiday makers to the seaside resort. A statutory public holiday (Bank Holidays are usually on a Monday) would be a peak time at seaside resorts. The crowds on the promenade will see the expanse of Morecambe Bay and the Lake District hills beyond.  Those on the beach have other things on their mind.

P for Penguins

 

1978: Antarctic Fauna

Emperor Penguin are the heaviest and  largest of the penguins

1991: Endangered Species - King Penguin

The King Penguin is smaller but unlike the Emperor Penguin it lives in the sub-arctic islands and rocky coastlines.

1999: Definitive - Birds (Design - Una Hurst)

It  is the largest and most colourful penguin on South Georgia. The artist Una Hurst specialises in the wildlife of the South Atlantic and has designed and painted nearly 50 postage stamps. Born on the Falkland Islands she now lives in Scotland with her family on a sheep farm in Orkney. 

1956: Penguins and Seals

The Rockhopper Penguin, one of the many species of crested penguins.

2002: Comic Strips and Movies

Rasmus Klump is a bear that always wears polka dot dungarees and goes on many adventures with his friends, Pingo the Penguin, Pelle (a pelican), Pildskadden (a turtle) and Skaeg (a seal) on his boat the Mary.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - here for Penguins and a Pelican - See It On A Postcard 

Gardens

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Public Gardens

Ballindalloch Castle, Banffshire, Scotland

A view of Ballindalloch Castle, visitors can enjoy its formal gardens, woodlands and riverside walks which are open to the public from Easter to the end of September. The first tower of the castle was built in 1546, much altered it still stands today.

Aberlour is located on the banks of the River Spey and famous for its whisky, and Walker's shortbread (the company is the UK's largest exporter of biscuits). The photos are of the Parish Church, the River Spey and the Alice Littler Park.

Travelling from the east coast of Scotland 

to the Isle of Man in sunshine and the Promenade Gardens of Douglas, the island's capital.

Orchids

 

1968: Flowers IV

O is for Orchid

1982: Wild Orchids

L-R = Early Purple Orchid or as the Swede's call it, St Peter's Keys: Marsh helleborine; Elder-flowered orchids the two grow together in different colours, purple and white, so I rather like the Swedish name of Adam and Eve; lastly a Lady's Slipper. 

The price of this stamp sheet included 1.60kr in aid of stamp collecting.

1993: Orchids -  issued for the 14th World Orchid Conference in Glasgow

We now head into the esoteric growing of orchids by enthusiasts 18p Dendrobium hellwigianum from the mountains in east New Guinea the next 24p has so many Latin names I'll just say it is a clone and cross from Asia and Borneo 

 Cymbidium owianum (Low's Boat Orchid)  introduced from Burma

33 another cross from the Himalayas and Thailand; 39  a variety of Dendribium vexillarius originally from the cloud forests of New Guinea 

Sunday Stamps A-Z - O for Orchid  - See It On A Postcard

Tree Time

 

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Parks and Gardens visiting National Parks

SJ Lamorna Birch travelled the length of England and Scotland from his home in Cornwall to paint travel posters for LMS (London, Midlands and Scottish) Railways. This view of Loughrigg Tarn was painted c1925. One can walk around the tarn and is one of the 'Miles without Stiles' walks in the Lake District National Park.

 

Another 'Miles without Stiles' walk is around Tarn Hows and is a very popular walk with fine views. 

Lathkill Dale, Nr Bakewell

A sunny walk along the Lathkill River which lies at the heart of the Peak District National Park. 

Nature

 

Heart in Nature (Designer Jenny Burman)

The colours of nature

2003: New Zealand Landscapes

on land

and sea

1984: Flower

A  pink Mexican Creeper with its heart shaped leaves, also known as the Bee Bush 

1991 and 1988: Native Birds

Rock Wren - a songbird of the mountains where it stays even in winter. A kingfisher bringing colour to rivers and watery places.

Sunday Stamps A-Z today N for Nature, New Zealand and Nicaragua - See It On A Postcard 

Blue Yonder

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is enjoying spring and the colour Blue

Apollo 11 Launch - 16 July 1969

A perfect launch from Cape Kennedy to set foot on the moon

Decent of Soyuz TMA19M Decent Module, June 2016

A safe deployment of parachute and a decent to Earth after six months orbiting our planet on the International Space Station

Zennor Village with Church of St Sennara and the Tinners Arms

Back on terra firma on the tip of England in Cornwall. It is said if one wants to find a pub then look for a church tower. St Sennara is a Breton saint and shows the Celtic connection between Cornwall and Brittany.

.At the Postal Museum you can travel underground on Mail Rail, a postal railway which once traversed London through narrow tunnels (1927-2003),  today the experience is just for pleasure. The Postal Museum started life in the basement of  GPO Headquarters in 1969. It moved in 1998 to Mount Pleasant archives but this card brings us to the present day. A publicity/donation appeal card issued in 2016. The Museum and Mail Rail opened in its present building in 2017.

Majestic

 

1965: Birds

Its that time of year when ones mind turns to holidays. Perhaps a trip to Malaysia where the locals might point out a Murai Gajah (Asian Fairy Bluebird) on a tree.

 

1994: Malaysian Airlines inaugural flight cover

 Fly out of Malaysia to Buenos Aires to dance the tango under a moonlit Brazilian sky.  Where next? 

 

Travel back in time to the 1950s and the Hotel Majestic in Acapulco, Mexico

 

 

A sea view from their rooms

 

Definitive 1950s: Architecture and Archaeology 

 

Buy a Michoacan Mask as a memento although a lot of these dance masks look very scary.

 

 

Catch some sport at the Mexico City University Stadium. Built in 1952, at the time the largest stadium in Mexico. It is now called the Olympic Stadium after hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics

1969: Tourism

Enjoy visiting the Pyramids in the ancient city of Teotihuacan (place of the gods).  Not built by the Aztecs or Mayans but an ancient race, origins unknown.

  

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Mexico, Malaysia and Majestic - See It On A Postcard 

Purple

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for purple

1935: Silver Jubilee

One of the extensive George V Omnibus editions of a common design celebrating his Silver Jubilee.  Issued May 1935 in Great Britain and spanning across her 54 colonies and four dominions coming to a total of 249 stamps. Collectors of these sets enjoy finding printing errors and  varieties such as extra flag poles.

On the card the fish basket is deep purple as is the clothing on the arm upper left. The card is of Scots College in Rome a seminary for the priesthood for the dioceses of the Catholic Church in Scotland. There are 20 stained glass windows created by Giovanni D'Aloisio. The one shown is behind the altar although the postcard cuts off the whole scene which includes the fishing boat. The full version can be seen on the header of Scots college's Facebook page. On the right is the miraculous catch of fish, the disciples are called to become fishers of men. On the left it says Ecce Agnus Dei - Behold the Son of God. The photo on upper left is of the Theological Library

How Green

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Spring colours - Green

Le Chambre D'Écoute - The Listening Room - René Magritte (1958)

There are two versions of The Listening Room by René Magritte, the green apple remains the same but in different rooms. In the 1952 version the room has a wooden floor and a glass window with a white surround. As can be seen in 1958 the room is now grey brick with an arched open-air window.

 The Slow Martch Tree (Careya arborea), native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina, also known as wild guava. The fruit is edible but the seeds are poisonous. Many parts of the tree are used in  herbal remedies.

Settle-Carlisle Line Card No 57

A veteran class 40 locomotive crossing Arten Gill viaduct in Dentdale. It will be green all the way on this line. 

Kosmos

 

1993: Birds

Karemkerem is the Swahili name for Bee-eater and this one lives in the upland regions of East Africa.  

1976: Space Flight

Christina Koch, Artemis II crew member said "The thing that changed for me looking back at Earth, was that I found myself not only noticing the beauty of Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it even more special"

A Korean artist brought a little bit of colour into Outer Space.

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Kenya, Korea and keremkerem - See It On A Postcard 

Yellow

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for a spring and one of the colours that mark its arrival, Yellow

Bamforth's 'Tempest Kiddy' Series No 472 (Illustrator Douglas Tempest)

"Here's a spot of Good Luck ... A Double Dose for You" 

 A card sent in 1934 from 'Grandma', who was visiting the seaside resort of Blackpool, to Alison in Cheshire.

"In the Car" - Roy Lichtenstein

Fast forward to 1963 and fast cars, a Hitchcock blond  in the driving seat and her squared jawed companion. This large Lichtenstein painting is based on the comic book series 'Girls Romances'. (The original story graphic revealed -  Tony Abruzzo panel with speech bubble.)

SVR Poster Series No 6 - Kidderminster (Artist - Alan Reade)

A world away is The Falling Sands Viaduct carrying the Severn Valley Railway over the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal whose bridge has the more parochial name of Bridge Number 16.

J for Jays

 

1961: Birds of Woods and Fields

A Jay for J. Walking in the woods its screeching sound may be heard before being lucky enough to see it.

1963: Audubon's Birds Of America (Plate 96)

The Columbia Jay with more exuberant tail feathers

1988: Wildlife Preservation Trust

Alas I have no more Jays and change colour to the bright yellow of Rodriguez Fody, a sparrow like weaver bird, endemic to the small island of Rodriguez, an island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean

1993: Summer Birds

 Another small bird, the Dartford Warbler, it struggles in harsh winters when numbers have crashed in England but in recent times global warming and mild winters have resulted in increasing numbers and range. Seen on the stamp in its preferred habitat of heaths and gorse bushes.

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Jay and Jersey - See It On A Postcard