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The Discworld novels of Sir Terry Pratchett are gems of comic fantasy fiction with wizards, witches and dragons, all revolving around the city state of Ankh-Morpork and the towns and villages in the mountains. The city’s postal service was revived during the events of Going Postal, which appeared in 2004. And lo and behold, the stamps mentioned in the story became available in our universe (something to do with quantum and inter-dimensional portals I believe). Since then hundreds of amusing, collectable, rare and classic stamps have made their way over here. The Discworld Stamp Collector pages explore the philatelic nature of some of the issues, highlighting the rarities to look for, identifying errors, listing varieties and providing some background to the stamps in terms of their development. New articles are continually added - when I have the time.
Laernu and More features the stamps of Colin Edwards (who was extensively involved in the design of the Discworld stamps), aided and abetted to an extent by Alan Batley (who artwork graced those same issues). These stamps include some of the most inventive, unusual and humourous Cinderella stamps around. Some are from the mysterious land of Laernu and the Isle of Vue, famed for St Valentine’s Day issues, while other issues stand alone. The pages are intended as a guide to collectors; what to look for in terms of variants, limited editions, covers and sheets. The range is so varied that I doubt no-one will ever have a complete collection – not even Colin!!
The Welsh Postal Oddities are a series of Cinderella stamp issues (over 60 so far) all with a Welsh flavour. There are locals, private posts, poster stamps, souvenir and political labels, revenues and even sets from little known Welsh overseas territories. Each issue has a full back story set in an alternative Wales that is sometimes a little too close to home.
With the Discworld Stamps reflecting some of the incidents, paragraphs, and happenings in the Discworld books, its seemed a good idea to actually use the stamps to illustrate an outline of each of the stories; all 41 novels and a couple of extras. Visit Discworld Books and Stamps to see the stamps in context. I am also hosting the Huw Puw Caru web site on behalf of the Caru Foundation, a reclusive organisation dedicated to making the literary works of this little known and little published Welsh author more available. There are many who will tell you that those two adjectives are well earned, but like many cult figures in the arts quality does not always tally with worth or appreciation. New works are added as and when the Caru Foundation sees fit, and it may be a while before a new story is added. Caru has been directly and indirectly involved with some Welsh Oddities. Following the Huw Puw Caru FaceBook page will bring you notifications of new material
For a change from sticky bits of paper here is a link to my British Wild Orchid blog. These are not those overblown, blousey, cloned tropical plants that adorn the garden centre and supermarket shelves. These are the Real Thing. Few UK orchid species can be considered common, or even noticeable to a casual observer in the wild . Many are rare, only growing in a few locations. Some are almost undetectable with flowers 2mm wide and growing to just 20cm. The Ghost Orchid is well named, sometimes with decades between sightings of even a single flower, and rarely ever in the same place twice. Over the last few years I have logged all my visits to their habitats and the photos, as I try to see each and every species, sub-species and form possible. It will be a long task!
The small print: All images on these sites are the copyright of the owners. Please respect that and don’t be naughty. The web sites are designed with PC, laptop or tablet in mind. I don’t have all the skills or the software to give them ideal appearance on mobiles. Any questions or comments can be directed to my email |
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