Post’s exhibition marks 50th year
A RECEPTION was held at St James to celebrate 50 years to the day since the island’s postal service became independent.
It was on 1 October 1969 that Guernsey broke away from Great Britain’s General Post Office to stand on its own two feet.
A free exhibition to mark the fact is taking place at St James throughout October. Spread over three floors including the stairway, it features 22 stamp issues that span the last 50 years.
The northern isle has not been forgotten and Alderney’s heat-sensitive Coastal Eclipse collection from July 2017 is also on the wall of fame.
There is also a specially-made gold replica of one of the stamps in the first issues.
Guernsey Post chief executive Boley Smillie said the exhibition was thought-provoking and not only for him.
‘I’ve been with the business for nearly 30 years now but there are lots of others with more years in than me and five people with 40 years-plus,’ he said.
Smaller thematic displays include the Endangered Species and Great War series, which sit alongside other popular issues such as the 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Channel Islands from 1970 and the Ford Model T Centenary set from May 2008.
Original artwork from the issues is held by Island Archives at its base in the former St Barnabas Church.
‘Nowadays things tend to be done digitally so what is stored from the more recent issues will tend to be more the research material,’ said Guernsey Post head of philatelic Bridget Yabsley.
Two sets of commemorative stamps will be issued to mark Guernsey’s 50 years as an independent postal administration.
The first is 50 Years of Postal Independence, which has been designed by Joseph Smith of Mojoe, while the second, 50 Years of Stamps, had been designed by Two Degrees North.
One of its designer’s grandfathers has collected Guernsey stamps throughout the five decades and the designs are based around that.
n The exhibition is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and a free booklet is available to visitors.
