Bermuda Day

 

Bermuda Day is 28 May and traditionally the first day where the weather is nice enough to go onto the water. It's also said to be the first day when traditional Bermuda shorts can be worn as business attire. This stamp is quite special because I posted it! In November 1987 on a postcard to my mum and dad. 

Brexin

 

In the world of stamps, you sometimes see overprinted stamps. This is where the country has taken a previously issued stamp and altered it to celebrate an event. This stamp shows the Coralita, or coral vine, a colourful flower from Mexico that is common in the Caribbean and Bermuda. The stamp has been overprinted with 'HEATH-NIXON DECEMBER 1972'. This refers to a summit between the two leaders where the US President voiced concerns about trade after Britain joins the European Union. If only they knew what 2020 would have in store!

Beautiful Flatts Village

This stamp is special because the postmark is from Flatts Village. My favourite place on the island. We stayed here every time we visited Bermuda. I have so many happy memories. Not least of which is sitting on the dock at Flatts feeding the fish. Seen here sporting my new and trendy (or so I thought) LA Gear trainers.

 

 

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee

 

1987 and our first holiday in Bermuda. We stayed at a hotel in Flatts and regularly went snorkelling at Shelley Bay. On the right side of the bay was a rock formation, the home to Lobster Lee. We visited him nearly every day. Named after the Spike Milligan poem which goes:

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee
Living in the deep blue sea
Libster Lobster where are you?
Gone to lunch, back at two.

Lobster Lee's home is represented in the red dot here:

The Hibiscus

 

One of the (many) things I loved about Bermuda was the narrow lanes lined with hibiscus plants. So much so that I described it to my friend Athalie who I worked with. A few days later, she'd gone down the garden centre during her lunch break and come back with a hibiscus for my garden. I loved that plant. It has lived in a pot on my patio for at least 25 years but sadly came to the end of its days last year.

The Bermuda Bathysphere

 

    

Diving, history and Bermuda, all in one gorgeous stamp. Read the extraordinary story of the Bermuda Bathysphere here. On researching this stamp I discovered that the bathysphere I saw at Bermuda Zoo when I was there in the 80s is a replica. The real one is in a New York Museum. See stamp collecting can be a downer. Still, a fantastic story.

Bill Beebe inside his bathysphere in Bermuda!

It could be Sue!

Another crossover stamp. 1987 was our first trip to visit Geoff in Bermuda. We'd just sold our house in Mannings Close and bought our house in Copthorne. The whole transaction had been a bit more profitable than we expected so we had a bit of spare cash to splash on a holiday. I'd gone via New York, (my first ever flight on Virgin Atlantic), while a very nervous Sue took a direct flight with BA.

This stamp shows a BA Tristar approaching Bermuda over its turquoise seas. Exactly as Sue would have experienced it. Always a great part of a holiday. The meet up in arrivals wasn't so great!

Sue's boarding card (notice she sat in the smoking section) with a photo showing her with Geoff in the bar at Bermuda airport and a table full of 'green meanies'! 

Bermuda Map

A map of Bermuda on a postage stamp. What total joy. This fascinating, historical, beautiful archipelago is not part of the Caribbean, but a remote nation positioned all on its own, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Hamilton, 1952

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Another beauty of a cancellation. This time, posted in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. Somewhere we have fond memories of. In fact, decades after our first visit we stall have a sticker we bought on Hamilton main street on our front door. 

St Georges, Bermuda, 1949

This is pretty near perfect because it we have a date and a place, 15 March, 1949. 3d postage was probably quite a lot, even for Bermuda, so what mystery. St Georges is the second town in Bermuda, situated in the east end of the islands. Back then it would have been rebuilding after the war and growing its tourist industry. Only the very wealthy would have been there back then. 

These stamps were produced in 1948 to celebrate the silver wedding of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (queen mother). Many other commonwealth countries used the same print and style for their stamps. 

Hog Fish Beacon

This was a dim one to start with. I thought I recognised this but it’s something I’ve never seen and am never likely to. The beacon is situated on a northern reef and is so obscure that there are very few photos of it on the internet. I did enjoy tracking it down photo here and location here. As you can see this was posted from Hamilton in October 1996 and at some point the frank had been smudged.