All that glitters

 

Here's one of the glorious Yemen golden stamps.

Yemen

The Yemen, first came to my attention in the early 80's when catering the Yemenia 727. This was the first time I came across guns, carried by their skymarshalls. This stamp was used in May 1972, a defining moment in the history of this troubled country and the outbreak of civil war. 

I decided to buy a Yemen stamp after Sue and I had a coffee in a Yemini cafe in Rottingdean. I ended up in a bidding war for a pack of stamps. Quite a few of them feature an aircraft that is crying out for an investigation. They also do very nice gold stamps. More on both these things later. 

 

Toulon, 1944

I wouldn't normally buy a stamp with a swastica on, but these are of interest to me. Toulon on the French Mediterranean coast was the headquarters of the French navy during the war. In 1944 Toulon, like most of France, was occupied by the Nazis. Among the French resistance in Toulon, my hero Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His brother Pierre-Antoine on the other hand was a Nazi sympathiser, who was imprisoned and narrowly escaped being executed for his allegiance. The fact these little bits of paper were in that city at that defining time gives me the shivers . 

An unusual stamp caught my eye

19

Bahawalpur was a city and a region in what is today known as Pakistan and the Annas currency no longer in existance. This stamp was issued in 1949. 

East meets West.

An impulsive trip to the seaside and as monument that marks the spot where the meridian line crosses the south coast. The stamps were issued in 1984, the year of Live Aid. The photo below shows Sue standing in the Eastern hemisphere, me in the Western hemisphere. 

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!

Japan, land of contrasts

 

Japan. I wouldn't ordinarily have a page of stamps from Japan, but then again I have been there. Three times. Always to the same place. A night stop in the town of Narita. A fascinating one street town with a gorgeous temple and gardens at the far end. It is an airport town and has a transitory feel to it. But I hated seeing, in one of the shop windows, the grotesque sight of an old man skinning eels alive. Done almost like a tourist attraction. There is so much that is good and interesting about Japan, but there is so much horror too. These stamps were given to me by my colleague Michael Oakes, a kind and gentle man who worked with me for a short, much too short, period time. Thanks Mike! 

I don't have many photos from my three trips to Japan (although oddly I do have a video of the eel killing man). This is a snap of one of the market stalls in Narita high street.