Wrangel Island

Ever heard of Wrangel Island? I didn't too till Galya sent me this FDC. It is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island liesastride the 180° meridian. The International Date Line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland. The closest land to Wrangel Island is tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 km (37 mi) to the east. The distance to the closest point on the mainland is 140 km (87 mi). It is believed thatWrangel Island may have been the last place on earth where mammoths survived.

Nearly all of Wrangel Island, and Herald Island, are a federally protected nature sanctuary administered by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources. The island, and its surrounding waters, were classified as a "Zapovednik" (a "strict nature reserve") in 1976 and, as such, receive the highest level of protection and excludes practically all human activity other than for scientific purposes. The Chukotka Regional government extended the marine protected area out to 24 nautical miles in 1999. As of 2003, there were four rangers who reside on the island year-round. In addition a core of about 12 scientists conduct research during the summer months.

Wrangel Island is about 125 km (78 mi) wide and 7,600 km² (2,900 sq mi) in area. It consists of a southern coastal plain that is as wide as 15 km (9.3 mi); a central belt of low-relief mountains; and a northern coastal plain that is as wide as 25 km (16 mi). The east-west trending central mountain belt, the Tsentral'nye Mountain Range, is as much as 40 km (25 mi) wide and 145 km (90 mi) long from coast to coast. Typically, the mountains are a little over 500 m (1,600 ft) above mean sea level. The highest mountain on this island is Sovetskaya Mountain with an elevation of 1,096 m (3,596 ft) above mean sea level. The east-west trending mountain range terminates at sea cliffs at either end of the island.

Wrangel Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. This rocky island has a weather station and, formerly, two Chukchi fishing settlements on the southern side of the island (Ushakovskoye and Zvyozdny on the shore of Somnitelnaya Bay).

Wrangel Island was commemorated with the issue of this stamp on the lovely minisheet affixed to this lovely FDC postmarked 27.2.2012. This wonderful first day cover was given to me byGalina.

For a better Environment

This Israeli FDC with the stamp, postmarked on 22.8.1993, which very graphicallydescibes what man has to do For a better Environment. Namely, importance of taking care of the pollution levels on sea, land and air. 

The importance of keeping the right balance between keeping the natural environment clean and healthy, and the needs for human growth and industrialisation is very aptly shown in the drawing on the cover.

Thank you Dear Merja for this nice FDC.

1975 Health Stamp Issue

The 1975 Health Stamp Issue incorporated the theme of children and animals. The animals depicted in the designs are typical of those New Zealand children might grow up with in rural areas.

The proceeds of the 'Health' value of health stamps were donated to the Children's Health Camps movement.

3c + 1c. Girl feeding a Lamb.

4c + 1c. Boy with Hen and Chickens.

5c + 1c. Boy pulling Duck in Wagon.

Thank you Maria for this lovely FDC.

Christmas stamps from Cyprus - Panagia tou Araka Church

The 1973 Christmas stamp issue shown on this First Day Cover postmarked 26.11.1973, featured the ancient Araka Church, and the other stamps portrayed paintings/frescoes that are displayed inside the church.

The 12th century church of Panagia tou Araka, a UNESCO World Heritage site, stands just outside the village of Lagoudera and boasts some of the finest frescoes of the late Comnenian style (1192) prevailing throughout Greece, the Balkans and Russia. Together with the churches of Asinou and Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, it is considered to be one of the most important Byzantine churches on the island. Visitors should ask for the priest, who can be found on the premises next to the church, to escort them to the church.

My friend Merja sent me this FDC with the lovely stamps and the special postmark on them.

XXX Olympiad London 2012

SingPost released the Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012 stamp issue on 2.1.2012.

Wenlock is featured in SingPost’s Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012 stamp issue. The stamp issue showcases Wenlock in four different Olympic sports that Singapore athletes have displayed consistent excellence - table tennis (1st local), swimming (S$0.65), sailing (S$1.10) and badminton (S$2.00).

There is more to the XXX Olympiad London 2012 mascot than meets the eye. Named Wenlock, the one-eyed mascot got its name from Much Wenlock, a town in England deemed as the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. Its eye represents a camera lens that records everything and the five friendship bracelets on its wrists resemble the Olympic rings. With a metallic finish, it was fashioned after a last drop of steel left over from the final girder of the Olympic Stadium in London, based on a short story by children's author Michael Morpurgo.

Railway Line between Jaffa and Jerusalem

In 1888, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire granted a concession to Yosef Navon, a Jerusalem Jew, for building a railway line between Jaffa and Jerusalem. Due to a lack of financial resources, Navon transferred his rights to a group of French capitalists. Construction lasted about two and a half years, and on the 5th of Tishrei, 5653 (26.9.1892), the railroad was inaugurated. The first locomotives and cars were manufactured in the United States and purchased from the De Leseps company after it failed to dig the Panama Canal and went bankrupt. The railroad was 87 kilometres long with a narrow gauge of 100 centimetres. Following World War I, the tracks were adjusted to a standard gauge of 143.5 centimetres which is customary today.

At first, a daily train ran in each direction. The journey took three hours and fifty minutes. Later on, the ride .was reduced by twenty minutes and the trains were more frequent as well: two or three ran in each direction every day.

My friend Merja gave me this cover with the nice stamps on them, postmarked on 16.6.1992. There are 4 stamps in the series issued to commemorate the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway. Each stamp is divided into four parts, the following explanation of each stamp is given right to left:

NIS 0.85 stamp: Part of a drawing of the "Baldwin" engine (made in the United States, 1918); greasing the wheels of a steam engine; a diesel-electric locomotive of the type in service on the line today; a passenger train climbing the bends of the Soreq River on the way to Jerusalem. Above: a modern engine manufactured in USA (3000 hp). Below: a steam engine which was built in England in 1942 and taken out of service in 1958 (no. 70414).

NIS 1 stamp: a junction in Lod station; a mechanical signalling with semaphore arms in Lod station: an electric signalling board in Tel Aviv Central Station, which is meant to be joined to the Jerusalem line this year; a railroad layout map in Lod station. Above: A steam engine built in Scotland in 1935 (wheel classification 4-6-0). Below: one of the first five engines to operate on the line (2-6-0).

NIS 1.30 stamp: Part of the passenger timetable (1926); a train ticket for the Jaffa-Jerusalem line (before the founding of the State):a renovated passenger car; the interior of a passenger car. Above: a modern diesel locomotive (2000 hp). Below: A steam engine (0-6-0) and passenger cars that were built in England at the turn of the century. Some of the cars were in service until 1962.

NIS 1.60 stamp: Bar-Giora station; the railway station in Jaffa at the beginning of the century; a covered platform at Lod station; a frontal drawing of the station in Jerusalem. Above: one of the ten articulated railcar-sets which are due to arrive in Israel in the centennial year (1584 hp). Below: One of eleven railcar-sets built in Germany in the 1950's (1000 hp), which was taken out of service in the late '70s.

Canadian authors - Germaine Guèvremont and Robert W. Service

These two stamps and the cover were issued in Canada on 17.8.1976 in honour of two great Canadian authors - Germaine Guèvremont and Robert W. Service.

The stamp on the left is regarding Germaine Guèvremont, born Grignon (April 16, 1893 – August 21, 1968) who was a prominent figure in Quebec literature.

Born in 1893 in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, she was educated in Quebec and Toronto, and worked as a journalist for women's magazines before marrying Hyacinthe Guèvremont and moving with him to Sorel in 1916. She was a housewife for a number of years, but later returned to journalism as a writer for The Gazette and an editor for Le Courrier de Sorel. The Guèvremonts later moved to Montreal, where Germaine worked as a court stenographer during the Great Depression. She also began to publish short stories, which were compiled into her debut book, En plein terre, in 1938.

The novel Le Survenant portrayed on the stamp was published in 1945, followed by the sequel Marie-Didace in 1947. The Outlander, an English translation of her two novels in one volume, was published in 1950, and won the fiction prize in the 1950 Governor General's Awards. The book was also published in the United Kingdom under the title Monk's Reach. She did not publish any further novels, but continued to publish journalism and short stories as well as writing radio and television adaptations of her fiction works. She began to write her memoirs late in life, but completed only two chapters before her death in 1968.

She was also a cousin of Claude-Henri Grignon, the author of Un Homme et son péché. Ironically, Guèvremont's novels are largely recognized as the last influential examples of romans de terre, the traditionalist form of Quebec literature in the early 20th century, while Grignon's Un Homme broke with that tradition and is recognized as one of Quebec's first influential modernist novels.

The Cremation of Sam McGee, depicted on the stamp on the right, is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's poems. It was published in 1907 in Songs of a Sourdough. (A "sourdough", in this sense, is a resident of the Yukon.) It concerns the cremation of a prospector who freezes to death near Lake Laberge, (spelled "Lebarge" by Service), Yukon, Canada, as told by the man who cremates him.

The night prior to the death of the title character, who hails from the fictional town of Plumtree, Tennessee, the narrator realizes that "A pal's last need is a thing to heed," and swears to McGee that he will not fail to cremate him. After McGee dies the following day, the narrator winds up hauling the body clear to the "marge [shore, edge] of Lake Lebarge" before he finds a way to perform the promised cremation. Robert Service based the poem on an experience of his roommate, Dr. Sugden, who found a corpse in the cabin of the steamer Olive May.

A success upon its initial publication in 1907, the poem became a staple of traditional campfire storytelling in North America throughout the 20th century. An edition of the poem, published in 1986 and illustrated by Ted Harrison, was read widely in Canadian elementary schools.

Thank you Hemant for this wonderful FDC.