Nigel Millard’s Images of Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeboats Feature In Royal Mail Stamps

17/03/08

The more perceptive of our readers might just have noticed that both of your editors (Mr Jones and McNamee) live by the seaside. McNamee Towers is a few hundred yards from the New Brighton seafront and SWPP/BPPA Towers is even closer to the seafront, at Rhyl. Like all coastal dwellers we have witnessed the power of the sea at first hand (including photographing a 26-ton slab of the coastal defences chucked onto the pavement like a piece of drift wood in the 80s). The lifeboat and their crews are our neighbours, we drink with them, play tennis with them and even go to the same art galleries. Colin Jones has gone one step further and is now a Rhyl crew member, which explains why he sometimes disappears off Skype! With this as a background it is nice to feature the new stamps from the Royal Mail to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the adoption of S-O-S as the worldwide Morse code distress signal at sea, which came into force on 1st July 1908.

To quote directly from the press release, “The six stamp Mayday – Rescue at Sea issue will run to over 30 million stamps. Each stamp features a striking photograph that captures the testing weather conditions encountered by RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews and HM Coastguard rescue helicopters in saving lives at sea. Nigel’s images are featured on four of the six stamps and include RNLI lifeboats Appledore in Devon on the 46 pence stamp, St Ives in Cornwall on the 54p stamp, Barra in the Western Isles of Scotland on the 1st class stamp and the work of HM Coastguard helicopter and winchman in Portland on the 48p stamp.

Nigel commented:
“It was a real privilege to be asked to work with the Royal Mail and RNLI to help produce this set of stamps. Shooting in such extreme environments is not only physically and technically challenging but also pushed the cameras to their limit.” Colin expects all mail to the Professional Imagemaker offices to carry lifeboat stamps from now on - especially if you want the express service!

The RNLI aims to raise up to £20,000 for the planned RNLI Memorial in Poole through sales of a unique set of first day covers created by specialist producers Buckingham Covers. The RNLI Memorial will be the first official national tribute to the many RNLI lifesavers and fundraisers who have served the charity over the last 180-plus years – especially the 438 crew members who have died while saving lives at sea.

As a charity, the RNLI relies on your support to carry on saving lives at sea. If you would like to donate to the RNLI please visit their website http://www.rnli.org.uk/

The SWPP 2008 Convention was an outstanding success,
we have 130 days to get ready for the 2009 convention - which starts on January 14, 2009

Photo Quote: My quest, through the magic of light and shadow, is to isolate, to simplify and to give emphasis to form with the greatest clarity. To indicate the ideal proportion, to reveal sculptural mass and the dominating spirit is my goal. - Ruth Bernhard