The Industrial Revolution

One of the most beautiful series of stamps in my Great Britain album is dedicated to structures from the time of the Industrial Revolution. Not only because of the design, but especially because of the memories that come flooding back after a visit to one of those structures during one of the many holidays in that country. The series was released on July 4, 1989, and was designed by Ronald Maddox. This designer, born in 1930, had previously designed stamps, such as the equally beautiful series of historic buildings from 1978 (also issued in a block, the first official block of the British Post). This was followed by the urban renewal series from 1984 and the castles series from 1988, with high values ​​from £1 to £5. Many structures from the time of the Industrial Revolution have since been demolished or reduced to ruins, but much has also been preserved and granted monumental status. On the first stamp is an object that is a beloved destination for many visitors to Great Britain. It is the world's first cast-iron bridge connecting the two banks across the River Severn in the county Shropshire. In the neighboring Coalbrookdale became the Industrial Revolution born, because the great industrialist Abraham Darby III cast the parts of the bridge in his foundry. The commission to build the bridge came from a certain Thomas Pritchard, who had proposed the bridge in 1773. Construction began in 1789, and the bridge was completed in 1789. Due to tourism, a small village arose on the east side of the bridge and was given the name Ironbridge. Today, several beautiful museums can be visited near Ironbridge, such as the old iron foundry, an open-air museum where guides and staff show you around in original costumes (you can still pay and exchange old pennies in the bank), an underground tunnel that has filled with tar, a porcelain factory, and so on. The second stamp shows the ruins of a boiler house and lift shaft of a tin mine near St Agnes in the county of Cornwall. Tin mines existed as early as Roman times, but tin became increasingly important during the Industrial Revolution. The depicted ruin is from the tin mine named Wheal Coates, with tunnels that extended even down to the seabed. The mine is notorious because ghosts still roam here, the spirits of miners who perished in accidents… However, tin ore mining still takes place, albeit at a different location nearby. The third stamp depicts the cotton and wool industry in New Lanark, Scotland. The enormous factory building was erected for Robert Owen, who was director from 1800 to 1825. Child labor had been abolished, and he provided good housing for his employees, a school, and good healthcare. Currently, part of the complex houses a hotel, a wool spinning mill, and a visitor center. Robert Owen's School can be visited, where one can follow the story of Annie McLeod, a factory girl from 1820. Several of the workers' homes can also be visited. And it is pleasant to spend time at the old hydroelectric power plant on the banks of the Clyde. The last stamp is, in my opinion, one of the most impressive. An image of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct between the villages of Trevor and Froncysyllte in the northeastern part of Wales. The name of the aqueduct is almost impossible to pronounce, like so many words in the Welsh language. The aqueduct was completed in 1805 and was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop as part of the Llangollen Canal. The aqueduct is over 300 meters long, nearly 3 meters wide (including a footpath), and lies 38 meters above the River Dee. The cast-iron aqueduct is supported by 19 hollow masonry pillars spaced 16 meters apart. It is the longest and highest aqueduct in Great Britain. The series was brought together in a small stamp sheet, but the format is different from the series in sheets: landscape instead of portrait. In 1989, Ronald Maddox created a watercolor painting that also depicts the Iron Bridge, featuring a tin mine elevator, a furnace belonging to a porcelain factory, and a factory building complex. Do holiday memories also come to mind when you leaf through your stamp album?