Magazine Review: The New Puffin Journal

So far I have reviewed two magazines, Stamp Collector and The Cinderella Philatelist.

This week I'm looking at a very different magazine, The New Puffin Journal. You may not have heard about it unless you are interested in Lundy, an island in the Bristol Channel that issues its own stamps.

The New Puffin Journal is published by the Lundy Collectors' Club. It is a much smaller magazine that the others I've mentioned and I think it's important to say that it's not a stamp magazine as such, although it always has stamps in it! Members of the Lundy Collectors' Club are interested in all kinds of things and while many focus on stamps some will also collect postcards, coins, photographs, ferry timetables, maps and books - or anything else associated with the island.

I am reviewing the most recent edition of The New Puffin Journal (Spring 2026). There are two issues per year. The magazine is A5 size and this time it has 40 pages.

The Club is celebrating it 70th anniversary this year, which is obviously very important. You can see this from the cover. The magazine opens with introductions from the editor and the club manager, and then there is an article on "celebrating 70 years of passion, history and community" followed by a detailed programme of the events planned for this year. Some of these are definitely all about stamps, while others are visits to the island. It all sounds really good and makes the club look really outgoing and quite attractive if you're maybe thinking about joining.

The first main article is Lundy Letterbox Review. If you've been to Lundy this will make perfect sense but if you haven't I will explain. There are letterboxes all over the island where you can collect ink stamps on postcards or books. A new permanent letterbox has been set up recently and there was also a mystery about a missing letterbox stamp... A fascinating five-page article by Lars Liwendahl, who has been involved with designing Lundy stamps for over 35 years, explores the Harman family Lundy Postal Archive, which is now in the British Library. This is an extremely important collection of Lundy postal history that will help future historians learn more about Lundy. It is remarkable that this collection has survived and when Lars calls it "a big box full of history" he is absolutely right. It's not just stamps but also sketches and drawings used in discussions about future issues and a lot of correspondence.

The next article is about postcards created by a publisher called Thomas Burrow (1872 - 1956). These postcards include one showing the Lundy shop and Lundy lighthouse.

A short article about colour variations with the 1961 Europa stamps is followed by a review of Virtual Stampex 2026. The club had a presence at Virtual Stampex, which resulted in receiving 55 messages and welcoming 120 "visitors". It makes sense that more philatelic clubs will be thinking about how to maintain an online presence and engage with collectors.

For me, the best article in the magazine was another piece from Lars Liwendahl. He describes in detail what it was like to create the recent Lundy Bird Observatory stamps. Lars goes right back to the beginning, telling us about the inspiration for the stamps, working with the artist, deciding how the stamps should look, overcoming challenges with the design, printing, delivery and then creating presentation packs and first day covers! It is the story of a set of stamps and it makes you realise just how much work goes into producing stamps when you're doing it properly. The artist (Sharon) painted some outstanding images but of course it doesn't end there. There's also the pressure of timescales and deadlines. Lars tells us how everything came together to create a fantastic set of stamps that respects the island's bird life and the work of the observatory.

There is a report of a recent club meeting and photographs of some of the impressive philatelic displays. This was followed by a report from the managing director of the Landmark Trust, which manages Lundy. There wasn't much about stamps in this, but there was a lot of information about staffing, environmental management, the ferry and the renewable energy project. It provided an overview of what is happening in Lundy now and what the Trust's priorities are. I think it might also encourage people to visit Lundy.

Finally, there were brief articles on the 1936-38 "Winged Motif" cancel, an improved system for ordering Lundy stamps and a photograph of what one reader thinks might be the world's largest puffin.

Overall, I was quite impressed with this magazine. As I say, it is not just about stamps but if you are interested in Lundy stamps then it really is a must-read. Like The Cinderella Philatelist, I think the writers really care a lot about what they write and some of them have a lot of expertise. The photography is very good and not only of the stamps. There were some excellent photographs of Lundy itself, the ferry, the Royal Cornwall Show and the recent club meeting.

The content is very "niche" but this is a club magazine so it is always going to be about members' interests. I've rated the other magazines for "value for money" and this has to be the best of all as you can download it for free from the club website if you want. If you want a paper copy then this is also free for members (membership is £20 per year).

Xanthe's scores:  Expert knowledge: 5/5 Quality of articles: 4/5 Range of topics: 3/5 Magazine design: 4/5 Distinct identity: 5/5 Appeal to young people: 2/5 Quality of images: 5/5 Ease of reading: 4/5 Usefulness for collectors: 4/5 Historical interest: 5/5 Originality: 5/5 Value for Money: 5/5 Good for beginners: 3/5 TOTAL SCORE: 54/65 If you're interested in Lundy, here is something I wrote about my own visit to the island in 2024. I also interviewed the manager of the Lundy Collectors' Club at Stampex in 2025. I will be reviewing more magazines in the next couple of weeks: Gibbons Stamp Monthly and Stamp Lover.