New Issue: Waterfalls (GB)

Royal Mail's latest stamps show waterfalls. This is a completely new theme for Royal Mail! Never before has there been a set dedicated to waterfalls, although waterfalls have occasionally appeared on stamps like this one in the 2019 forests issue.

There are ten stamps in the set and they show: Second Class - Rogie Falls, Scottish Highlands

Second Class - Pollnagollum Cave, County Fermanagh

Second Class - Aysgarth Falls, North Yorkshire

Second Class - Pistyll Rhaeadr, Powys

Second Class - Becky Falls, Devon

First Class - Hardraw Force, North Yorkshire

First Class - Rhaeadr y Graig Lwyd, Conwy

First Class - Fairy Pools of Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye

First Class - High Force, County Durham

First Class - Ess-na-Larach, County Antrim There are four from England, two from Scotland, two from Northern Ireland and two from Wales. Two of the English waterfalls, Aysgarth and Hardraw, are in North Yorkshire.

Amazingly, there is no pointless and expensive miniature sheet this time. Is Royal Mail finally learning?

Design Quality - These are nice photographs of British waterfalls. However the design isn't inspiring and it's the exactly the same layout that we're seeing with so many British stamps at the moment. Good photographs are one thing but a good design is something else. 5/10

Theme/Subject Choice - The subject choice is a good one because Royal Mail has never previously given us any stamps showing waterfalls and none of these places have been on a stamp. I think that waterfalls are about power and natural heritage, but are these stamps that will get people excited? I'm not sure. 7/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - I think waterfalls generally are relevant because they are part of our landscape. But what about the particular waterfalls on these stamps? I have been talking to my mum who grew up in the Lake District and she thinks that cultural significance would have been stronger if Royal Mail had perhaps used Aira Force (made famous by William Wordsworth in his poem Somnambulist) or Stockghyll Force, which featured in a John Keats poem. My dad, being a huge fan of Robert Burns, said the same about the Falls of Bruar which Burns wrote a poem about in 1787. So perhaps there were missed opportunities there. However, Pistyll Rhaeadr definitely has cultural relevance as it is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and there are lots of tales in folklore about the waterfall including giant stones thrown by Cawr Berwyn. Overall, I won't be too critical. 8/10

Innovation and Creativity - Once again Royal Mail takes some eye-catching photographs and puts them in frames. That's pretty much all there is to this design process. It's not very creative or innovative. It's disappointing when so much could have been done with the power of waterfalls. 2/10

Collectability - I don't know if waterfalls will excite people but I think people who collect stamps showing British landscapes will appreciate these. They should appeal to more people than some recent issues which were focused on TV series or bands. 8/10

Personal Appeal - I like waterfalls. I love sitting nearby listening to them. Waterfalls are powerful and dramatic. But these stamps were exactly what I expected them to be. They're OK, but not exciting and they're definitely not powerful or dramatic. Royal Mail has a formula. They will say that it works but I'm afraid I think it's unimaginative. 4/10

Overall Score: 34/60