January 2007

On 9 January 2007 Royal Mail release the first new set of stamps for the new year, The Beatles.

The Beatles were one of the biggest thing to come out of the UK in 1960s but we want to take a look at some of other great British achievements of that decade.

The Opening of the Post Office Tower, 1965

The Post Office Tower opened for business in 1965. It was originally commissioned by the General Post Office (GPO) as a means of supporting microwave aerials for transmitting telecommunications signals.

When it first opened the structure was named the 'Post Office Tower', however it has since been renamed a further two times. When the GPO telecommunications services split in 1981 it was was renamed the 'London Telecom Tower' and it became the 'BT Tower' in 1992 following a rebranding of the company. It was also the tallest building in the UK for almost 20 years, however it lost this title in 1981 when it was superseded by the NatWest Tower, now named Tower 42.

The building was opened to the public in 1966, however after a bombing at the top of the tower in 1971, public access was stopped for security reasons.

The above stamp was issued in October 1965 as part of a set entitled the Opening of the Post Office Tower.

Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage, 1967

British born Sir Francis Chichester became the first person to single-handedly sail around the world in his boat, the Gypsy Moth IV.

Chichester's voyage began in August 1966 from Plymouth and ended nine months later in May 1967, having made just one stop along the way in Sydney. Quite a remarkable acheivement in its own right, but even more so when you consider that less than a decade previously Chichester had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Quite amazingly his cancer went into remission, enabling him to go on and achieve his goal.

Not only was Chichester the first person to reach this solo achievement, but he was also the fastest. The first recorded solo global circumnavigation was achieved in 1898 by Joshua Slocum, however it took him three years and numerous stops.

This stamp is from the Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage stamp issue and was released in July 1967.

First Flight of Concorde, 1969

Concorde was one of only two models of supersonic passenger aircrafts ever to have operated commercially. The other was the Tupolev TU-144 - a Russian aircraft nicknamed the 'Concordski'.

First flown in 1969, Concorde passenger service commenced in 1976 and continued for a further 27 years between London, Paris and New York. During its lifetime, it set many records including a flight time of 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds between New York and London in 1996.

One of the aircraft's most famous features was its drooping nose - but did you know that when in flight the nose was not kept in this position? It was lowered for take-off, landing and during taxi to allow maximum visibility. Once safely airbound, it would be raised again.

Following its only crash in 2000 and changes in public attitude towards flying after the 11 September attacks, the aircraft proved too costly to operate. In April 2003 British Airways and Air France simultaneously announced that they would retire Concorde later that year.

The above stamp was released in March 1969 marking the First Flight of Concorde.