Norvic Philatelics

Bicentenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel - 6 stamps, Miniature Sheet & Prestige Book: 23 February 2006

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a true genius of the Industrial Age, whose vision and daring produced some of the greatest engineering wonders of Victorian Britain. To mark the 200th anniversary of Brunel’s birth Royal Mail worked with eminent Brunel historians to select six examples from his incredible portfolio of work.

The stamps in more detail

1st class - Royal Albert Bridge (1854-1857). The magnificent Royal Albert Bridge, designed and built to carry the Cornwall Railway at a height of 100 feet across the waters of the River Tamar at Saltash, must surely be recognised as one of his most outstanding works. Its unique design and handsome proportions, set in an idyllic location between the hills of Devon and Cornwall, give an aura of grace and majesty all of its own. As the “Gateway to Cornwall” it forms a fitting and lasting memorial to this great Victorian engineer. The stamp features a steel engraving of the Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash by Cornish artist R T Pentreath, copyright Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

40p - Box Tunnel (1836-1841). This was the most difficult engineering problem that Isambard Brunel had to solve when building the London to Bristol line. Positioned between Bath and Swindon, Box Hill consists mainly of limestone. Five miles east of Bath and still in use today, it was built to bring the Great Western Railway down to Bristol from Swindon. The first train passed through on 30 June, 1841. The stamp image is taken from a coloured lithograph West Entrance to Box Tunnel on the Great Western Railway by John Cook Bourne, 1846 copyright National Railway Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

42p Paddington Station (1849-1854). Brunel was ambitious in the design of the GWR’s London terminus, which he was charged with rebuilding in 1849 to accommodate the crowds expected to converge on London for the 1851 Great Exhibition. He was asked to construct a flexible covered space without columns to accommodate the railway’s future needs and to outshine the London terminus of the GWR’s arch-rival, the Great Northern Railway, at Euston. In an age when the new railways were regarded as the acme of modernity and sources of future prosperity for provincial cities and towns, public interest in Brunel’s daring schemes for the GWR was intense. The stamp image is a photograph taken by York and Son between 1870 and 1890, copyright English Heritage.

47p PSS Great Eastern (1858). The Great Eastern was designed by Brunel. She was the largest ship ever built at the time of her launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the world without refuelling. She would only be surpassed in length in 1899 (by the SS Oceanic), and in tonnage in 1901 (by the SS Celtic). She was built in partnership with an experienced ship designer, John Scott Russell. Unknown to Brunel, Russell was in financial difficulties, and the two men disagreed on many details. It was Brunel’s final great project, as he collapsed after being photographed on her deck, and died a few days later. She was built by Messrs Scott, Russell & Co. of Millwall, London, the keel being laid down on May 1, 1854. She was launched on January 31, 1858. She was 692 feet (211 m) long, 83 feet (25 m) wide, 60 feet (18 m) deep (draught was 20 ft (6.1 m) unloaded and 30 ft (9.1 m) fully laden) and weighed 32,000 tons (her tonnage was 18,915). Little is known about this image apart from the fact that it is dated around 1860, copyright Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

60p - Clifton Suspension Bridge (1831-1864). The story of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, spanning the Avon Gorge, began in 1754 with the dream of a Bristol wine merchant, who left a legacy to build a bridge over the Gorge. A competition in 1829 was held to find a design, being judged by Thomas Telford, the leading civil engineer of the day. Telford rejected all the designs and submitted his own but the decision to declare him the winner was unpopular and a second competition was held in 1830. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, only 24 at the time, was eventually declared the winner and appointed project engineer – his first major commission. The image is taken from the lithograph Clifton Suspension Bridge by G Childs, after a sketch by S Jackson circa 1834, copyright Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

68p - Maidenhead Bridge (1838). Maidenhead Railway Bridge carryied the main line of the Great Western Railway over the River Thames in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The railway is carried across the river on two brick arches, which at the time of building were the widest and flattest in the world. Each span is 128 feet (39 m), with a rise of only 24 feet (7 m). The Thames towpath passes under the right-hand arch (facing upstream), which is also known as the Sounding Arch, because of its spectacular echo. As built, Maidenhead Railway Bridge carried two lines of Brunel’s broad gauge track. Subsequently the bridge has been widened, and now carries the four lines of standard gauge track that make up the Great Western Main Line out of London Paddington Station. The image is taken from a colour lithograph of the Maidenhead Bridge by John Cook Bourne, copyright National Railway Museum/Science and Society Picture Library.

Miniature sheet

A miniature sheet containing all six stamps will be issued on the same day. This image is scanned from an actual sheet so the colours are more accurate; the border is white on silver.

Technical details:
The 60x21mm stamps are designed by hat-trick design, and the Mini-Sheet measuring 190 x 67mm, is designed by Irene Von Treskow. and are litho-printed by Joh Enschede Security Print, perforated 14½ x 14½. The stamps are printed in sheets of 24 and 48. Technical details for the Prestige Stamp book have not been announced.
All images are Copyright (c) by Royal Mail 2005/2006.

Prestige Stamp Book

This is a black & white picture of the cover of the PSB, which is in silver-grey, imitating cast-iron.
The 20-page PSB has been designed by hat-trick design with copy by journalist and writer Eugene Byrne. The book details Brunel’s career, achievements and legacy.

There are four stamp panes consisting of three three-stamp panes and one eight-stamp pane These images are from pre-release publicity photos; the background images are silver, for scans of the actual stamps see the miniature sheet above.
Pane 1 contains the Royal Albert Bridge, Paddington Station and the Maidenhead Bridge stamps. Background: the Thames Tunnel.	Pane 2 contains the Box Tunnel, Clifton Suspension Bridge and PSS Great Eastern stamps. Backgroud: Treviddo Viaduct.
Pane 3 contains the PSS Great Eastern from the Brunel issue and two of the PS Great Western from the Ocean Liners issue; note these are not se-tenant. Background: the Great Eastern under construction	Pane 4 consists of eight Machins which surround a commemorative label featuring a relief bust of Brunel. The stamps are 4 x 1st class, 2 x 40p, 2 x 35p. Background: Royal Albert (Saltash) railway bridge.

Special First Day of Issue Postmarks

These postmarks will be available for the date of issue; these cannot be obtained after 23 April, except on FDCs which we will have in stock.

Ref FD605 Official Philatelic Bureau	Ref FD606 Official Bristol first day of issue postmark	Ref FD606NP Offficial Bristol non-pictorial FD postmark	Ref L9928 Official Stampex London N1 Brunel postmark	Ref M9937 Brunel Close, Birmingham	Ref L9948 Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Brunel Road, London W3
Ref W9967 Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash (Cornwall)	Ref L9955 Box Tunnel, Box, Corsham (Wiltshire)	Ref L9958 Paddington Station, London W2	Ref L9953 Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) Brunel Road, London W3	Ref L9959 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain Street, Portsea, Portsmouth	Ref L9951 Brunel Road, London W3
Ref L9957 Great Eastern, Millwall, London	Ref W9966 Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol	Ref L9956 Maidenhead Bridge, Maidenhead (Berkshire)	Ref W9962 The Great Engineer - Brunel - The Enterprise, Bristol	Ref W9963 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Saltash, Cornwall	Ref W9964 Isambard K.Brunel Saltash, Cornwall
Ref L9949 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Portsea, Portsmouth	Ref L9950 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Milwall, London E14	Ref L9952 200th anniversary of the brith of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 40th anniversary of Brunel University West London, Uxbridge	Ref L9954 1806-1859 Engineer, I K Brunel Paddington	Ref L9961 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Paddington London W2	Ref W9965 Isambard Kingdom Brunel Saltash, Cornwall

Norvic Exclusive First Day Covers

We have produced limited edition FDCs for this issue, for the set of 6 stamps, for the miniature sheet, and one for the set of prestige book panes.