Museum venue for stamps launch (From Western Telegraph)

Museum venue for stamps launch

Haverfordwest Museum was was an appropriate venue for the launch on Monday of the Royal Mail's new set of stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the roadside letterbox, because it boasts the second oldest pillar box in the UK.

The museum's 1854 Victorian pillar box, rescued in 1991 from redundancy at its original site in the forecourt of a house in Merlin's Hill, Haverfordwest, is only two years short of being one of the first. The only older box is an 1852 box still in service in Dorset.

Royal Mail PRO Jo Davies said Haverfordwest is one of only two places in Wales chosen for the launch, the other being the letterbox refurbishment centre at Penarth. Museum manager Mr Simon Hancock said they were delighted to have been selected for the launch of the five new stamps which feature the history of the letterbox from the days of the green Victorian boxes to the modern reds, the colour change coming in 1874.

The museum committee chairman Mr Malcolm Green, the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor and Mrs Roy Thomas, committee members and Museum volunteers joined in the launch.

Caption The Mayor and Mayoress of Haverfordwest, Councillor and Mrs Roy Thomas, join Museum volunteers Huw Gravell, David Griffiths and Don Twigg for the launch of the new stamps. In the centre is the museum's unique 1854 Victorian pillar box. PICTURE: Western Telegraph.