We love postage stamps

In an article, We Love...Postage Stamps, Madeleine Brindley of the UK's Western Mail laments over the Royal Mail's recently launched online postage system which allows "the internet literate to print off a special label which acts like a stamp."

"Resembling more the marks on the pre-paid business envelopes, with their black lines and bold numbers, these labels are the dull and uninspired younger brother of the colourful postage stamp we have all come to know and love," pens Brindley.

"The beauty of stamps lies in what's on them, whether it's Arnold Machin's classic portrait of the Queen, or a child's drawing representing an anniversary or special event. We have the prospect of the new Christmas stamps to look forward to."

Brindley writes, "I'm no philatelist - although I did once own a child's stamp book and dreamed of making my fortune by finding a Penny Black - but there is something solidly reassuring about the humble postage stamp."

To read the entire article, click here.