We're taking a break for a couple of weeks so there won't be anything added to the blog in that time, although I hope to be able to let appropriate comments through.
The next stamp issue after the Steam Locomotives is Monopoly on 16 October and details should be available a week before then, although all you standing order customers will get your advice notes around 16 September.
Details can be posted as comments on the '2025 stamp programme' post.
Although railways have featured frequently on Royal Mail stamps, special postmarks and even local slogans, this is at last something worthy of commemoration - the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and steam locomotives in general. 
Stockton-on-Tees local publicity slogan used in 1964
For the new issue
"Royal Mail is proud to celebrate the evolution of British steam locomotives on the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which officially opened on September 27, 1825. This railway is historically significant as the world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, revolutionizing transportation and industry in Britain and beyond.
"Central to the commemoration is Locomotion No.1, the pioneering steam engine built by George and Robert Stephenson. The first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line it symbolised the dawn of the railway age. The locomotive ran on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which connected coal mines near Shildon with the port at Stockton-on-Tees, facilitating more efficient coal transport and setting the stage for the rapid expansion of rail networks across the UK.
"This important anniversary is celebrated through a national campaign; Railway 200, which includes various events and educational initiatives celebrating the legacy of British railways and honours the technological innovation of steam locomotives whilst also highlighting their cultural and economic impact over two centuries."
The stamps
Set of 6 1st class stamps showing Steam Trains issued 25 September 2025.
The stamps show: Locomotion No 1, Rocket, City of Truro, Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton, Evening Star.
Miniature sheet
The Miniature sheet commemorates the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line and features historic images of Locomotive No1 through the years, including photographs from its 100 and 150 year anniversaries.
Miniature sheet of 4 1st class stamps showing the Stockton & Darlington Railway issued 25 September 2025.
The stamps on the miniature sheet are captioned: Opening of the S&DR, 1825; Locomotion No 1 at Darlington, c 1890; Centenary of the S&DR, 1925; Replica Locomotion No 1, 1975.
[People of a certain age and from a certain part of the country know a different S&DR, that is, the Slow and Dirty Somerset and Dorset (Joint) Railway, properly known as the SDJR.]
Technical details and acknowledgement
The 60 x 30 mm stamps, designed by Steers McGillan Eves, are printed by Cartor Security Printers in Litho with conventional gum, in se-tenant vertical pairs, perforated 14½. The MS is 192 x 74 mm containing stamps 41 x 30 mm.
Acknowledgements: Locomotion No. 1, Stephenson’s Rocket replica, City of Truro, Duchess of Hamilton and Evening Star © Board of Trustees of the Science Museum; Mallard photo © Jamie Lorriman/Alamy Stock Photo; background illustrations by Dave Thompson © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2025; produced under licence by SCMG Enterprises Ltd; Railway Museum™.
Painting of the opening of the S&DR by John Dobbin, 1875, Borough Art Collection © Darlington Borough Council; Locomotion No. 1 at Darlington, c.1890, British Mirror postcard © Mary Evans Picture Library; centenary of the S&DR: photograph by an anonymous photographer, from Railway Building by Cecil J Allen © Mary Evans Picture Library; replica Locomotion No. 1, 1975 © Nigel
Menzies; background images: typography taken from a share certificate of the S&DR, Hopetown Darlington © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; engine and 11 wagons on the S&DR (detail) © The Institution of Mechanical Engineers/Mary Evans Picture Library; produced under licence by SCMG Enterprises Ltd; Railway Museum™; a special thank-you to Hopetown Darlington/Darlington Borough Council.
Products available
Set of 6 stamps, miniature sheet, first day covers (2), presentation pack, stamp cards, press sheet of 12 miniature sheets, £2 coin cover (MS), silver proof cover, gold proof cover, framed set and MS.
A recent comment on the previous post asserted that it was not possible to use 2 x 1st class (£1.70) stamps to pay the international postcard or letter rate as the non-denominated (NVI) stamps were only to be used for the service mentioned.
This is totally incorrect as the following examples will demonstrate. Of course many of these are old-style Machins but the same applies now to stamps and Post and Go stamps.
International Mail
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| £1.57, 5p and 1st class paying correct rate to Australia |
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| World 20g, World 60g, Europe 20g and Machins airmail to Australia |
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| Denominqted and 2 x 1st class to France |
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| Postage on this expensive package to the USA includes a 1st class stamp |
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| From a reader in Canada for the postmarks posts, the postage here is made of 4 recent 1st class stamps, an old 2nd class plus 50p |
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| Likewise this one does precisely what was suggested in the other post, using very old 2 x 1st class stamps to (over-)pay the current £3.20 rate |
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| Recent packet to Belarus used 1st class Large datamatrix Machin and denominated stamps |
I don't have examples of airmail stamps used inland, nor special delivery used on medium parcels sent by ordinary mail, but they do exist. They are a way to get these higher value stamps fine used for collections.
Royal Mail significantly improved its financial and operational performance, returning to an adjusted operating profit (excluding voluntary redundancy costs) of £12 million for the first time in three years, following significant losses in 2022-23 and 2023-24. This is in line with guidance and was achieved despite an increasingly competitive and challenging trading environment.
Not included in the announcement, nor anywhere else in the IDS Media Centre pages, but included on the Royal Mail website is a new 'Our Prices' leaflet (pdf) effective from 6 October 2025.
No change to inland letter pricesThe headline news for most of us is that basic Letter and Large Letter prices remain unchanged for both 2nd and 1st class. Prices for Small Parcels show very modest increases of 10p and 9p for 1st and 2nd class, whilst Medium Parcels rise by 4% or under. (New prices in bold, unchanged in italics.)
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1st |
2nd |
||
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Letter |
1.70 |
1.70 |
0.87 |
0.87 |
|
Large Letter – 100g |
3.15 |
3.15 |
1.55 |
1.55 |
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- 250g |
3.60 |
3.60 |
2.00 |
2.00 |
|
- 500g |
3.60 |
3.60 |
2.40 |
2.40 |
|
- 750g |
3.60 |
3.60 |
2.70 |
2.70 |
|
Small Parcel 2kg |
5.09 |
4.99 |
3.99* |
3.90 |
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Medium Parcel 2kg |
7.45 |
6.99 |
6.49 |
6.29 |
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- 10kg |
9.35 |
8.99 |
8.19 |
7.89 |
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- 20kg |
14.25 |
13.69 |
12.25 |
11.89 |
Signed For prices for Letters and Large Letters remain similarly unchanged whilst parcels show small rises. (* Thanks to everybody who pointed out the error; the fact that it wasn't in italics showed that there was a change, I just didn't finish editing it.)
Tracked 24/48 prices show small rises across the board with a basic Large Letter (up to 750g) prices increased by 15p, to £3.80 (24) and £2.95 (48), with the same increases for the Signature option. Parcels show small rises.
Special Delivery up to 100g rise 5.7% from £8.75 to £9.25, up to 500g from 4% from £9.85 to £10.25. Those who choose the 9 a.m. option see 28% increase from £38.95 to £49.95 for the basic 100g weight!
International rates. The basic worldwide letter and postcard rate rises from £3.20 to £3.40 (6.25%) airmail and from £3.10 to £3.30 for Economy (surface). Prices for airmail Large Letters and Parcels for all Zones remain unchanged, while Economy rates over 250g increase. Economy Small Parcels rise by from 17% to over 30%.
The good news is that prices for all premium services (International Signed, International Tracked, and International Tracked and Signed) remain unchanged.
New stamp
This means that there will be a new £3.40 stamp. More details when we have them from Royal Mail - readers say that the stamp will be issued on 30 September, from their standing order advice notes.
UPDATE 8 September:
A new £3.40 definitive stamp, representing the new international postage rate for letters up to
100g, will be introduced by Royal Mail on 30 September 2025. The £3.40 stamp is printed in Dark
Green. The King’s effigy appears alongside a 2D barcode printed in matching colour alongside the
main body of the stamp, separated by a simulated perforation line.
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| King Charles III £3.40 definitive in dark green, to be issued 30 September 2025. |
Royal Mail customers with a regular order for definitive stamp sets will receive this set as part of their
ongoing subscription. There will also be an official first day cover and single-stamp presentation pack.
RM Product code DS2200 Dark Green: up to 100g all Europe & World Zones
September starts (as August ended) with the default British Heart Foundation slogan. Las year we had Air Ambulances week and 'Thinking of You' week one of the regular exhortations from the greetings card industry to 'send a card'.
Here's an early example of the BHF slogan that we received at home. This is from Peterborough Mail Centre dated 02-09-2025
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| British Heart Foundation slogan from Peterborough Centre 02-09-2025 |
As expected the slogan for Air Ambulance Week has now appeared. Thanks to PC for this one from South East Anglia Mail Centre 06/09/2025.
Support your
Air Ambulance
Air Ambulance Week
September 9th - 15th
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| Support Your Air Ambulance slogan South East Anglia Mail Centre 06/09/2025 |
Update 18 September. DW sent this copy of the other layout for the Air Ambulance from Inverness Mail Centre on the same date.
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| Support Your Air Ambulance slogan Inverness Mail Centre 06-09-2025 |
Update 18 September. As predicted the annual Send A Card campaign supporting the Greetings Card Industry has its slogan this week. Here's and example from Peterborough on 16 September thanks to KH.
The slogan repeats the format from previous years.
Send A Card
Deliver A Smile for
Thinking of You Week
15th-22st September 2025
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| Thinking of You Week slogan used at Peterborough Mail Centre 16-09-2025 |
Other postmarks and postal markings, etc
I haven't seen any news reports about this postbox repainted recently in Dartford, reported by Lars Tåders. Let us know if you see any more - although as they are almost certainly unofficial I probably won't give them too much publicity.
Other postmarks.
Thanks to JB for these two examples of postmarks from Lincoln. The first is from the Delivery Office, and the second from Sincil Street post office.
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| Lincoln Delivery Office handstamp on a receipt 18 July 2025. |
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| Sincil Street Lincoln B post office counter self-inking datestamp 22 July 2025. |
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| Sincil Street, Lincoln, Post Office in the Stonebow Centre Silver Sreet, not in Sincil St. Image from Google Streetview |
These stamps have quite attractive photographs and the set includes a mix of 2nd and 1st class stamps which will please letter writers across the country - as well as those collectors who are still buying everything that Royal Mail churns out.
But why? This is a continuation of the Animals and Nature series - but we had Garden WIldlife in March, and Mushrooms in July. At this rate can we expect Royal Mail to be issuing as many stamps as their fulfilment services in Duxford and Edinburgh, and the printers, can cope with?
I've delayed so far and I must now quote to you Royal Mail's justification for this set - aside from the fact that they know collectors will but them there are, apparently a lot of influencers out there videoing ducks - I kid you not!
Reason (slightly edited)
Royal Mail are excited to reveal a set of 10 stamps celebrating the UK species of ducks. Of over 120 duck species globally, 22 are found in the UK, inhabiting our rivers, wetlands, coasts, and estuaries.
Ducks have become surprisingly collectible (albeit mostly the rubber variety!) and are now a full-blown TikTok sensation with adorable ducks waddling through kitchens to pet ducks splashing in bath tubs, the hashtag #ducks has racked up hundreds of thousands of posts and millions of views.
With these stamps we extend our animals and nature series of issues, with a set of ten stamps featuring many of the popular breeds found in the UK both in flight and in their natural environment.
The stamps
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| Set of 5 x 2nd class and 5 x 1st class stamps featuring British ducks issued 11 September 2025. |
2nd Class: Goosander, Indian Runner, Mallard Duckling, Mandarin and Call.
1st Class: Aylesbury, Pintail, Silver Appleyard, Shelduck, and Eider.
Now I know it's fine to show both male and female of the species, but the male eider is one of the most distinctive ducks in the country. Not just for its call but for its striking plumage of black and white, with green patches and a pink lower breast. (What other bird has this colour green?) Seen widely but especially on the east coast from Aberdeenshire to Northumberland this is one you couldn't fail to identify - once seen never forgottne. But not the female on the stamp which, from a distance, looks much like many other female ducks.
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| Male eider duck pictured in a harbour on Aberdeenshire's north coast. |
The 37 x 35 mm stamps are printed in two sheets of 50 in litho with ordinary gum by Cartor Security Printers, perf 14½ x 14. Design was by Michael O'Shea and copyright Royal Mail Group Ltd 2025.
Collectors Sheet
A collectors sheet consisting of the 10 stamps in the set with accompanying labels of ducks in their natural habitat. The stamps and labels are set with the lower border showing a female Goosander carrying her chicks.
Note: The Collector Sheet is printed on self-adhesive paper so these stamps are a print variety.
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Products available
Set of 10 stamps, first day cover, presentation pack, collectors sheet, framed set, framed sheet.
