 Jacob Brown and Niamh Kelly show off the new Hadrian's Wall stamps |
One of the north of England's most recognised landmarks is to feature on a new set of Royal Mail stamps. The set celebrates eight World Heritage Sites across the UK and Australia, including Hadrian's Wall, which stretches from Tyneside to Cumbria.
Royal Mail officials chose to launch the new stamps on a stretch of the 84-mile wall linking Wallsend with Bowness-on-Solway.
Pupils from a local school donned Roman-style costumes at a launch event.
Hexham schoolchildren Niamh Kelly, 6 and Jacob Brown, 5, helped unveil the new stamps, which are on sale from Friday, at nearby Housesteads Roman Fort.
Chairman of the Hadrian's Wall Tourism Partnership, Miles Middleton, said: "We are highly delighted and flattered that the Royal Mail has chosen the wall for this stamp.
'Stunning images'
"Letters have been sent to and from the wall area as far back as 90 AD, but unfortunately the Romans did not have the advantages of the 21st Century postal system and these beautiful stamps."
The stamps are based on pictures by renowned photographer Peter Marlow from the Magnum agency.
Royal Mail's head of special stamps Julietta Edgar, said: "Peter's hard work has yielded some truly stunning images of the magnificent Hadrian's Wall."
The wall was intended to help subdue the tribes in the north of Britain by controlling the movement of people in the region, by deterring any raids into Roman territory, and also by acting as a visible symbol of the power of Rome.
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