The name 'Staffa' was given by the Vikings. In old Norvegian it means 'stave' or 'pillar' as the basalt caves on the island reminded them of their houses, which were built from vertically placed tree-logs.
The island is only 200 by 600 meters and has no habitants.
In 1800 there were three Red Deer on the island, later replaced by goats and then a small herd of black cattle. Just before the end of the previous century, all animals were removed from the island, to restore the natural vegetation.
The only 'touristic' attractions are the caves, of which the largest one, Fingal's Cave was discovered in 1772, by Sir Joseph Banks, on his way to Iceland.
And yet, the island happens to issue stamps.
They must be designed, printed, distributed, sold and used elsewhere, since no mailbox (not even mentionning the post offices) are found on the entire island.
For the admirors of bogus stamps, some examples of the cinderellas of Staffa.
Nicely cancelled CTO, by ... one of the goats on the island I guess.
Additional pics:
whilst going through my "to be sorted out" albums, i found some aditional
According the cancellations (and i presume they were printed in blocks of 4) i must still be missing 3
The stamps of Staffa are not related to Oman or Dhufar in a geographical sense, but it is suspected that Clive Clive Feigenbaum, a British businessman known for his controversial philatelic ventures, was behind the printing of these stamps and those of Eynhallow and Nagaland. Staffa is an uninhabited island off the west coast of northern Scotland in the United Kingdom about six miles west of the Isle of Mull. It is the site of Fingal's Cave, a popular tourist attraction that receives thousands of visitors a year. There was a "post office" on the island in the 1970s which included a post box where visitors could drop their mail franked with Staffa stamps purchased from the tour boats that visited the island. The postal rate was twice that of the United Kingdom and paid for delivery to the government post office in Mull.
ReplyDeleteComment by Steve Stewart (US)