Vectis postal service facts for kids

The Vectis postal service was a special mail delivery system. It started in 1971 on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. This happened during a big strike by postal workers across the country. Many local services like Vectis popped up to help people send letters and packages.

What Was the Vectis Postal Service?

This service was created by a group of business people from Ryde. R. W. Cawdell led the group and acted like the main postmaster. The Vectis service covered the entire Isle of Wight. At its busiest, it handled over 1,500 mail items every day! The national postal strike ended on March 8, 1971. When the strike finished, the Vectis postal service also stopped.

Vectis Stamps

The Vectis postal service even had its own stamps! The first stamps were issued on January 22, 1971. They were worth 5p or 1 shilling (an old type of money). These first stamps were white and blue. They were also imperforate, meaning they didn't have the tiny holes between them that make stamps easy to tear apart. You had to cut them!

On January 23, sheets of 48 stamps were issued. A special "First Day Cover" was also released. Later, on February 16, 1971, more stamps were printed in green. During the time the Vectis service was running, the UK changed its money system. This change to decimal currency happened on February 15, 1971.