Broads National Park celebrated in new Royal Mail stamps

Royal Mail will release its first stamp issue of 2021 next month, featuring 10 of the UK's 15 national parks including the Broads, which stretch across Norfolk and Suffolk.

While not officially named in law as a national park, the area was renamed as the Broads National Park in 2015 and receives a National Park Grant.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988 gave the Broads a similar level of protection as a national park, and led to the creation of the Broads Authority, which manages the area today.

The special stamp created to celebrate the Broads shows a wintry scene featuring Herringfleet Windmill, which has stood by the River Waveney, just south of the Norfolk-Suffolk border, for around 200 years.

In its description of the Broads National Park, Royal Mail says it is "a labyrinth of over 200km of navigable waterways, criss-crossing a sleepy landscape dotted with picturesque pubs and villages — an idyllic water world to explore by boat.

"A vibrant wetland habitat, the park is home to a quarter of the UK’s rarest wildlife species. Otters dive around the riverbanks, the surreal boom of bitterns reverberates for miles and vast flocks of birds soar over the marshes.

Other national parks to be featured include the first four areas in the UK to be afforded the protection which comes with the title in 1951 – the Peak District, the Lake District, Snowdonia and Dartmoor.

The other five included are the North York Moors, the New Forest, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, the South Downs and the Pembrokeshire Coast.

Philip Parker, of Royal Mail, said: "Ten spectacular National Parks have been captured in stunning photographs that reflect their diversity and splendour.

"We are proud to be able to share the beauty of these parks on stamps at a time when so many of us have had our travel restricted."

The stamps will be on sale from January 14 and will be available online, over the phone or in 7,000 Post Office branches across the UK.