Alderney’s 2022 stamp program is made up of 5 sets exploring various aspects of Alderney’s culture and history. This year they share a fascinating theme with Guernsey – local patois. A simplistic explanation of patois is “a form of a language, spoken by people in a particular area, which is different from the standard language of the country” (Oxford Dictionary). Alderney’s patois is Aoeur’gnaeux and it’ll be fascinating to see how designers transform this to stamps.
Other releases are QEII’s Platinum Jubilee, 2 sets featuring Alderney’s landscape and nature and finally the annual Christmas issues. A small number of stamps for collectors, but an interesting year.
February
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
6 stamps, 2 FDC, cancel, presentation pack, sheets of 10, mini sheet, prestige booklet
offset lithography
Designer: Bridget Yabsley
Bridget Yabsley has been Guernsey Post’s Head of Philatelic since 2016. She also designed the Guernsey Platinum Jubilee stamps.
Release date: February 4, 2022
April
Alderney Patois
8 stamps, FDC, cancel, presentation pack, 8 sheets of 10
offset lithography
Patois is a rich, cultural language specific to a region. Alderney patois is Aoeur’gnaeux, a derivation of Norman French. It is spoken by few on the island, but an effort has been made to revive the language. It is related to Guernsey’s Guernésiais patois. All languages evolve over time, and patois reflects regional changes. They often offer a glimpse into the cultural and historical landscape of the region.
The island’s French language is based on Norman French and is no longer spoken fluently in Alderney.
Author Royston Raymond worked with teacher Sally Pond for about eight years to compile a dictionary in Aoeur’gnaeux.
After his death, Mrs Pond has worked with her daughter to create stamps with illustrations and phrases in patois.
The designs are inspired by the teachings of Mr Raymond, who called himself the “last rememberer” of the language and was determined to not let the language die out, Mrs Pond said. Mother and daughter create stamps celebrating Alderney French – BBC News
Designers: Josie and Sally Pond
Release date: April 4, 2022
June
Alderney Wildlife Trust
4 stamps, 1 FDC, cancel, presentation pack, sheets of 10
- Seabird monitoring
- Learning through nature in the community
- Learning can be fun, pond dipping at Longis Nature Reserve
- Planting woodland for the next generation
Home page | Alderney Wildlife Trust
Established in 2002, Alderney Wildlife Trust (AWT) is a conservation charity dedicated to protecting the island’s abundance of wildlife and environment for years to come. The Trust cares for marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, and works to protect the island’s wildlife whilst helping people to feel more in touch with nature. 20th Anniversary of Alderney Wildlife Trust (guernseystamps.com)
Designer: Bridget Yabsley
Yabsley is the Head of Philatelic at Guernsey Post.
Release date: June 9, 2022
August
175th Anniversary of the Alderney Breakwater
4 stamps, FDC, presentation pack, sheets of 10
- 52p stamp: View of Alderney breakwater wall, walkway, and detail of arches.
- 79p stamp: Rough seas, waves breaking over breakwater.
- £1.10 stamp: View from Alderney breakwater looking back towards the harbour.
- £1.35 stamp: End view of breakwater depicting black and white chequered navigational markings.
This page, Alderney Breakwater (irsociety.co.uk), has some interesting details about the history of the breakwater, although it’s a bit hard to read because of lack of formatting. If you want a brief overview, try Victorians & Fortification | Visit Alderney, Channel Islands.
Designer:
Release date: August 24, 2022
November
Christmas – Alderney Panto 2022: Robin Hood
7 stamps, FDC, cancel presentation pack, sheets of 10
Alderney’s Christmas Panto runs Dec 7 to 9, 2022. If you are unfamiliar with this unique form of theatre, you can learn more about it here: A History of Panto — Imagine Theatre. Katie Shilton’s article breaks down the history of panto in an entertaining way.
Designer: Nick Watton
Watton also designed Guernsey’s Sleeping Beauty Panto stamps. The Devon based artist has designed stamps and FDCs for Jersey, Royal Mail, Alderney, Guernsey and Gibraltar. His passion for the “wilder parts of the United Kingdom” shine through in many of his stamps.
Release date: November 16, 2022
You can see last year’s Alderney’s stamps here. If you’ve already looked at them, try Guernsey’s 2021 and Jersey next.
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Alderney and the other Channel Islands do produce some beautiful stamps. The colorful and historic designs are what first attracted me to collecting them back in the 70’s and 80’s.
Unfortunately, the sheer volume of issues has forced me to move on to other areas. Really, how can you justify Alderney, an island of less than 2,500 souls issuing multiple issues per year? How can we as collectors justify these issues when their sole purpose is to sell them to us?
That said, the Queen sure does make a good-looking stamp!
I call it “issue fatigue” and have heard other collectors say the same
And yes the Queen does look good in this series. I’ve been debating about putting up a page for all the Jubilee issues. Haven’t decided yet.