Stamps honour Scottish inventors

The six new stamps were issued by Royal Mail

The pioneering work of three Scots-born inventors has been recognised on new stamps issued by Royal Mail.

Bridge builder Thomas Telford, the man behind television John Logie Baird and telephone developer Alexander Graham Bell are included in the collection.

The six "World of Invention" stamps, illustrated by Guardian cartoonist Peter Till, were issued on Thursday.

Extra information on each image is printed on the reverse of the backing paper on the stamps.

The launch of the special set of stamps took place at the Science Museum in London.

Thomas Telford, who was born 250 years ago, is featured on one of the first class stamps.

We have a long history of celebrating engineering and technological achievements on special stamps Julietta Edgar Royal Mail

The other first class stamp pays homage to the locomotive pioneers of the early 19th Century, such as George Stephenson, with a train puffing railway tracks from its funnel.

The work of Alexander Graham Bell and John Logie Baird is featured on the 64p stamps, while the final pairing on the 72p stamps shows Sir Tim Berners-Lee's World-Wide Web and a glimpse at the possible future of space travel.

Julietta Edgar, head of special stamps at Royal Mail, said: "We have a long history of celebrating engineering and technological achievements on special stamps, which stretches back to the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1964.

"World of Invention brings together some of our greatest minds and their inventions.

"Their accomplishments will be seen on millions of letters thanks to another home grown invention, stamps."