I was lucky enough to have got tickets for the première showing of Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush at the Rome Film Festival last week. The film was a sumptuous romp through history with Cate Blanchett as fabulous as ever – the scenes showing the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 were particularly impressive.

These British commemorative stamps were designed by Graham Evernden and issued on 19 July, 1988 on the 400th anniversary of the event. The set of five stamps was printed se-tenant (joined together in a horizontal strip) and the individual stamps form a composite design which runs across all five. All five stamps were valued at 18 pence and feature, reading from left to right: Spanish Galeasse off The Lizard; English Fleet leaving Plymouth; Engagement off the Isle of Wight; Attack of English Fire-ships, Calais; Armada in Storm, North Sea.