Southern Rhodesia Philately: 1964 Definitive Series – 2s Lake Kyle

“Another magazine picture, with emphasis on the lake waters and the undeveloped (foreground) verge requested of the artist, was the basic source. The latter made a suitable background for Whiteley’s cased letters, showing the advantage of this “see-through” technique. The stamp shows an amazing variety of tones derived from the two colours employed —blue and ochre. A car and human figures on the dam wall were removed as unnecessary distractions. The Kyle Dam, or “Little Kariba”, stands at a deep and narrow gorge between two hills of solid granite at the confluence of the Mtilikwe and Umshagashi Rivers, about 25 miles south-east of Fort Victoria. The wall of the dam is more than 200 feet high and about 1,025 feet in length. It cost £3 million and was opened by Sir Edgar Whitehead, former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, on May 31st, 1961. The newly- created Lake Kyle covers about 23,000 acres.”