Cultural Experiences: The Postal Museum

Today my friend Karla and I headed up the Northern line to Angel and jumped on a bus to the Postal Museum. It is in two parts - the Mail Rail section is in the ground floor of the postal sorting building (Mount Pleasant district office) and the Postal Museum proper is across the road in a separate building. When you buy tickets, you get both and the time you choose is simply for the Mail Rail. The Museum is accessed with a separate ticket but is not timed and valid all day for the same day as the Mail Rail.

We had 10:55 tickets and so went straight to the Mail Rail section. We arrived at the entry line at 10:53 after browsing the shop to kill time, only to watch the train pull away without us! Luckily there is a train every 15 minutes or so we were able to get the next one. It is so small and a little claustrophobic, if you are that way, because you’re actually sitting in the old mail carts which had been converted with seats. You get to go on a journey through the tunnels, stopping along the way to learn more about the tunnels themselves, see the station platforms and watch movies they project on the wall about what it was like to work on the Mail Rail. It was so interesting!!!

There was also short exhibition which went along with the Mail Rail ride, which was about the way that it worked and maintenance they did on it. It was short but interactive and interesting too.

Then we went back out into the rain to see the main Postal Museum, which is just up the road and in a different building. We had lunch first at the cafe which was lovely, then headed in. It chronicled the way that British people communicated, from the invention of Mail (originally just for Henry VIII, the most selfish monarch), to boys on horses, through carriages and telegrams and the wars to cars, advertisements and newer updates. They had a booth showing the promotional (if psychedelic) films the GPO made in the 30s. There were lots of exhibits to look at, it was very interactive and I learned a lot! There was so much cool information to learn.

(First ever stamps)




(My favourite review of the Museum!)

Right at the end was a mini-exhibit about a boat that had been sunk by a u-boat during WW2 and which had been carrying silver and Mail, among other things. After years and years underwater, they recovered much of the boat and with it some of the letters and Mail it had been carrying. It had been preserved by the lack of oxygen and the pressure from being under water and covered in sediment for so long. We got to read the letters and learn more about many peoples lives. Again, fascinating!

The Postal Museum is a finalist for Museum of the Year this year, and I think it fully deserves it! I will be trying to vote for it. Anyone who reads this living in London, visit this museum. It’s been open less than a year but it’s incredible. Highly recommend.