The Postal Museum is in the Clerkenwell area of London, next to the Mount Pleasant Mail Centre and post office. Occupying two sites, over the road from the museum section is Mail Rail, the world's first driverless mail system, which ran from 1927-2003.
From 2017, it has been possible to travel around a loop of the old track (formerly disused but well-maintained) in specially adapted- albeit cramped- carriages.
Here is the train on the platform...
People getting off the Lilliputian train...
A VERY cramped SuperDean. The track was designed to hold trains full of mail, not people! There wasn't much space for me (my big hair touched the roof!) and I'm only 5'4".
Inside the train...
I didn't get many decent photographs as I wanted to pay attention rather than see life through a lens. The ride was mostly on the dark side, and I don't have good enough equipment to photograph at high speed anyway.
The ride was narrated and informative, though, with a recreation of a power cut, details of what happened when the River Fleet once flooded the tunnel and video shows at certain sections, such as this timeline, below. We also got to stop at a platform, with a digital recreation regarding what the job of unloading and loading the trains was about. We saw a lower section which was a train graveyard.
We stopped at this point, and could see a tunnel sneaking off to one side. The Mail Rail covered more than one area of London.
I found the ride quite claustrophobic and there is a digital simulation, with headphones, of the whole journey for those who don't wish to (or cannot) do the ride. Once off the train, this section also had other exhibits, such as these old trains...
Time was utilised well and, once the mail was on the 'regular' train, postal workers sorted it so that the mail bags were ready to move on to their next destination. There is a recreation where you can sort the mail yourself. I had a go, and here's a photo of the labelled mail pockets...
In the other section of the museum, the history of the postal system is explained. Did you know that the first mail boxes were green? Nope, neither did I!
These were abolished, as they blended into the countryside too well...
Originally, mail was delivered by carriage...
The Penny Farthing... The beginning of two-wheeled deliveries.
You don't see many old phone boxes nowadays...
Who remembers how to use a phone with a round dial? I do!
I never knew that these air mail boxes had ever existed...
Post boxes have the initials of the reigning monarch on the front. If they go in for repair and are found to be outdated, then they get updated with the relevant insignia. This is a rare Edward VIII post box.
Edward VIII stamps...
A George V post box...
This post box was painted gold to commemorate the Olympics, in 2012...
I'd never seen a mail bus before...
There are lots of other interesting things to see and do. Dean (successfully) operated a simulation of the mail train control system and I sent a message by pneumatic telegraph. You also get to see sections regarding things like: mail which got sunk on the Titanic, mail during both the wars and how to create a stamp, so it's definitely not a few hours wasted.
We popped into Pizza Pilgrims, on nearby Exmouth Market for a Hawaiian. As it's controversial (not Italian) we had to vote for whether we wanted it to stay on the menu or not. We voted YEEEESSSS!!!!
Charles Dickens lived in this area from 1837-1839 and that house is now the nearby museum; hence a pub dedicated to one of his David Copperfield characters.
Here is a London street photo, with The Shard and St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
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