Postal Museum: Mail Rail
It's been an incredibly long time since I wrote a normal blog post but I feel like it's the right time to get back on the wagon. Writing like this has given me a lot of enjoyment and the effects have also been invaluable. So without further ado let's get this one started.
A while ago a friend posted the words ‘mail rail’ into one of my Whatsapp groups and I was squeeing in reply. I was perhaps not as full of anticipation as he was, but nevertheless I knew that the visit was going to be an exciting one and it didn't disappoint.
At the end of September, with blue skies and a lot of sun, I went with a group of friends. It had started up in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive but reopened as The Postal Museum in July of this year. It was a lovely change from the Archive before, which had almost just been left by itself. Everything was shiny and new, and although I felt it was mainly aimed at a younger age group I did enjoy myself.
The Postal Museum had a small courtyard at the front with post boxes attached to the shrubbery. The entrance led straight into the museum's shop and café. The exhibition itself walks the viewer through time, charting the popularity of letter writing and the many methods of delivery. It was a shame that some parts of the exhibition weren't working due to mechanical faults, but this didn't detract from the exhibition.
When I was younger I used to write a lot of letters, sending them out almost weekly, much to my parents’ amusement, and then not so much when they realised how quickly I was going through our stamps. I was also encouraged to write letters in French at school but I didn't find it as enjoyable. When I grew up a bit more, I carried on writing but the letters didn't reach the posting stage. I used writing as an outlet for anger management - I was a really conflicted child. Apparently they were incredibly therapeutic and now I'm not as much of an angry person. I now send the odd postcard, normally with my own photography on the other side.
For me it was more about the artwork rather than what the person had written and that was what I found most interesting about the exhibition.
After the exhibition at the Postal Museum we wandered down the road to the Mail Rail, which was done up in a similar style to the museum. The entrance led straight to the shop and further on was the main attraction. Just before going down to the main exhibition we were advised that no bags were to be taken onto the mail rail itself due to space capacity but just before you went on your ride there were secure cages for bags and coats. Under the entrance the Mail Rail opened up into a large and almost open cave; on one side was the rail ride and on the other was the exhibition. The setup was rather efficient, with little to no encouragement that people should take the ride first then wander around the exhibition afterwards.
I wasn't sure what to expect with the ride, as the group I was with had also walked tube lines with me and there was the possibility that we could have been doing that too. The electrical carts were quite small but we were able to fit 3 in our compartment. Speakers had been fitted to the main beam of each cart which told us all of the stories. The whole experience was quite immersive and I didn't hear any noise from passengers in the other carts. I definitely enjoyed and appreciated the methods used to give us the biggest pieces of information about the ride, which was through various projections on the sides of the tunnels disused stations. I would estimate that I was situated in the middle of the carriages, but the curved coverings of each carriage made it difficult to see anything beyond what you could see directly. I wasn't sure if some projections were duplicated along the walls or if it was just one that filled the entire space. Regardless of how it was done it was executed well, it’s just a shame that being able to walk down those tracks is no longer an option.
Overall I really enjoyed myself and I know others in my group did too. I really recommend everyone having a wander down, but check on the website for mail rail time slots as they tend to be quite busy! One last point was that on their website they are currently advertising for volunteer museum cats. I can't work out how serious they are but if I had a cat I would definitely submit them for this!
