a first-class ride through British postal history

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to London

Imagine a system of driverless electric vehicles whisking packages and mail through purposely designed tunnels across a city in a matter of minutes, oblivious to congested streets above. En route, mechanisms at convenient stopping points rapidly move loads from and to street level, seamlessly integrating with other transit systems.

Sounds like the ambitious dream of a modern tech mogul, doesn’t it? Well, you might be surprised to learn that the UK postal service had just such a system, entirely separate from the passenger underground network, working efficiently under London from 1927 that ran smoothly between Paddington in the west and Whitechapel in the east, via six other stops. Although the system closed in 2003, a vivid taste of what it must have been like can be gained by riding on a preserved section of its tracks at London’s Postal Museum situated adjacent to, and underneath, Mount Pleasant Mail Centre. It is a surreal and wonderful experience that can be enjoyed by both adults and youngsters.

London’s relatively unknown Mail Rail is the sort of interesting fact I’m fascinated by. A science-magazine team I once illustrated for told me they liked providing content a certain type of person would enjoy telling friends about in the pub. Being that sort of person, I understood exactly what they meant, and one reason I enjoy this museum is its abundance of such facts. It’s an unusual two-site layout, with a relatively small but fascinating exhibit about postal history in Freeling House on Phoenix Place and a Mail Rail ride and exhibition across the road beneath the Mail Centre.

Obviously, in 2024 it’s not possible to contemplate Post Office history without recent scandals involving miscarriages of justice inflicted on sub-postmasters looming large. However, viewing that within the context of the history portrayed in the museum is a really worthwhile experience. Here I’ve described a walk and a rail ride through the museum, pinpointing some favourite exhibits and facts along the way. It can be completed in about three hours, but I’d suggest setting aside a half to a whole day to appreciate it fully.

After buying a ticket in Freeling House, you cross Phoenix Place and descend via stairs or a lift to the underground cavern, formerly Mail Rail’s primary maintenance depot, and board a narrow-gauge train for a 20-minute ride through the tunnels. Narration by former employees through speakers and audiovisual displays on the platforms you pass through paint a lively picture of the system’s operation.

After the ride, you learn more about the system in the adjacent Mail Rail exhibition. Its first general manager spotted immediately that the 1927 locomotives’ wheels were too close together and would wear themselves and the track out quickly, and he was soon proved right.

Other Mail Rail locomotives on display here, including the longer wheelbase replacements, rolling stock, signalling and control equipment, give insight into efficient, safe operations in an era of pre-digital technology.

Leaving the Mail Rail, you cross the street back to the galleries in Freeling House. “The Royal Mail” is an apt title for the first gallery — Henry VIII set the system up to serve his own needs, and towns were required to provide horses to carry his messages. Kept in stables called posts, the king appointed a “postmaster” to oversee them and the name stuck. Charles I opened the system to the public in 1635, but not without installing spies in post offices to intercept mail. A stunning 1800 mail coach plus associated artefacts illustrate the network’s evolution in the 19th century.

Mail for Everyone, the next gallery, illustrates how invention and technology modernised and democratised the postal service. By 1900, the invention of the stamp made sending letters cheap and easy, and roadside pillar boxes were installed widely. Originally painted green and difficult to see, they were soon changed to the Post Office red familiar today. As the 20th century progressed, road and rail vehicles, ships and aircraft were all recruited to speed the mail. In addition, from 1912 onwards the Post Office ran the telephone service, and in 1926 introduced the iconic red telephone box.

Postal services are vital national communications assets and The Post Office in Conflict details the service’s role in wartime and its embroilment in political turmoil — in light of recent events, a gallery that could require an update. In 1909, anything could be sent as an express letter and two Suffragettes had themselves posted, for the sum of three pence, to the prime minister in Downing Street. The effort failed. After the messenger waited for 10 minutes they were returned as “dead letters”. First world war diagrams of mail-transfer networks between UK and the western front are fascinating and sobering, as are the charred remains of bomb-damaged stamps and a piece of shrapnel found in a mail sack that arrived at a sorting office in Reading. A stunning BSA Bantam motorcycle is a tribute to wartime telegram messengers.

In Designs on Delivery, I indulge my enthusiasm for design with a range of displays highlighting the way the Post Office, from 1933, led by PR head Sir Stephen Tallents, put good design front and centre in its posters, stamps, branding and even films, using the talents of some of the most accomplished commercial artists of the day. A vibrant red 1935 Morris Minor delivery van could belong to no other service

An interesting oddity here are items designed for the reign of King Edward VIII, who abdicated after only 11 months in 1936. If you ever spot a pillar box carrying his monogram you’re very lucky, as only 16 are still in operation.

Finally, you pass through Communication and Change, looking at the Post Office’s adaptation to the modern world. The Postbus services that carried passengers and goods as well as mail in rural areas between 1967 and 2017 are oddly reminiscent of the original mail coaches of the 19th century, and items related to the Covid-19 pandemic remind us what a vital role the post played during it.

Tickets to the museum include one Mail Rail ride and unlimited access to the rest of the museum for a year. Aware, as we all are, of how faulty new technology led to the recent appalling miscarriages of justice, I’ve recently found myself returning to the museum regularly to be cheered by the displays of more positive examples of how the service has innovated and evolved over its 500-year history. 

The Postal Museum, 15-20 Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DA. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am–5pm. Website; Directions

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