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Londoners will soon have their own historical archive dedicated to the ‘earliest social network’. No, it’s not a shrine to Bebo. This week it was announced that The Postal Museum will open its doors on July 28, but you can see a lot more than some dusty vintage stamps. Visitors will be able to take a ride on an abandoned underground railway: the subterranean 6.5 mile (10.5km) ‘Mail Rail’ route once used to transport post between Whitechapel and Paddington, until it shut in 2003.
Every year, up to 12 million items of post would be couriered from one location to another below street level, and now you can wander through the narrow tunnels of the old engineering depot of Mail Rail for the first time. The ride will stop at the original Mount Pleasant station platforms and fill curious Londoners in on the line’s history with an audio visual display. Sod the post office queues, we’re used to it: sign us up for express entry.
Adult tickets for The Postal Museum will cost £16, with an optional £1.50 voluntary donation. Find out more on The Postal Museum website.
Can’t wait? Check out the weird and wonderful London museums that are already open for business.
In other ‘underground’ news, nine of the world’s deadliest superbugs have been found on the tube.