The Postal Museum is opening soon… and tickets are now on sale.
We revealed last week that the new Postal Museum – home to the ‘Mail Rail’ that used to deliver post and packages in tunnels under London – now has an opening date of July 28. (See our full guide to museums in London.)
But we can now announce that tickets for the Farringdon attraction go on sale at 10am, Thursday July 13, from postalmuseum.org. Exciting, huh?
? BUT WAIT – THERE IS A CATCH. ?
The museum operators are now saying that the Mail Rail ride, which will transport passengers through the Royal Mail’s mothballed subterranean delivery network, won’t be opening on July 26 after all. Instead, the museum will first open raillessly for the first five weeks; so if you want to take a ride on the train, you’ll need to visit after September 4. Tickets for those dates are nonetheless also on sale from July 13, and as it’s every nerdy Londoner’s dream, places are sure to book up quickly.
Of the rest of the museum, organisers are promising:
“Celebrating the surprising and quirky history of Britain’s earliest social network, the post, The Postal Museum contains five zones, leading visitors through five centuries of world-class curiosities and providing a different view on some of the world’s most significant historical events.
Each zone contains interactive exhibits designed to bring the story behind the post to life, from a growling lioness telling the story of the time an escaped circus lioness attacked a Mail Coach, to an interactive game where visitors take on the role of a Mail Coach guard, to a cinema showing ground-breaking films by the General Post Office’s own film unit, set up in the 1930s to promote the organisation’s work. Among these films is the famous ‘Night Mail’, with words by W H Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. It is widely considered a masterpiece of the British Documentary Film Movement.”
There’s also a cute play area for kids and plenty of family-friendly activities scheduled over the summer holidays.