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From April to September, a new exhibition
from The British Postal Museum & Archive
celebrating the work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel toured throughout his ‘empire’ in
the South West. It paid tribute to the incredible impact that Brunel
had on the postal service and advancing mass communication. His Great
Western Railway and transatlantic ships were vital to the improvement
of the postal service, speeding the mail over land and seas.
Brunel Speeding the Mail was a graphic exhibition which looked at four
major areas of work: his early career and the Thames Tunnel, the Great
Western Railway, the Great Ships and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Each
theme was illustrated with stamp artwork commissioned by Royal Mail from
1969 to the present day. Although some of the images would have been
familiar as they have been printed as stamps, many were proposed, previously
unseen designs.
The exhibition was launched at Spring Stampex in The Business Design
Centre, London, on Wednesday 22 February and later toured throughout
venues in the South West, starting in Plymouth Library and moving to
Bristol, Saltash, Porthcurno, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Exeter, Tiverton,
Didcot, Swindon, Weston Super Mare and finally Plymouth Museum.
Table showing visitor numbers
Date
from |
Date
to |
Venue |
Visitor numbers |
1
Mar 06 |
18
Mar 06 |
Plymouth Libraries |
3,000 |
1
Apr 06 |
16
Apr 06 |
Bristol Record Office |
300 |
26
Apr 06 |
30
Apr 06 |
Saltash |
200 |
1
May 06 |
10
May 06 |
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum |
390 |
11
May 06 |
31
May 06 |
Newton Abbot Museum |
4,000 |
1
Jun 06 |
22
Jun 06 |
Torbay Museums, Torquay |
2,500 |
23
Jun 06 |
17
Jul 06 |
Powderham Castle, Exeter |
1,180 |
1
Aug 06 |
18
Aug 06 |
Tiverton Museums |
547 |
20
Aug 06 |
29
Aug 06 |
Didcot Railway Centre |
921 |
30
Aug 06 |
20
Sep 06 |
Steam Museum, Swindon |
12,233 |
21
Sep 06 |
24
Sep 06 |
Winter Gardens, Weston Super Mare |
590 |
Total |
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25,271 |
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