Britain's postal history - in pictures

Royal Mail Day at Snaresbrook by James Pollard, 1848 Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

The first travelling post office, part of the First North Eastern Railway in 1881 Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

Telegram from Ismay Imrie & Co, owners of the White Star Line, to the secretary of the Post Office informing him of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

A Christmas postcard embroidered with 'All's Well' sent from the front in the first world war. The message on the back reads: 'To Girlie with love from Dad' Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

A temporary mobile post office used during the second world war Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

A poster promoting the GPO workforce called 79,242 Postmen, designed by Duncan Grant in 1939 Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

A 1955 poster promoting the correct payment of postage by Gerald Parkinson Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

The Beatles and the joint secretaries of their fan club sorting out fan mail Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

Items used as evidence in the Great Train Robbery trial – the marking HVP stands for 'High Value Packets' Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

The Post Office Railway between West Central District Office and Western District Office, 1971 Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive

Postman Len Ritchie makes a high-tide delivery to St Michael's Mount in Cornwall in the late 1980s Photograph: The British Postal Museum & Archive