Bletchley Park

Wikipedia: The working rebuilt bombe, built by a team led by John Harper and switched on by the Duke of Kent patron of the British Computer Society, on 17 July 2008.

On Easter Monday I went to Bletchley Park which is now a museum commemorating the work undertaken during World War II to successfully break the codes used by the Germans. The museum was officially re-opened last year by the Duchess of Cambridge and they are riding on the crest of the wave of success of the film, Imitation Game, about the life and work of Alan Turing, the homosexual genius involved in the creation of the Bombe (a machine) that helped break the code and which was a precursor to modern day computers.

Lots to say about it. The place was rammed. It was a sunny day. The car park was full so we ended up parking on a local housing estate. The postcode of the place put in to a sat nav sends you round the back where you can’t get in so best to head for Bletchley railway station and the museum is directly opposite. Signage locally is not brilliant.

I am not sure it is a place I would take very young children. The visuals are limited. It doesn’t have the visual drama of a National Trust property although there is a playground and lots of picnic tables and a lake.

From a community development perspective, it is interesting that the museum initially came in to being from the passion and commitment of one man, just as its war time usage was enabled by its private purchase by a military officer who saw its potential. The war time huts they worked in were virtually collapsed and have been re-constructed. It’s incredible to think that over 9,000 people worked here at one time. It must have made the war time economy of Bletchley.

We stayed there over 3 hours and could not read/absorb it all. The tickets allow for annual admission so I will go back again. I want to have a go on the interactive boards that allow you to have a go at emulating some of the thought processes of the code breakers and I would like to listen to a Bombe demonstration. I couldn’t fully grasp how it worked.

I am glad I saw the film first. The film was inspiring and brought it alive. What the museum added for me on my first visit was that the machine was only part of it.

• They had to feed intelligent guess work in to reduce options.
• These fine minds were brought together and left to get on with it and experiment. Management was very light touch and the teams that worked there were diverse and tolerant.
• There were also many different codes for different military services.
• Turing’s tutor at university also worked there and was equally as influential.
• Turing was awarded the OBE so although he was persecuted for his homosexuality, they did appreciate his brain.

Afterwards we ate at the Carrington Arms at Moulsoe which has been a go to treat to eat place for me for many years. It changed hands in 2008 and perhaps hasn’t quite got the same decorative ambience. There are more tables and the menu has expanded, but you can still choose your steak, the chips were as good as the old gooey garlic potatoes and the desserts were probably the equivalent of eating 6 Easter eggs at a sitting, but yum.