On the coach at some unearthly hour of the morning, it was shortly before 10am when we arrived at Bletchley Park courtesy of the Billericay Resident's Association.
Bletchley Park is, of course, the place where the code breaking was done in WWII. It was selected because:
- it was available
- far enough from London to not be a target
- between Oxford and Cambridge, where the employees would be selected
There are fascinating displays all around the place about espionage and code breaking. How the codes were broken, for Enigma, and Lorenze. There are stories of the code breakers, the conditions they lived in, and the 'unique skill sets' required for the different functions. Most of all, the secrecy they worked under, being unable to tell even their spouse what they were doing.
We were on a tight timescale, as is the way with organised trips, so we did not see it all. Maybe I missed the computing parts that I was so interested in, or maybe they are elsewhere. We did, at least, get to see a model of the Bombe machine, apparently 'working'.
There are also some vehicles on display in the garages. This is my favourite:
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| 1947 Sunbeam Talbot |
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| 1947 Sunbeam Talbot description |
We were early enough to get the last two tickets for the guided tour, on the way to the meeting point, we passed this amazing copper beech. I wonder how big it was in 1939, or if it was even there?
Alan Turing is now well known, because of the film Imitation Game, but he features only in a small part of the whole story. The Commander Alistair Denniston features much more prominently, and was apparently very good at managing his group of brilliant 'mis-fits'.
Another lovely day out, thanks BDRA.
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