Experience History: Visiting Bletchley Park

Benedict’s hotly anticipated film, The Imitation Game, centers on the life and achievements of British mathematician and war hero, Alan Turing. For those unfamiliar with Turing, he played a major role in helping to decode German intelligence during the Second World War. Building upon the pre-war work of Polish codebreakers, Turing devised techniques to break German codes as well as improved upon bombe technologies that assisted in deciphering text sent from Engima machines. Turing’s work also laid the philosophical and scientific foundations of computer science and artificial intelligence. Many experts and historians claim that the work he and other codebreakers contributed to the war effort ultimately helped shorten the duration of the conflict by two years, thus saving countless lives.

Bletchley Park served as a center for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). Shrouded in secrecy, handfuls of professionals and clever individuals from all over the country worked together to break codes. Turing himself initially led the Hut 8 team that took care of German naval transmissions. Once the war ended, all the documents at Bletchley Park were stored away or destroyed. Those who worked as ciphers lived on, keeping their war work a secret. Thirty years later, with the lift on the Official Secrets Act, the work of those at Bletchley Park finally surfaced to the public conscience.

Today, Bletchley Park is a museum, dedicated to sharing knowledge about the work of the codebreakers. There are lots of exhibits to see, including some rooms that are set up to mimic what one would have seen during the war era. Bletchley Park is currently undergoing some remodeling, restoring, and construction, but come June 2014, everything should be open to see in full view.

For those who are interested in visiting Bletchley Park, here are some tips for your visit:

• The closest train station to the park is Bletchley station. This can be accessed by the London Midlands or Southern train lines. Alternatively, you can take a train to Milton Keynes Central, and then take a local bus.
• If you are taking the train, Days Out Guide has a 2-1 admission deal when you show your train tickets at the counter (and a printed voucher). This deal gives you entrance for two adults for the price of one. At £15 per adult, it’s not a bad deal! Just make sure to download the voucher before you go. The offer expires 31 December 2014.
• Despite the high admission fees, your ticket allows you to visit the park as many times as you’d like for one year.
• When you arrive at Bletchley, you have the option of renting a multimedia pack, which is essentially an iPod loaded with videos and pictures of Bletchley. There is an adult version of the guide, as well as a kid’s one, full of games and easier to understand historical tidbits. It’s fun for the entire family!
• There are free, one hour tours given at the park, leaving every half hour (subject to availability). As mentioned by the staff, your multimedia packs give you a lot of information about what you’re seeing, but if you have questions and want to hear more stories, it’s good to pop on with a tour. Make sure you collect a tour ticket to sign up for a time slot.
• If your visit sparks a greater interest in codebreakers/Turing, the gift shop has some great literature available (you will see the Hodges and Copeland biographies available).
• While you can see a replica bombe machine at Bletchley, you can also see a working Colossus machine at the neighboring National Museum of Computing. There is a separate admission fee though, so do be aware of that.

Turing is one of the stars of Bletchley Park, so you’ll see several exhibits and pieces dedicated to him and his work. There are handfuls of photographs, letters, and other written memorabilia. Personal highlights, however, were seeing Alan Turing’s watch, his mug (which he famously chained to the radiator to prevent others from using it), and his teddy bear Porgy that he had while at Cambridge.

Other highlights include a memorial to the Polish codebreakers; other stories of espionage and codebreaking from the war; and a working replica of the bombe machine (which was used to help decipher codes en masse).

If you leisurely stroll around, it’s easy to spend a half to full day at Bletchley. It is all utterly fascinating, and amazing to think how so many people had to keep the place a secret, even from their loved ones. If the weather’s nice – bring a packed lunch and sit on the green by the pond. You can then get an idea of how the place served as a sort of idyllic community for those who lived and worked there.

All in all, take your time while at Bletchley and soak in the history.  You never know what interesting factoids you might take home with you that day.

For more information, check out the Bletchly Park website: http://bletchleypark.org.uk/

Written by a_shibs on 6 April 2014. 4 comments »
Category: Education, History, Places
Tags: Bletchley Park, Enigma, Turing