IT IS A SECRET WE ARE OFF TO BLETCHLEY PARK:
After the Sarnie Party the weather started to clear in the late afternoon, well sorta. We went for a stroll along the South Bank of the Thames where the market is called Winter by the River.
It is my Christmas Market experience that I find most of the vendors have the same offerings pretty much worldwide. That said each has it’s own vibe and decorations making each fun to visit.We finished the day with almost 13000 steps.
Back to our room to have our takeaway sandwiches for dinner and prepare for a 0600 wakeup to start our travel to Bletchley Park.
Here is a bit about Bletchley Park for those unfamiliar with its history and the effect the work there had on WWII and modern computing.
Bletchley Park is the former top-secret estate and the home of Britain’s WWII codebreakers. It is now a vibrant museum and heritage attraction that tells the story of the codebreakers' work, which was vital to Allied victory and helped shorten the war by years. The site is also known as the birthplace of modern computing and is where brilliant minds worked on machines like the Turing-Welchman Bombe and the Colossus Computer.
Codebreaking achievements: Bletchley Park was the site of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), which successfully decrypted German, Japanese, and other Axis communications. The intelligence gained from this work provided crucial support for Allied military operations.
Technological innovation: The codebreaking process drove major technological advancements, leading to the development of complex machines to automate the work. This work was essential to the birth of modern computing.
Current status: Today, Bletchley Park is a popular heritage attraction with exhibitions, immersive films, and recreated WW2 rooms that allow visitors to learn about its history and the people who worked there. It is managed by the Bletchley Park Trust, a registered charity dedicated to preserving the site's story.
Bletchley is constantly changing and we have been visiting many years and have seen the many improvements. The stories of the codebreakers is so well interpreted.
Some of you may have seen the movie The Imitation Game about Alan Turing or maybe a the TV series The Bletchley Circle.
For me it is fun to stand in the locations where history was made and to be amazed as to how the work there was kept secret for nearly 30 years. This is amazing as there were about 11,000 people working there.
MI6 Chief Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair chose the Bletchley Park location for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). His key reasons were Bletchley's geographical centrality, its location next to the Bletchley railway station connecting Oxford and Cambridge universities, and its distance from London's potential air raids.
As we had an early train to Bletchley and the Underground service starts late on Sunday we opted for an Uber to Euston Station $16.26 USD.
We arrived early enough to have a bacon butty and a cup of coffee before catching our train to Bletchley.
The outbound journey took about 50 minutes and the fare was £4.50. This is an off-peak early saver 2for1 rail card rate. With this fare you must travel on a specific train as it is a bit more for an anytime ticket.
Bletchley Park is a very short walk from the station and is well marked.
We had pre booked our visit and that is also a savings. In the past we had gotten 2 for 1 admission by showing your train ticket.
After entering we went directly to the Information Desk and signed up for a free walking tour. I highly recommend these as you get a very good overview of the history and life at Bletchley.
To get a greater experience I further recommend one do some research and reading. Having a bit of knowledge enhances your experience. As I said there is the movie The Imitation Game, while good it was best described as tossing the facts up in the air to land in all the wrong places.
The best resource at Bletchley are the volunteers. They are a wealth of knowledge and by showing a bit of interest they will offer you so much more information.
Over the the years we have visited Bletchley many times and each time the positive interpretive changes are dually noted.
Personally I am fascinated by the role of Bletchley during WWII. The breaking of the Enigma and Lorenz is just one part. The role in D-Day was also immense.
Sorry, I could go on forever but will stop there. A visit to Bletchley Park is a must. We took the 11:30 walking tour and then had lunch in the cafe. There was a carrot squash soup which was very good. I will say the fish and chips also looked good and many volunteers were having it for lunch.
We then roamed the various Huts. In these huts the German codes were broken and the intelligence was extracted. This info was then passed on to the High Command for use in the war effort.
As I said Bletchley is a must visit in my opinion. One should plan to arrive early, take a walking tour, have lunch, explore the mansion and don’t miss the Cottages and Huts as that is where history was made.
Our return train journey was much shorter as it seemed to be an express route with just one stop. The Northern line to Embankment, Circle line to Tower Hill and home for the night. Tomorrow we will revisit Westminster Abby, probably after breakfast at The River Cafe.
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