Day 3 - Bletchley Park - 10 September 2024

Bletchley Park has become well known since the film The Imitation Game about Alan Turing was released.  The whole concept of a secret place where brilliant minds deciphered German messages captured the interest of the world. Bletchley Park and the machine built by Alan Turing was definitely high on our list of things to see.

We set off from the Premier Inn a little later than originally planned as there were a few things to sort with the car.  We were finally on the road heading for Bletchley Park, about one hour away.  Interestingly, we did not meet any tractors on the country roads and we made pretty good time.

This is a place where it would be easy to spend a whole day.  The conditions under which people worked was amazing. The entire place was one village centred around the code breakers. However, for the place to operate efficiently, they required carpenters, electricians and all the other people in a community.  

Bletchley Park was a military town and the commander was Alastair Dennison, a very forward thinking man and Alan Turing had the concept of the machine.  What we found fascinating was that the German enigma machine was mechanical and with a complex series of cogs that were reset each day.  The idea was that one letter would be altered to another, nut, each time a letter was pressed, a cog turned so that next time the same letter was pressed, it would give a different result. They thought that it was unbreakable.

An enigma machine

The park is really well set out and we did not have enough time to see it all.  We hope to get back before we leave the UK.  Rooms have been reset to show the working conditions. They were very simply furnished.  Absolute silence was mandatory. When a new message was intercepted, the leader was notified by tapping your pencil on the desk twice. Idle chatter risked secrets getting out.

A typical office

The office of Alan Turing

The main office building is known as The Mansion and it now houses historical documents and shows more of life at Bletchley Park. The whole place gives a clear insight into life in this secluded, secret but outstandingly successful "township". Of course, the highlight of the visit is to see the replica of the Bombe - the machine designed by Alan Turing and built by Wrens and so many other people. Each person played a critical part without actually knowing what they were doing it for.

The Bombe

The original Bombe is actually in the computing museum close by and is operated on occasions. That is on our list to visit now.  It would be fascinating to see the progress of computing over time.

After many hours looking at the Enigma machine, the Bombe and trying to understand what life would have been like, it was time to move to Sible Hedingham and see our cousin. The drive took us through typical English countryside with farms, hedgerows, and the most amazing small houses with thatched roofs. 

We arrived at around 5:00 p.m. and then spent the rest of the night catching up, eating and drinking.  What a wonderful first day of the holiday.