A Spy Story … Bletchley Park

I have always had a fascination with World War Two and its impact on world history. I often wonder how I would have coped in those turbulent times, what choices I would have made,  and the impact of these choices on my life. Would I have made good ones? Ones that I could live with morally? Or even whether those decisions would result in my demise. I had heard about and was fascinated by the story of Bletchley Park, the cracking of the Enigma code and the effect of both on the outcome of the war. What I didn’t know until I came to London this time, was that you could visit Bletchley Park. It was fortuitous, therefore, that Sally (who I have been staying with) and her friends had been planning for some time to do a day trip to Bletchley Park in July, and asked me to join them.

As it turned out Bletchley Park was just a couple of stops beyond Tring where I had walked a couple of weeks before (see https://livinglifeonmyownterms.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/walking-by-water-using-the-meet-up-app/ ).

Bletchley Park is very easy to reach by rail being an easy train journey from Clapham Junction of just over an hour (you can catch a train from Euston too), and a five minute stroll from Bletchley Park station. Turns out there is a very good reason for this.  Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, head of the British SIS before (and during) the war, purchased the site for £6000 using his own money for use as a site for code cracking. He did this because he believed it would be necessary to support the allies effort in a war he thought was imminent, even though Chamberlain had just declared there would be no war. He chose Bletchley Park because of its proximity to rail and road  networks. He also knew that as he would need mathematicians “of the professorial type”, and the fact that the site was easily accessible from both Oxford and Cambridge was another advantage.

In its hey day Bletchley Park had over 9,000 people working there, 75% of whom were women. It is estimated that because of the work carried out there the duration of the war was shortened by around two years.

The entry to the modern day complex is through a visitor centre that contains the obligatory gift shop and cafe. The entry first takes you through some film footage of the history of the war through the context of Bletchley Park, and allows visitors to understand the significance of what went on there.

We signed up for a guided tour, and I would recommend doing this as well as using the self guided tablets/headphones  on offer.

Perhaps  the most fascinating exhibit was the Museum in Block B, which explained the enigma machines and had a working (reconstructed) example of the Turing-Welchman Bombe machine which allowed codes to be cracked in a methodical and more speedy way. Regular demonstrations of how the machine works are held during the day.

In addition there are replica huts set up where you can see the conditions they had to work under, and the mansion, which is where everyone worked at the beginning until the operation just got too big. We arrived at about 11:30 and were happily occupied until closing time at 5 pm. We all thought we could have stayed longer, and lucky for us our tickets (the standard adult ticket is £17.50, but there are concessions so you can get them cheaper, as we did) last for a whole year. There is already talk about a return trip!