Month: January 2018

Bletchley Park

As you hurtle through Buckinghamshire on the West Coast main line to London you are afforded the very briefest of glimpses of the town of Bletchley. Every time I tell myself that I must visit one day but the time has never been right. That all changed recently when a spare day in London provided the opportunity to finally pay a visit.

Bletchley is only a forty five minute train ride from London Euston and the trains are reasonably frequent. Once at the railway station  turn right on exit, walk a few hundred yards, cross the road (Sherwood Drive) and you are at the lane leading to the entrance to Bletchley Park, home of the World War 2 codebreakers. It couldn’t be easier travelling by public transport from London.

The grounds are large, well maintained and well signposted. The entrance fee includes a very useful and readable map which is really all you need to navigate the site but we also bought the guidebook but this isn’t absolutely necessary.

The success of the ongoing refurbishment of the park and exhibits is the balance that has been struck between modern interactive and informative displays and the exhibition spaces and huts themselves which give a real sense of time and place. Some of the displays are fascinating and make sure you have plenty of time to get fully absorbed in them.

The highlight for me was Block B which contains exhibits forming ” The Life and works of Alan Turing”, bringing to life the story behind the breaking of the German Enigma cipher during the second World War.

Slate statue of Alan Turing

The replica of Turing’s Bombe, built to help crack the cipher is astonishing. The highly impressive piece of machinery, containing 12 miles of wire, is manned by volunteers who are more than happy to explain its construction and operation.

Apparently all the original machines were dismantled at the end of the war for reasons of security so the  construction was from scratch.

Further exhibits showing the bombes in situ together with audio accounts of operators are located in the huts which are to be found between the larger blocks and the mansion house complex. The huts have been recreated to show what they would have been like in the early 1940s.

The Mansion was used as offices for senior staff and there are now some fascinating audio accounts from people stationed at Bletchley during the war as part of the displays on the ground floor.

It’s easy to spend a day exploring the blocks, huts and grounds of Bletchley Park. I’m glad I finally made the effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guadalest

In the cold and dark of January a post from warmer and sunnier days in August 2017.

It may be only 25Km from the beaches and bars of Benidorm but the hill village of Guadalest is a jewel that many visitors to the Costa Blanca may well miss.

Surrounded by mountains it has been a military stronghold for over a thousand years although you are now only likely to see the daily invasion of tourists.

The drive from the Mediterranean coast may only be short but it is largely uphill and is itself a treat so is not to be rushed. Travelling from Javea we left the motorway (Autopisa) to join the CV755 which took us first to the town of Callosa d’en Sarria. Much of the agriculture here is given to the production of loquats (I’d never heard of them either – apparently like a mix of peach, citrus and mango) and large areas of the countryside can be seen covered to protect the trees, which do not bear fruit until the spring. At Callosa there is the choice to turn to the Algar waterfalls or continue on to Guadalest. The road from here is wild, rugged and beautiful. There is a curt reminder of just how wild when the road crosses an area of a recent forest fire which has left several hectares blackened.

Despite the bus loads of visitors the village doesn’t feel crowded and parking was reasonably straightforward even arriving late morning. Shops are very touristy as you can imagine but there is an interesting range of museums for such a small village. These include a microgigantic and minature museums where magnifying glasses can be used to see a flea on a bicycle and the Statue of Liberty in the eye of a needle. Of particular interest was the ethnological museum which uses a series of dioramas to tell the story of life in the village in time gone by. Entry was free and although small the museum gave a very good picture of what life was like.
Orduna house is well worth a visit and the entry charge is very reasonable. While the house is very interesting it is the views afforded from the higher parts of the castle that are the real bonus

Looking east from the village you can see the reservoir formed by the damming of the river Guadalest.

 

Guadalest is well worth visit. So close to the hustle and bustle of the beaches yet so far away.