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.
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.