Visited Bletchley Park?
 

Has anyone out there actually done a visit to Bletchley Park in Maynard Keynes, Bucks.? Any comments?<BR>This would be a daytrip from London.<BR>I've been to the Bletchley Park website and I 've done a search here, was wondering about anyone's experience there.

I visited in 1998 and found it excellent - a great way to spend the better part of a Saturday or Sunday if you are interested in code breaking and/or this aspect WWII.. The tour of the mansion and original buildings was interesting, as were many of the exhibits/displays in the ugly 1950's office buildings, such as the attempt to rebuild Colossus. Many of the concrete bunkerish WWII buildings were still around although unused.<BR><BR>There has been a fair amount of controversy around BP since 1998. At that time it was still being run by the enthusiastic amateurs that had fought to prevent the British Government and the British Post Office from razing the place to build housing estates. Now that it has been saved, it is being run by professional museum types who are trying to raise money to build an experiential tourist attraction (detractors would say Disneyfying) and many of the amateurs, like Tony Sales, have left or have been turfed. So I can’t really speak for the current status.<BR><BR>Silverline trains from London Euston stop at Bletchley Park, with a very short walk to the grounds. Virgin Trains go to Milton Keynes Central; a local train or bus or taxi will get you back to Bletchley Park.

I have, last year.<BR><BR>It's a fascinating visit BUT don't expect a polished museum.<BR><BR>In many ways it's like the small museums of the UK 20 years ago.<BR><BR>Exteriors and interiors are peeling and faded and the little coffee shop lunch place took me right back to early school trips.<BR><BR>And when we were there only chas was accepted for entrance tickets, &pound;5 each I think, but worth checking.<BR><BR>Most exhibits have text explanations, there are few modern touches such as recorded explanations at the touch of a button.<BR><BR>I loved it all the more for this, and it really brought home the link to the past.<BR><BR>You can try out one of the enigma typewriting machines and really look at all sorts of equipment.<BR><BR>Also on the site are rooms sponsored by other organisations such as one by a model railways society (back to childhood again) and one room full of old computers right back to very early ones, many switched on and ready to play with and some with a notice asking anyone who knows how to get them to work to let the society know!<BR><BR>Instead of basing your information on code breaking efforts in the war on the recent film Enigma, and the other American one (what was it called?) buy one of the many excellent books in the site shop.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR><BR>Kavey

Ron<BR>We cross posted.<BR>When I visited last summer (2001) it was still being run by the enthusiastic amateurs and they were doing an excellent job.<BR>Perhaps it's now changed over to new management but it hadn't then.

I'm not being a smrt ass, Elaine, but I LOVE the idea that the town is Maynard Keynes.<BR><BR>Pretty sure Elvira visited this year. Anyone know where she is?

Kavey, it sounds exactly like it was in 1998, right down to the lunch room. So I bet it still is. With any luck, by the time the planners raise the money, the experential fad will have passed and museums will once again be there primarily to inform rather than to entertain - althogh they should do both.

Ron<BR>Hope so

hi..<BR><BR>actually, it's Milton Keynes. (sorry).<BR><BR>I went in September 2000 with my friend Jon who lives in Herts. It's pretty cool. read the book "Between Silk and Cyanide" before you go (among others).<BR><BR>Ron and Kavey hit it pretty much on the head. The day I went there, they were having some sort of antique car rally, which was interesting...<BR><BR>The house is a scream. Evidently the owners were rich eccentrics who traveled a lot and every time they saw an architectural style they liked they came home and hired the local handyman (who never got out of town) to try to 'copy' it - with predictable results.<BR><BR>I do like the old run down feel to it, can't explain why - it makes it seem more genuine maybe? or maybe it makes you feel more like you are touching the past - although truth be told, many of the buildings there are NOT war time, BT owned it for a while after the war so they are institutional 50s-60s I think.<BR><BR>did they ever get lottery funding?<BR><BR>Beth<BR><BR>

Did it fall 2001 - it's very VERY interesting, and amateurish, but I mean that as a positive. It's not slick and glitzy and snappy and polished; the guides aren't glib with a scripted line of snappy patter. They have personal ties to the place, like "my sister worked here", and/or a devoted interest in the place. Everything is a little shabby, but it's like being at the Acropolis - would you want THAT all spiffed up with a new roof? <BR><BR>Anyway, we loved it; it's not packed with tourists, the only people visiting are really interested in the place and know something about it, and are respectful of the space.<BR><BR>Oh, and the lunch/tea room...ever been to a church bazaar where a snack bar is in operation, and some of the "church ladies" are running it? There you go.<BR><BR>If you take the train, you can take the path through the "woods" that the workers took when they arrived to work at Bletchely Park. <BR><BR>The rest of the town is really unpretentious (we ate breakfast in the "mall" - lots of locals who got served "I'll have the usual") and a welcome break from the usual hurly-burly surrounding something famous.

thanks all, I knew I could get the true scoop

By coincidence, there's a new British film out called "Enigma" which I saw yesterday. I have mixed feelings about the film, the plot of which is mostly fictional, but it certainly gives great views and insights into life at Bletchley Park during WW II.

one thing I found fascinating about the people who worked there - they REALLY knew how to keep a secret. no one knew what the house/grounds were being used for..<BR><BR>also, I don't think I clarified re: the house style. when the owners would try to emulate a style they liked, they added on - not a revamp, a new wing. which means there are at least 5 different styles on this house...<BR><BR>:-)

Elaine<BR>Enigma is the film I mentioned in my post, it came out in the UK quite a while back and although it does contain some truth, the actual main story line is fiction and the film also ignores the incredibly important contribution from the Poles who first got their hands on an Enigma machine and did much of the early maths which allowed the British to later crack the code. The reason the code cracking operation transferred to Britain was because the Poles were concerned that they may be invaed and the machines and work they had done be discovered.<BR><BR>Kavey