Bletchley Park - 1940s Weekend

Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire was Britain's secret decryption establishment during World War Two. Ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted including, most importantly, those generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines.

Over the last 10 years since we first visited the site, BP has undergone great modernisation presenting now a very sophisticated audiovisual presentation and numerous high-standard reconstructed rooms in the House and Huts. I must say I preferred the decayed and altogether more atmospheric feeling of the site in 2011 (one image here but see https://pin-sharp.blogspot.com/2011/08/bletchley-park.html).

This weekend was 1940s theme - people, vehicles to follow.

One of the great losses is the split with the National Museum of Computing, now completely separate.  The National Museum of Computing, located on Bletchley Park, is an independent charity housing the world's largest collection of functional historic computers, including the rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer.We decided that this would warrant a whole day's visit so will return and do just that site. 

40s Weekend at Bletchley Park

 Lots of people dressed up in period costumes to photograph at Bletchley Park today. The light was very bright and contrasty so I found the images work best with low contrast and saturation. Even Sadie got into the spirit.

Bletchley Park

It is probably 2 years since our last visit to Bletchley Park and, as expected, the huts are deteriorating quite fast. The wooden huts above are part of the museum displays but the brick buildings are at the moment leased by a commercial company and are obviously not maintained. Great excuse for a bit of infrared photography. I have a new Gallery on my Website if you want to see more images.

More from Bletchley

Two images of the old huts - it will be a great shame if it all gets tidied up when the site is developed further. However, Health and Safety will probably prevail as there is a high asbestos content in the materials used in the hut construction.

Signs of bewilderment and then the need for a prayer seemed to sum up the early attempts at code breaking.

Bletchley Park Visit

A guided tour round Bletchley Park was very enjoyable thanks to our informative and amusing Guide. I got very interested in the doorways and staircases on the huts. Here are a couple of the wrought iron staircases.