Despite English Heritage sites going back in time from castles, priories and monasteries to Roman villas and even Neolithic sites, John’s favorite site opened for business in 1939. Its existence wasn’t known to the general public until 1970 and the British government didn’t fully acknowledge its contribution until 2009.
Formerly a country estate, Bletchley Park became the main code-breaking center for the Allies in World War II. Bletchley was just as secret—and probably as instrumental—in the Allies victory as the Manhattan Project. The Official Secrets Act precluded divulging any information about their work until the 1970s.
By the end of the war nearly 9000 people (including the fictional Endeavour Morse) were working at Bletchley, three-quarters of them women. They intercepted, decoded, translated and evaluated German action plans that ultimately aided in the defeat of Rommel in North Africa and helped the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
Of the thousands who served at Bletchley, the best known is Alan Turing. Not only his electromechanical devices instrumental in cracking the German codes, Turing is considered to be one of the founders of modern computing. Despite his contributions to the Allied victory and to future generations, In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for being gay— he died, possibly of suicide, two years later. Alan Turing was ultimately pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in 2013.
Taking advantage of the sunny day, we stopped at the Wrest Park, another English Heritage site, to eat our lunch and tour the gardens. The current house, built in the 1830s, didn’t hold much interest but the gardens were wonderful even with the cold wind. I especially wanted to find an obscure altar created as a prank by twelve Cambridge friends in 1746. Boys will be boys.
