Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Arrival and Bletchley Park

Arrived at Andy's parents place in St Neots (Cambridgeshire) on Sunday after a journey of over 36 hours door to door (we had to fly to Melbourne first, and then had a long wait for our London flight). We had a family lunch (with Andys brother and his wife and kids) and then over to our accommodation.

We are staying in a converted barn on a farm outside Bedford.  It is fantastic. I can't say it is quiet, because there is a constant twittering of birds, but that's the kind of noise I like. The hosts are very nice. I would recommend this place.  It is called North End Barns. (See their web site here)   


The Farm House

The Barn Accommodation
Monday was chores and a visit to Andy's cousin and Aunt over near Norwich.  We'll be back to see them later.

Today we visited Bletchley Park, the place where the code breakers like Alan Turing worked on cracking the output of the Enigma machines, the Lorenz machines and so on.

It is a fascinating place. Far bigger than I expected. A ticket allows you to enter as often as you like over a 12 month period - and I can see why. There is so much to take in that Andy and I started to glaze over.  Sadly, we won't be able to come back on this trip.

The place was top secret for years, even after the war, and everyone had to sign the official secrets act. I wonder how many of its secrets have been lost forever now that so many of the people who worked here have passed away.

An Enigma Machine

The Mansion behind the Lake

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