A day at Bletchley park: codebreaking, computing, and picnicking
On a sunny day, a group of Chevening Scholars had the chance to take a fascinating tour of Bletchley Park, home of British code-breaking during World War Two, and the National Museum of Computing.
30 scholars from across the UK made it to the Bletchley station around 10:30, before having the chance to network until 11:00, after which the visit to the Bletchley Park started.
After arriving at the park, scholars were able to take a tour of different parts of Bletchley Park, most importantly visiting the mansion. The mansion is important because it is where the codebreaking, that had a central role in helping Britain defeat the German Nazi army through the breaking of the German Enigma code, started.
During World War Two it is believed that 200 codebreaking staff were working in the mansion. Scholars had the chance to take individual tours of the different parts of the mansion, including an exhibition featuring the history of codebreaking, sample offices of the codebreakers, and the library.
The work carried out by British codebreakers has been portrayed in the movie The Imitation Game.
After two hours of individual tours, scholars had lunch in the open air as it was a sunny day, making it a spontaneous little picnic. Afterwards, scholars were divided into three groups, having tours to different parts of the National Museum of Computing.
The tour guides explained about the history of computing, from the first ever computer through to the modern day. It was mind-blowing to see how computers have evolved in such a dramatic way in just a couple of decades.
It was fascinating to see how the very first computers used to be – as huge as a fridge in size with extremely limited memory. It was also fascinating to see how computer geniuses such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs managed to revolutionize the computer industry in just a decade.
With the two-hour tour of the National Museum of Computing complete, the visit to Bletchley Park ended. Some of the scholars stayed in the park for longer while others left to the station to begin their journeys home.
