4 ms·

If you're in London and in any way interested in computing history, you owe it to yourself to visit Bletchley Park. It's a fantastic day visit from London. (Abo

If you're in London and in any way interested in computing history, you owe it to yourself to visit Bletchley Park. It's a fantastic day visit from London. (About an hour away or so via the railway, as I remember it.) There's a direct train from Paddington, iirc. UK people please fill in.

_premet 7y ago
Less than an hour, in walking distance of Bletchley station, to boot. Go on a weekday morning and you’ll be there in 40m.
- OJFord 7y ago
  Yes, the same features that made it desirable for its wartime usage are rather handy for the tourist today!
Insanity 7y ago
GopherconUK organized a trip there last weekend but sadly could not join due to travel schedule :(
neves 7y ago
What will you find at Bletchley Park?
- groundlogic 7y ago
  https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ An on-site museum of the WW2 Enigma code breaking activities, where they happened. This is where Alan Turing worked. Live demonstrations of the 1940s eras computer "bombes". But, perhaps, most of all: A chance to visit a historic site.. the activities there could very well have decided the outcome of WW2. There's also a neat live retrocomputing display of early home computers. And it also happens to be a very lovely area to hang around in - nice buildings, park areas, ponds etc.
  - neves 7y ago
    Well, you can see an original Enigma machine at Churchill's war room, with a nice quiz about the facts that the allies pretended they didn't know about. The Science Museum also has nice displays about Alan Turing work. Some time ago they hosted the exposition Code Breaker: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/codebreaker https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/codebreaker
    - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
      The Science museum is a sad picture of extreme neglect and bad ideas these days. Just about every museum I've been to in the UK does it better, whether regional ones or national, even the smaller ones. Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, Bletcheley, Royal Arms Leeds, etc. Bletcheley has a far, far better discussion about Turing and his influence, and far better displays of the Code Breaking work, along with the associated machines. I last went to the Science Museum about 5 years ago and all the precision models were gone - some of which were so clever and detailed they should have been exhibits in their own right. Just a couple of hints that they once had extreme skill in model making are left. A good chunk of the multimedia and electronic displays and "experiences" were dysfunctional in some way, and a lot of the classic topics had exhibits that appeared simply worn out. The basement "scientific art exhibition" was about 5 token exhibits in a space the size of a football field, and a few dozen people finding somewhere quiet to sit and eat their sandwiches. The top floor (I think) was the for children interactive, sponsored experience. More was broken than not. The cafe with eye-watering prices seemed the most recent and best maintained exhibit. I was so disappointed - so were the people we took, for whose benefit we made the trip at all. Manchester MSI is far better at being a science museum nowadays. Have to start to wonder if my extreme love of the place in the 60s-90s stems as much from nostalgia and rose-tinted specs. It's deeply sad, and should be criminal, that it's been allowed to decline that far - it was once a world renowned national asset.
      - jdietrich 7y ago
        I agree that many parts of the Science Museum now look neglected and shabby, but the museum does have some truly exceptional exhibits - an original prototype Analytical Engine, a working replica Difference Engine, an Apple I, a Cray 1a, a Daniels Space Traveler and much more besides. I have to admit a deep sadness at the recent closure of the old Wellcome collection on the fourth and fifth floor; this gallery had been left largely unchanged in several decades, but it had a powerfully evocative atmosphere. It was nearly always empty (hence the understandable decision to close it) and was poorly signposted from the rest of the museum, so it felt almost like urban exploration, creeping through a once-cherished but now abandoned site. By the passage of time, it had become a sort of meta-museum, presenting a historical perspective on the history of medicine. The galleries have been preserved for posterity by Google, but pictures can't really capture the feeling of stepping into a museum that is itself a museum exhibit. https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/science-museum-level-4/wwHAkiSEwLyjtA https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/science-museum-...
- bboreham 7y ago
  A recreation of Colossus, the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer.
weinzierl 7y ago
It's not too far from Luton airport, so you might be able to combine a visit with you transfer from or to the airport.

_premet 7y ago

Less than an hour, in walking distance of Bletchley station, to boot. Go on a weekday morning and you’ll be there in 40m.

OJFord 7y ago
Yes, the same features that made it desirable for its wartime usage are rather handy for the tourist today!

Insanity 7y ago

GopherconUK organized a trip there last weekend but sadly could not join due to travel schedule :(

neves 7y ago

What will you find at Bletchley Park?

groundlogic 7y ago
https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ An on-site museum of the WW2 Enigma code breaking activities, where they happened. This is where Alan Turing worked. Live demonstrations of the 1940s eras computer "bombes". But, perhaps, most of all: A chance to visit a historic site.. the activities there could very well have decided the outcome of WW2. There's also a neat live retrocomputing display of early home computers. And it also happens to be a very lovely area to hang around in - nice buildings, park areas, ponds etc.
- neves 7y ago
  Well, you can see an original Enigma machine at Churchill's war room, with a nice quiz about the facts that the allies pretended they didn't know about. The Science Museum also has nice displays about Alan Turing work. Some time ago they hosted the exposition Code Breaker: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/codebreaker https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/codebreaker
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    The Science museum is a sad picture of extreme neglect and bad ideas these days. Just about every museum I've been to in the UK does it better, whether regional ones or national, even the smaller ones. Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, Bletcheley, Royal Arms Leeds, etc. Bletcheley has a far, far better discussion about Turing and his influence, and far better displays of the Code Breaking work, along with the associated machines. I last went to the Science Museum about 5 years ago and all the precision models were gone - some of which were so clever and detailed they should have been exhibits in their own right. Just a couple of hints that they once had extreme skill in model making are left. A good chunk of the multimedia and electronic displays and "experiences" were dysfunctional in some way, and a lot of the classic topics had exhibits that appeared simply worn out. The basement "scientific art exhibition" was about 5 token exhibits in a space the size of a football field, and a few dozen people finding somewhere quiet to sit and eat their sandwiches. The top floor (I think) was the for children interactive, sponsored experience. More was broken than not. The cafe with eye-watering prices seemed the most recent and best maintained exhibit. I was so disappointed - so were the people we took, for whose benefit we made the trip at all. Manchester MSI is far better at being a science museum nowadays. Have to start to wonder if my extreme love of the place in the 60s-90s stems as much from nostalgia and rose-tinted specs. It's deeply sad, and should be criminal, that it's been allowed to decline that far - it was once a world renowned national asset.
    - jdietrich 7y ago
      I agree that many parts of the Science Museum now look neglected and shabby, but the museum does have some truly exceptional exhibits - an original prototype Analytical Engine, a working replica Difference Engine, an Apple I, a Cray 1a, a Daniels Space Traveler and much more besides. I have to admit a deep sadness at the recent closure of the old Wellcome collection on the fourth and fifth floor; this gallery had been left largely unchanged in several decades, but it had a powerfully evocative atmosphere. It was nearly always empty (hence the understandable decision to close it) and was poorly signposted from the rest of the museum, so it felt almost like urban exploration, creeping through a once-cherished but now abandoned site. By the passage of time, it had become a sort of meta-museum, presenting a historical perspective on the history of medicine. The galleries have been preserved for posterity by Google, but pictures can't really capture the feeling of stepping into a museum that is itself a museum exhibit. https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/science-museum-level-4/wwHAkiSEwLyjtA https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/science-museum-...
bboreham 7y ago
A recreation of Colossus, the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer.

weinzierl 7y ago

It's not too far from Luton airport, so you might be able to combine a visit with you transfer from or to the airport.